Whakatāne Mill will push up capacity by 60k tonnes

Whakatāne Mill will push up capacity by 60k tonnes
Halliday says the mill has a healthy order book. (Image: supplied)
Staff reporters
Owners of the Whakatāne Mill say they will ramp up paperboard production by about 40% to approximately 210,000 tonnes per year from the current 150,000 tonnes.Costs for the expansion, which are expected to commence next July, will be funded jointly by cash and a loan from the Bank of New Zealand. The mill, slated for closure by Swiss packaging group SIG Combibloc last June, was instead snapped up in an 11th hour deal by Power Paperboard, a consortium led by UK paper and packaging entrepreneur Dermot Smurfit.Ian Halliday, the mill's exe...