Source: Radio New Zealand
A render of the new sawmill from Niagara. SUPPLIED
Southland-based Niagara Sawmilling Company has begun a $115 million expansion of its timber processing operations, marking the largest growth phase in the company’s 91‑year history.
The investment includes construction of a new state‑of‑the‑art sawmill at Niagara’s Kennington site, on the outskirts of Invercargill.
The sawmill is being built in Canada and is expected to be installed and operational by late 2027.
Alongside the South Island expansion, Niagara is also expanding in the North Island through the acquisition of Ōtorohanga Timber Company (OTC), a 94-year-old timber processor based in the Waikato.
Niagara managing director Ross Richardson said the expansion was the next step in the company’s long‑term strategy and would significantly lift processing capacity.
“These investments support Niagara’s long-term strategy of growing and strengthening our remanufacturing business,” Richardson said.
In the timber industry, remanufacturing means turning basic sawn timber into ready‑to‑use building products, such as smooth, finished boards or engineered wood.
Once complete, the new sawmill will allow Niagara to more than double its current output, increasing log intake to over 500,000 tonnes a year.
The increased capacity is aimed at allowing more timber to be processed locally, rather than being exported offshore in raw form.
Richardson said that would enable Niagara to “remanufacture more premium timber products in Southland and add value to logs locally, rather than seeing them exported and processed overseas”.
Over the past decade, Niagara has invested heavily in its Kennington operations, building what it describes as world‑class remanufacturing facilities.
Group sales manager Jamie Barton said the combination of Niagara and the newly acquired Ōtorohanga Timber Company would strengthen Niagara’s market position in New Zealand and Australia.
“With OTC’s product mix complementing that of Niagara’s, we are now able to offer an even wider range of quality timber products to both our domestic and export customers,” Barton said.
The expansion is also expected to deliver broader economic benefits to the Southland region.
Niagara currently employs nearly 400 people, and Richardson said the increased production capacity would support continued growth, giving more job security to its employees.
“Niagara has longstanding roots in Southland and has an ongoing commitment to the region and its workforce,” he said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
