Sep 03, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. Australia’s largest integrated forest products company Gunns has further strengthened its market position with the A$100 million ($83.5 million) acquisition of ITC Timber from Elders. The purchase extends Gunns’ interests in hardwood sawmilling and woodchips in Victoria and Tasmania, TJJ reported. “This acquisition creates a business with significant scale and distribution footprint across Australia and South-east Asia,” said Gunns Chairman John Gay. The deal includes a 50% stake in Smartfibre, a woodchip export joint venture with Forest Enterprises Australia. The move into plantation chips looks likely to move Gunns one step closer to its objective of building a A$2.2 billion pulp mill in the Tamar Valley that is 100% plantation-based. The company said earlier this year the pulp mill would be 40% reliant on native forest at start-up.