Boral Limited has entered into an agreement with Allied Natural Wood Enterprises Pty Limited (Pentarch Group) to sell its Australian hardwood and softwood timber business for AU$64.5 million, subject to customary completion adjustments, a news release said. The divestment of the timber business, which is expected to be completed in 2021, is in line with Boral’s strategy of resetting its …
Fonterra announce another switch to wood biomass
As Minister for Energy and Resources Hon Dr Megan Woods officially opened Fonterra’s wood pellet boiler at its Te Awamutu plant, the Co-operative announced details for its next site to exit coal – Stirling cheese plant in Otago. Otago’s ‘fantastic little cheese plant’, will be coal free and using wood biomass to fire the site by August next year. This …
Wood. Can we still call it that?
The new generation of high-performance wood materials offers unexpected hi-tech possibilities to the worlds of design and architecture Designed to be biodegradable and carbon neutral, the materials of the future are destined to be bio-manufactured, bio-derived, biobased. In all likelihood, to keep their impact low, we will arrive at an idea of ad-hoc cultivated materials. This scenario, which is changing …
Hydrogen units to power local sawmill
Patriot Hydrogen has revealed that it will be supplying its Patriot P2H hydrogen units to Sweetman Renewables to power its sawmill in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Sweetman will purchase one initial P2H unit with plans to increase that figure to 15 over the next two years. The P2H unit have been designed to supply green renewable hydrogen …
New Australian bio composites plant announced
Australia’s Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley, Tasmanian Minister for Environment Roger Jaensch and Member for Bass Bridget Archer MP announced a Grant to support Timberlink to build Tasmania’s first Bio Composite plant. The grant was awarded from the Tasmanian Recycling Modernisation Fund (Plastics) Grants Program (RMF). The Bio Composite plant will produce Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) products that …
Behind the scenes of the new hardwood CLT operation
In a recent issue we covered details on the world’s first hardwood Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), along with their new brand – Cusp Building Solutions. Cusp CLT is made from Tasmanian Plantation Oak (Eucalyptus Nitens) sourced from certified sustainable plantations grown in Tasmania. It’s the first CLT in Australia to have achieved Engineered Wood Products of Australia certification (EWPAA). On …
Hyne encouraging more women into manufacturing
Increased focus on greater diversity in the workplace coupled with community feedback has spurred Hyne Timber to call for more female students and women to consider careers in manufacturing. As part of a recent recruitment drive in Maryborough and Hervey Bay shopping centres, Hyne personnel have been left astounded at the number of women who did not consider applying for …
Aussie sawmills lead employment surge
Australia’s timber framing sawmills have increased employment by up to 25 per cent to meet demand fuelled by the COVID-induced building boom, according to new analysis by the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA). This stands in stark contrast to reported OECD global trends suggesting timber processing employment will fall by 18 per cent over 2019-2024. AFPA Chief Executive Officer Ross …
Timber super-load travels from VIC to SA
The City of Mount Gambier claims the longest single glulam timber beams ever shipped to Australia – spanning up to 42 metres – were recently loaded on to two trucks. The heavy vehicles made the journey from the wharf in Port Melbourne to the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre construction site on Margaret Street in Mount Gambier on 22 June …