The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has welcomed timber processor Timberlink’s $63 million investment for its Bell Bay facility that will boost manufacturing jobs in Tasmania, CEO of AFPA Ross Hampton said today.
“Today’s Timberlink announcement is a significant investment and commitment in future timber processing and manufacturing in one of Australia’s critical timber mills. It augurs well and demonstrates confidence for the future of forest industries in Tasmania and nationally,” Ross Hampton said.
“Australia has experienced unprecedented demand for timber products and I congratulate Timberlink for proactively investing in technology to do more with the existing resource and to increase capacity to help meet future demand.”
The expansion project will be completed in two stages up to 2025 and will include a sawmill expansion, residue and energy optimisation, additional continuous kiln drying, planer infeed systems, improvements to site infrastructure and offline debarking and sorting.
Ross Hampton said the investment further prepares Timberlink for the future, “Forest industries are experiencing remarkable change as demand for timber and fibre increases in the carbon conscious and environmentally aware world. Advances in manufacturing of structural timber supply has always been a forte of Timberlink and we congratulate the company on bringing forward this investment.”