Juken New Zealand has started consulting staff on the future of its Northland Mill and Triboard Mill in Kaitaia, in northern New Zealand, as it seeks buyers for the two timber plants and considers closing them if no deal is reached.
The company says falling demand in key export markets and rising operating costs, especially electricity, have put sustained pressure on the mills. Managing director Hisayuki Tsuboi says Juken is testing whether a sale or joint venture could keep the sites open and preserve jobs where possible.
About 145 employees at the two mills are represented by Workers First Union, while other workers are members of E tū or are non-unionised. Workers First says it understands both sites have been put up for sale through an eight-week tender process. Deputy secretary Anita Rosentreter says the workforce has decades of experience in wood processing and would be hard to replace.
The possible closure would hit one of Kaitaia’s biggest employers in a town of about 6 thousand people with few other job options. Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says local and regional councils will seek support from central government because of the scale of the potential economic impact.
Juken says it has spent several years trying to improve the financial performance of the Kaitaia operations by lifting production and exploring new markets. The company says production and customer arrangements continue as normal for now while staff and unions are consulted.
The sale process comes after a series of wood-processing shutdowns across New Zealand. Rosentreter says the sector has already lost hundreds of jobs in the past two years, while other recent closures cited in the report include 230 jobs at Kinleith Mill, 140 at Eves Valley Sawmill, and 200 at Karioi Pulpmill and Tangiwai Sawmill.
