Visy ready to proceed with a $450 million expansion of its Tumut pulp-and-paper mill

Apr 12, 2007. /Lesprom Network/. Visy CEO Harry Debney, said work on the expansion, which will more than double the mill's current output of kraft packaging paper to almost 700 000 tonnes a year, will begin as soon as the company receives formal planning approval and details of a regional roads assistance package from the NSW government. Construction is expected to take 18 months with the new paper machine expected to be operating by 2009, Mr. Debney said. The project will create 50 additional jobs on site at Tumut plus an additional 300 indirect jobs in the region and 500 jobs during the construction phase. Most of the mill's increased production will be bound for export, supplying paper customers in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. The balance will supply Visy's Australasian corrugated box factories. "We are continuing to increase capacity in our Australian corrugated box business to cater for market share growth," Mr. Debney said. "This year our share of the Australian box market has passed through the 60% level and that continues to expand. We have recently opened a new $60 million box factory at Yatala in Queensland and have undertaken a $25 million extension of our four year old Wodonga box factory in order to supply this increased demand from our customers," he said. "The expansion at Tumut will ensure that our local box factories will have a new range of market leading, high performance kraft paper grades available to them to serve our local box customers as well as overseas markets, he said." Mr. Debney said Visy will also undertake a 12 month feasibility into a possible $300 million plus expansion at its Smithfield packaging and recycling facility in Sydney. The study would examine the case for a new paper recycling machine to further improve Visy paper's quality and cost competitiveness as well as adding to the company's existing recycled paper making capacity. A decision on whether to proceed with the project will be made next year and the feasibility study will include a comprehensive analysis of waste paper availability in NSW. Visy was established in Melbourne, Australia in 1948 and is owned by the Pratt family. It has grown to become the world's largest privately owned packaging and recycling company. Visy employs more than 8 000 people in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. Total manufacturing revenues exceed $2.8 billion and total manufacturing assets exceed $3 billion.