WoodTECH News provides the latest updates on breaking news, research results, reports and links relevant to sawmilling, wood manufacturing and wood products companies in Australasia.
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Latest News & Technologies

WoodTECH News | Issue 62
Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. Last month marked the 100th anniversary of the granting of the patent for Cross-Laminated Timber. Yes, that’s right, 100 years ago. While the technology has been around for a long time, only recently has it become a significant player for mass timber being used in ‘new’ multi-storey building developments. A large number of ...

Cross Laminated Timber turns 100 this week!
It is not readily known as it is thought of as modern technology, but Cross-Laminated Timber is actually 100 years old on Monday this week. The patent that describes the ...

New lead for Wood Solutions programs
Exciting ventures are on the horizon for WoodSolutions. Starting with introducing the newly appointed Head of Built Environment Programs & WoodSolutions Program lead, Kevin PeacheyKevin was previously the Statistics and ...
News & Technologies Cont.

NZ$450m fully automated warehouse investment
Cardinal Logistics is investing more than NZ$450 million in developing New Zealand’s first fully automated third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse in Drury, South Auckland. Cardinal, the country’s largest privately-owned 3PL company, ...

Energy centre switches from coal in $2.28m project
The elimination of coal at a Washdyke (in the north of Timaru, south Canterbury, NZ) energy business will reduce CO2 emissions by 14,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent of ...

1 in 15 AKD employees are apprentices
The 2023 intake for AKD resulted in another 25 new apprentices employed across their sites. 10 of their existing apprentices completed their training and continued on with trade roles within ...

Trapped arm a sombre warning on imported machinery
A multinational company has been sentenced after a worker’s arm got caught in a bark-stripping machine which did not have the appropriate safeguards for New Zealand use. CFGC Forest Managers ...

Pukepine Sawmill planermill upgrades
Pukepine Sawmills in New Zealand is planning a major upgrade for its planer mill with the help of USNR. The project includes an overhaul of existing equipment that will be ...

Sawmills face temporary closures as demand dives
Several New Zealand sawmills producing housing timber are temporarily halting production, as the construction sector slows. Forest manager and log marketer Allan Laurie said demand for building new houses had ...

Global in-field chipping and grinding technologies
As part of the Residues2Revenues 2023 event being run in Rotorua, New Zealand on 25-26 July for local forest owners, harvesting and wood chipping contractors and bio-fuel aggregators, an international ...

WoodTECH News | Issue 59
Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. The wood processing industry, on both sides of the Tasman, continues to face difficult market conditions. You would think that, with a massive ...

Accessing the NZ$57M Wood Processing Growth Fund
As reported, on Thursday 27 April, New Zealand’s Minister of Forestry launched the government’s Wood Processing Growth Fund (WPGF) to unlock the potential of our forest resource, support the transition ...

Creating a culture of smart wood manufacturing
During the latest episode of FWPA’s WoodChat podcast series, listeners will hear from two thriving Australian forest and wood products companies adopting smart manufacturing principles. Applying these principles during the ...

NZ wood processors want their carbon, not your debt
Opinion: Marty Verry, CEO of the Red Stag group of companies Last week incoming Minister of Forestry Peeni Henare announced a NZ$57 million fund to invest in New Zealand’s wood ...

What’s behind the rise in timber prices in Australia
The lifting of China’s export restrictions, combined with rising interest rates and a housing shortage, could spell trouble for the Australian housing industry. Australian timber prices may have fallen from ...

Corryong sawmill closing in September
The timber mill at Corryong, in the north-eastern corner of Victoria, will close by September this year, once the existing log stock is milled.It will be the end of an ...

Changes at Koppers Performance Chemicals
Koppers Performance Chemicals has announced that Steve Crimp, General Manager of Koppers Performance Chemicals New Zealand, has accepted a promotion to the role of Managing Director, Koppers Performance Chemicals Europe ...

Jon Kleinschmidt retires after 28 Years with Hyne
28 years, 6 months and 1 week. Last Friday (5 May), Jon Kleinschmidt, known fondly throughout the business and industry as ‘JK’, officially retired as Chief Executive Officer of Hyne ...

WA sawmill closing ahead of native logging ban
Another sawmill in southern WA will close before the official ban of native logging comes into effect in 2024.Redmond Sawmill, based near Albany, will shut its doors at the end ...

WoodTECH News | Issue 58
Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News. The big tech news is the Australian Government’s delivery of more than AU$108 million awarded, across 34 separate grants, to timber and wood ...

New funding for contractors for biomass innovation
EECA has a new fund which could be of assistance to those looking to make a start in the biomass business in New Zealand or increasing production of an existing ...

Saw logs moved more than 900km by rail to supply bushfire-impacted Riverina mills
Logs are being transported more than 900 kilometres by rail from northern New South Wales to prop up supply to sawmills on the south-west slopes as part of bushfire recovery ...

New Zealand 3D-prints first commercial building in southern hemisphere
The first building featuring QOROX 3D printed concrete walls has just been completed in Hamilton, New Zealand. The build, an early childhood centre Creators Forest Lake, is the first Commercial ...

Metsä Group looks to rail for log transport
VR’s first train with an electric locomotive transporting roundwood arrived for test runs at Metsä Group’s new Euro2.02 billion Kemi bioproduct mill. This marked a major step in Metsä Group ...