The mill will mainly focus on the production of folding boxboard, carrier board and food service board to better meet the requirements of the customers
Whakatāne Mill intends to focus on the production of folding box board, carrier board and food service board. (Credit: Alicja_ from Pixabay)
A consortium of investors has agreed to acquire Whakatāne Mill (WML), located in the Bay of Plenty region, New Zealand, from SIG Combibloc.
With more than 200 staff, the Whakatāne Mill is one the largest employers in the Bay of Plenty region.
The consortium of investors will support the Whakatāne Mill to continue its operations.
Dr Dermot Smurfit is the leader of the consortium. Smurfit and his other European consortium members have expertise in owning and operating paper packaging businesses.
Whakatāne Mill will discontinue the production of liquid packaging board following the acquisition.
It will mainly focus on the production of folding boxboard, carrier board and food service board to better meet the requirements of the customers.
Smurfit Consortium spokesman Ian Halliday said that the consortium looked forward to developing a more competitive operation to support customers in New Zealand and around the world.
He further added: “We believe that the Whakatāne Mill has a very bright future as the only folding box Board Mill in Oceania, and we intend to invest heavily in the Mill to support both our customers and New Zealand’s forest products industry.”
Halliday will serve as the chairman for Whakatāne Mill.
In April this year, SIG Combibloc announced an investment of around €40m to build a new production plant for carton packs in Queretaro, Mexico.