Oji Fibre Solutions and Port of Tauranga have jointly opened a new container warehouse that will provide world-class facilities for paper and timber products including food-product paper bags.
Oji chief operating officer Terry Skiffington says the facility marks another sign of his company’s plan for growth in New Zealand and Australia. “Since Oji Holdings and INCJ purchased our business in 2014, we have seen a $30 million investment into modernising and expanding our food-products paper bag site in Penrose, a $60 million investment in a new greenfield corrugated packaging facility in Yatala near the Gold Coast which is on track for completion this year, and a $22 million upgrade at the Tasman Mill in Kawerau, scheduled to be completed next March,” Skiffington says.
Port of Tauranga is an important business partner for Oji Fibre Solutions, as the port is the gateway for delivering more than a million tonnes of export cargo produced in the company’s two large pulp and paper mills in the central North Island to global markets. The facility – located at the southern end of Sulphur Point – is a purpose-built 22,000m warehouse, and is the culmination of more than three years’ work, involving proactive collaboration between Oji, Port of Tauranga, and C3 Limited.
The facility, and associated changes resulting from the replacement of the old Shed 12 at the northern end of the terminal, allows for vital infrastructure development supporting the economic growth of the Bay of Plenty region and New Zealand. Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns says the strategic alliance with Oji and others has enabled the port to invest with confidence. “The demolition of Shed 12 has allowed the port to add a further 800 ground slots for containers and to build this new enhanced facility.”
