Tokoroa sawmill to close

Tokoroa Sawmill is to close with the loss of more than 100 jobs, Carter Holt Harvey confirmed yesterday.

Last month, the company announced a proposal to close its sawmill and parts of its remanufacturing plant in the town.

More than 130 workers were employed at the wood-processing plant last month; now there are 90 salaried and waged employees and seven contractors.

Yesterday Carter Holt chief executive Peter Springford said the company had spent the past couple of weeks consulting employees and union representatives.

The mill, which produces outdoor decking and framing timber for the Australasian market, had lost $16 million over the past five years, including $7 million this year, he said.

"We have worked hard over several years to put the mill in a better position, including implementing shift changes, changing the production and log grade mix, and upgrading equipment.

"The consultation team has worked hard to come up with a number of ideas, but, unfortunately, none of these are sufficient to put the mill in a viable long-term position.

"Unfortunately, given the age of the equipment and the markets we compete in, Tokoroa Sawmill has continued to lose significant amounts of money despite these changes."

The company was very disappointed to be closing the mill, particularly at this time of year.

Mr Springford said the closure would have a huge effect on the wider community and the company would offer support and assistance.

A resource centre set up last month would help with CV preparation, outplacement, budgeting and family counselling. Some staff would continue to work at the site in the first quarter of next year as existing stock ran out.

Carter Holt Harvey has laid off 300 bush workers in the northern and central North Island since May, after the strong New Zealand dollar affected log exports.

In August it said 70 workers would lose their jobs at its Tasman pulp processing mill in Kawerau.

In 2002, CHH made nearly 400 employees redundant from its Kinleith pulp and paper mill near Tokoroa.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary Andrew Little said though the closure was no surprise, it was still a shock for workers.

"I think the die had been cast a long time ago - certainly our members knew the mill had been struggling to maintain viability for some time," he said.

Carter Holt had been "doing what it could" to redeploy workers within the company.

- NZPA