62 | Sue Russell Seizing the right opportunities key At Kiwi Lumber Gisborne most of the timber is processed into high value clear boards destined for the US retail market. Kiwi Lumber FORESTRY Site Manager at Kiwi Lumber’s Gisborne sawmill, Peter Sutton, has been with the company since Kiwi took the site over in 2020. He says one of the strengths of Kiwi Lumber, across its four sites, is the fact that it is a family-owned business and the directors are very passionate about the industry. “They like to invest and make decisions quickly.” Describing the Gisborne business as essentially a brown-field operation, where Kiwi Lumber took over an old sawmill plant that went through various cycles of opening and closing. “We picked up the bones of that business and have over time transformed it, with modern technologies. It’s Kiwi’s business model to work this way and today we employ 61 staff here, making it a reasonably sized operation in this area.” Seizing opportunities, such as presented in Gisborne has led the Kiwi Lumber’s overall success. At times, it has acquired plant from receivership. Peter says Kiwi has the drive and knowledge to seize these opportunities. Kiwi Lumber’s three other sites are at Masterton, which cuts structural timber for framing, and at Dannevirke and Putaruru, positioned within manageable distances of forestry operations. At Kiwi Lumber Gisborne most of the timber is processed into high value clear boards destined for the U.S. retail market and sent to Europe for chemical modification which changes softwood, at a cellular level, into hardwood. We also do machining here and send dressed boards into Australia. Production volumes are in the vicinity of 40,000m³/annum, around 800m³ each week, the equivalent of 20 truckloads. “We have key log supply relationships with 5 of the main forestry companies in this area, all within about 1½ hours of this site.” Plans are to expand. So far, 90% of an ambitious $26million capital programme has been completed. “Phase one involved modernising the site, upgrading the boiler and the kilns to meet future emissions standards. We effectively don’t have any waste as we burn our saw-dust and planer shavings to feed the boiler.” A new planer has also been commissioned which transforms rough-sawn timber into profiled boards. A new Cut-to-Length optimised has gone into the drymill to recover high value clear board components. Scanners on the machines are all operated by computers. A new optimised edger for the sawmill and a new dry timber storage shed are due for SE Systems is your registered Gisborne electrical company that provides qualityworkmanship and expertise. With our broad knowledge and flexibilitywe can service all of your domestic electrical needs, fromsimple repairs and upgrades to full renovations, rebuilds, newhouses andmuchmore. Our projectmanagement, safety and budget systems arewhat allowus to deliver an exceptional finish to any project. 06 868 4548 www.sesystems.co.nz 8 Tupaea Street, Gisborne Your friendly Gisborne SPARKIES LOCAL VALUE LOCAL SUPPORT LOCAL FLAVOUR BULK HAULAGE Bulk Haulage and General carriers nationwide CONTACT US: 027 462 6544 Proudly supporting Kiwi Lumber
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