With demand for structural and engineered timber products on the increase, 139-year-old, privately owned Hyne Timber is investing for growth and increased capacity to supply quality products for the Australian construction sector.
Hyne Timber CEO, Jon Kleinschmidt said expansion plans had been accelerated following the commissioning of the company’s new Glue Laminated Timber plant in Maryborough last year which relies on the Tuan Mill for its feedstock.
“Our first stage of expansion was the development and commissioning of a new Glue Laminated Timber plant with the support of a Queensland Government ‘Jobs and Regional Growth Fund’ grant.
“Now, we are in the next stage which addressing the feedstock bottleneck at the Tuan Mill by the installation of a Continuous Drying Kiln.
“This means extra shifts and approximately 50 more people to join our team in Maryborough.
“The supply of softwood pine plantation is sustained and expected to increase over coming years from supplier, HQ Plantations. We have also notified our other local suppliers of the increased production and flow on growth for their businesses including Richers Transport, Log Management Solutions, Altus Renewables, Bassett Barks and Laminex.
“We look forward to working with all our suppliers and customers to grow their businesses, creating more jobs for the region and the increased, sustainable supply of softwood timber solutions for construction.” Mr Kleinschmidt said.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the Palaszczuk Government is extremely proud that the initial investment has accelerated the project, which means jobs for the local community.
“This is a Queensland company that is partnering with the government to create jobs for locals when they need them most,” Mr Miles said.
“Our government looks after regional Queensland, and through our $175 million Jobs for Regional Growth Fund program, we are creating jobs all over the state.
“We will continue to back the regions as we Unite and Recover for Queensland jobs.”
In addition to the ongoing direct and indirect job benefits, over $5.5M worth of work has already been awarded to Wide Bay based businesses with Hyne Timber committed to supporting local companies where possible.
The Tuan Mill already employs around 210 people and is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of softwood framing, predominantly supplying the housing construction sector. Production will increase by 20% as a result of this investment which demonstrates Hyne Timber commitment to the industry.
Recruitment is set to commence this week with the first round of training commencing in April while the Continuous Drying Kiln development progresses in parallel. It is expected to commence commissioning in coming months.
For more information on joining the Hyne team, view current opportunities.
To take a Tuan Mill tour or learn more about the company and its products, visit our Digital Mill Tour.
Continuous Drying Kiln – More Information
A CDK operates differently to the Tuan Mill’s existing batch kilns. Packs of wood are continually fed onto trolleys that are steadily pushed through the kiln without stopping. Over 37 hours the wood passes through three zones; a humid heating zone where the wood is gradually warmed up, a central low-humidity drying zone and a humid cooling zone. Heat is transferred between the cooling and heating zones to increase thermal efficiency.
CDK’s have rapidly been accepted as best practice for wood drying and have several advantages:
- Significantly higher thermal efficiency.
- Automation and improved safety. The CDK is fed with green packs at one end while dry packs are removed at the other end.
- Less moisture variation.
- Straighter product with less risk of discolouration, improving quality for customers.
- Less maintenance, reducing ongoing costs
