NEW PLYWOOD FACTORY

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25248, 29 July 1947, Page 6

NEW PLYWOOD FACTORY

ERECTION AT HORNBY

PRODUCTION IN ABOUT TWELVE MONTHS

In about 12 months a new industry will be operating at Hornby. A factory, capable of turning out 8,000,000 feet of plywood and a quantity of coarse stock and flush panel doors will will be built by N.Z. Plywood, Ltd., on five acres of land, the sale of which was approved by the Land Sales Court in a reserved judgment last week. . There are already three such factories in the Morth Island, including one at Auckland, owned by N.Z. Plywood, Ltd., but this will be the first to be erected in the South Island. The South Island was chosen as the factory would be nearer the bush areas of the West Coast, and also, so as not to disturb the balance between peeler and saw logs used in the North Island factories. Although similar to the factory operated by the firm in Auckland, the capacity of the South Island factory will not be so great. When in full production the factory will provide large quantities of a material in short supply and badly needed for the construction of houses. It will be able to serve the market more economically, as well as provide for better utilisation of bush areas.

Plant from U.S. Because the commodities which will be manufactured are urgently needed it is not expected that there will be much difficulty in securing a permit *o erect the factory. When completed it will probably occupy about half the total area. Part of the plant is. already in New Zealand and the balance is expected to be shipped from America by October. The site of the factory, which was chosen after an exhaustive examination of possible sites, is considered ideal, as it has road access on two frontages and easy access to the railway. .Although it is some distance from the city, this is not expected to be a handicap when it comes to securing labour, as transport will probably be provided to take workers to and from Christchurch. Another advantage the site has is that it is on heavy shingle land, with considerable weight-bearing capacity. Because of this initial foundation costs will be lower than normal. Experience gained by working witn other plant and knowledge secured overseas during the war will be em« bodied in the new plant. The work will be clean, most handling will be done mechanically and there will be little or no heavy lifting. Because or these advantages the directors anticipate that little difficulty will be experienced in securing labour.