Australian Rural & Regional News asked some further questions of Millari Group Australia, answered below the release.

Millari Group Australia, Media Release, 6 February 2025

Millari Group Australia (True Blue Timber, True Blue LVL, True Blue Plywood) has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent of JUKEN Gisborne, New Zealand Facilities, including LVL and Plywood manufacturing lines and Sawmill.

Millari NZ, guarantees over 90 per cent of locally and sustainably sourced products for the Australian Timber Industry
in 2025.

Millari Group Australia is set to start producing LVL, Plywood, and Timber for the Australian Timber Industry after recently agreeing to acquire the 25-ha JUKEN Gisborne facilities in New Zealand, to be rebranded as Millari NZ. Settlement is currently expected to occur later this month.

The Gisborne manufacturing facility is located on the North Island of New Zealand at Gisborne and specialises in producing LVL, Plywood and Structural Radiata pine products. With a perfect mix of Engineered products and solid pine framing, the mill will be an asset best suited to ease the burden on businesses in Australia, which have been forced to rely on imported products due to the lack of local manufacturing.

True Blue Timber, which has been supplying high-quality and reliable imported products to Australia’s leading wholesalers, will now be driving local LVL and timber production for the Australian industry with the Millari NZ facilities. 

With a significant investment over the next three years to increase the current capacities, Millari NZ plans to establish direct LVL, Plywood and Sawmill production for the Australian industry, including LVL E14, E13, E10, and LVL Formwork; structural and non-structural plywood panels and MGP and F-graded Radiaita pine, and H2, H3 and H4-treated pine.

Millari NZ will ship LVL, Plywood and Sawmill products with AS/NZS standards directly to Australia’s Eastern Coast, significantly decreasing Australia’s timber industry’s dependence on imports from Europe and Asia. 

Owner and CEO, Ryan Yari says:

“Our Millari NZ facility in Gisborne will be on track to increase the output capacity of LVL, Plywood and timber production over the next few years as we invest in new machinery and technology for the 35,000m2 factory. 

With these exciting facilities alongside our True Blue Timber operations, we will continue to offer the Australian industry a reputable and reliable ongoing source of high-quality EWP (engineered wood products) and timber products and deliver them directly with quick turnarounds.”

Since closing in March 2024, the Millari NZ Gisborne facility will re-open in the coming months, providing jobs and opportunities to the Gisborne community of 38,000 people. 

Yari continues:

“JNL Gisborne has been the cornerstone of the community for many years, and it will be Millari Group’s pleasure to restore it to its former glory. The Millari Group team is excited about the new challenge ahead and looks forward to being a part of the Gisborne community for many years to come”. 

Millari Group Australia includes True Blue Timber, True Blue LVL, and True Blue Plywood, and Millari NZ supplies FSC 100 per cent timber products to Australia’s leading Timber and Hardware retailers. For more information visit https://truebluetimber.com.au/. 

Fact Sheet

About True Blue Timber / Millari Group Australia

• True Blue Timber offers a versatile range of products, from Structural framing material in treated and untreated, LVL (laminated Veneer Lumber), I-Joist, GLT, Plywood, and Ancillary products.
• TBT increased Engineered Wood Products imports, including LVL and I Joist, by 148 per cent in 2024.
• TBT supply FSC 100 per cent timber products to Australia’s leading Timber and Hardware retailers
• There are two sites in Australia, True Blue Timber Sydney in Smithfield and True Blue Timber Melbourne in Clyde North.
• In 2024, True Blue Timber increased its factory facilities in NSW from 4,000m2 to 25,000m2 – an increase of over 80 per cent.
• Millari Group Australia was formed in 2024 to support the growth of True Blue Timber operations, including True Blue LVL and True Blue Plywood, adding Millari NZ facilities in 2025 with 35,000m2 factory space.

About Millari NZ sawmill in Gisborne New Zealand

• Millari Group Australia (True Blue Timber, True Blue LVL, True Blue Plywood) has entered a sales and purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the JUKEN Gisborne facilities (100 per cent owned by Japanese) and will be rebranded as “MILLARI NZ”. 
• The purchase price will be undisclosed. 
• The current output capacity of the Millari NZ sawmill is 130,000m2 per year, 60,000m3 is timber, LVL is 55,000m3 and Plywood is 15,000m3.
• This is the first Sawmill purchase in the Millari Group Australia portfolio
• Millari NZ will open in a couple of months

Investment in Millari NZ sawmill

• Millari Group will invest a significant amount into the LVL and Plywood manufacturing line in the next 2 years to upgrade and increase the production capacity.
• The production capacity of the sawmill, LVL and Plywood is expected to increase to 200,000m3 by 2027. (Timber 100,000m3, LVL 80,000m3 and Plywood 20,000m3)
• With the re-opening of the facility by Millari NZ, 100 jobs will be created, with over 500 indirect jobs from the investment back into the community of 38,000 people. 

About LVL

• LVL is Laminated Veneer Lumber technology that is high in strength, consistency and reliability
• LVL is resistant to warping, splitting and shrinking, making LVL the perfect go to for structural applications from beams, rafters, floor joists and lintels.  
• LVL is also light weight and is visually appealing

Australian Timber Industry Statistics 

Across the sawnwood category, New Zealand was the source of 21 per cent of imports, with Germany (14 per cent) and Lithuania (12 per cent), United States (10 per cent) and other European and Asian countries.

Australia produced 4.3 million cubic metres of sawnwood in 2022-2023 of which 89 per cent was softwood and 11 per cent hardwood with almost all (95 per cent) consumed in Australia with 5 per cent exported. 

The value of imports of forest and wood products into Australia was 6.87 billion in 2022-2023 

Wood based panels such as Plywood account for 13 per cent of the value of Australian imports, which has been growing steadily in recent years. 

The primary  import to Australia was Plywood (76 per cent of value of the wood-based panel imports in 2022-2023 – commonly used for structural applications in housing construction. Most of the wood-based panels imported in 2023-2024 was from China (55 per cent by value).

Between 2020 and 2050 the food and Agriculture organisation estimates demand for veneer/plywood may double. (ABARES, November 2024)

Other forest products including engineered structural timber products have been steadily increasing since 2012 to 2023 (Figure 6.1d-1: Import value of forest and wood products graph, 2012-13 to 2022-23)1.

References
1. agricuture.gov.au, Australia’s State of the Forests Report (2024) – Production and consumption and import/export of wood, wood products and non-wood products (2024) https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Indicator_6_1d_production_consumption_2024.pdf
2. ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics and Sciences) Australian forest and wood statistics (AFWPS) Trade to 2023 to 2024. (Nov, 2024) https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/forests/forest-economics/forest-wood-products-statistics#trade-to-202324

Australian Rural & Regional News asked some further questions of the Millari Group about the acquisition

ARR.News: From what sawmills has the Millari Group previously sourced its timber, and over what period?

Millari Group: The Millari Group Australia, with its operations in New South Wales and Victoria, is a timber wholesaler to Timber and Hardware businesses in Australia offering a selection of products including timber for structural framing, cladding and weatherboards plus engineered wood products including LVL (laminated veneer lumber), Luminem I-Joist and Birch Plywood. The materials have been sourced previously from European suppliers.

ARR.News: Has Millari’s purchase of the JUKEN’ Gisborne sawmill in New Zealand been necessitated by the decline in suitable timber supplies from within Australia?

Millari Group: The purchase of JUKEN’S Gisborne Sawmill has been driven by the demand for engineered wood products and a desire to provide higher quality products due to Australian businesses forced to rely on imported products due to the lack of local manufacturing. This gives rise to quality control and delivery issues and this purchase aims to solve these issues.

ARR.News: Is all the timber for the NZ sawmill sourced from New Zealand?

Millari Group: The timber products produced at Gisborne Sawmill (Millari NZ) is sourced from local sustainable forests in the Gisborne area. 

ARR.News: To clarify, this acquisition is boosting the supply of NZ timber to Australia, not boosting the supply of Australian timber, is that so?

Millari Group: Over the next three years, Millari NZ, guarantees over 90 per cent of locally and sustainably sourced products from the local area of Gisborne NZ for the Australian Timber Industry. Millari NZ plans to establish direct LVL, Plywood and Sawmill production for the Australian industry and deliver products direct to Australia’s Eastern Coast. After the 2019 bushfires, we lost a significant portion of our plantation forest in Australia, and our current forests cannot supply enough to cover the demand.

ARR.News: Will the jobs at the NZ sawmill be filled by people from New Zealand?

Millari Group: A majority yes, but we will use some of our experienced team members in Australia as well. Since closing in March 2024, the Millari NZ Gisborne facility will re-open in the coming months,providing jobs and opportunities to the Gisborne community of 38,000 people. As Millari NZ aims to increase production to 200,000m3 from the current 130,000m3, we expect a number of direct and indirect jobs from the local area that will be generated by the Sawmill reopening.

ARR.News: Are there plans to expand the facilities in Australia?

Millari Group: There are two sites in Australia, True Blue Timber Sydney in Smithfield and True Blue Timber Melbourne in Clyde North. Only last year in 2024, True Blue Timber increased its factory facilities in NSW from 4,000m2 to 25,000m2 – an increase of over 80 per cent. Millari Group Australia was formed in 2024 to support the growth of True Blue Timber operations, including True Blue LVL and True Blue Plywood, adding Millari NZ facilities in 2025 with 35,000m2 factory space.

ARR.News: Are there opportunities from this acquisition for timber workers from regional Australia?

Millari Group: In addition, Millari NZ’s acquisition of JUKEN will have an impact on our own operations in Australia, including our Sydney and Melbourne sites and we will add two new distribution centers in Queensland and South Australia as well which will create more jobs. As production increases, so will the demand for excellent customer service and delivery volume and timings increase, opening up more job roles. 

ARR.News:  Are the skills of workers in Australian timber mills transferable to work producing Millari’s wood products?

Millari Group: We will engage some of our team members in Australia to assist our staff in New Zealand in better understanding our expectations; however, we adhere to AS/NZ Standards, which cover both AU and NZ timber standards. Timber mill work includes a range of skills including sorting and stacking timber, assisting timber machinists, assembling orders, and racking offcuts and this is a transferable skill-set that forms part of the Millari NZ facility. In addition the Plywood and LVL processing parts of the facility require expertise in engineered wood technology. 

ARR.News: Are there other jobs that might be created in Australia, in particular in regional Australia, as a result of this acquisition? 

Millari Group: As above.

ARR.News: How will the cost of shipping products from NZ be managed to keep prices in Australia competitive?

Millari Group: As timber is now being shipped from NZ to Australia and not Europe to Australia, (as the operations in Sydney and Melbourne for the Millari Group relied on) the pricing will be very competitive.