March 24, 2016
A multi-million dollar expansion at Radial Timber Australia is well underway, with new equipment to be installed during April.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said Radial Timber had received $1.5 million in government funding to install a new state of the art streamlined radial sawmill at Yarram.
The expansion is expected to create five new jobs and increase production four-fold.
Mr Chester visited Radial Timber this week to receive an update on the expansion.
“Specialised equipment has been commissioned to scan each log before sawing and capitalise on the radial sawing technique,” Mr Chester said.
“This will be part of a large new mill which has been built on site. The first stage of equipment will be moved in during the next few weeks.”
Mr Chester said Radial Timber had two warehouses in Melbourne, where its key markets were located.
“The key product being produced by Radial Timber at present is tongue and groove cladding, which is popular for interior and exterior feature walls in new builds,” Mr Chester said.
“Radial Timber is also producing large amounts of screen boards and timber decking.”
Mr Chester said the expansion would allow Radial Timber to increase the intake of raw product four-fold.
“It will be a staged growth, but I understand that production will begin to increase by the end of this year and the aim is to increase production four-fold within the next few years,” Mr Chester said.
“There are expected to be five or six new jobs on site through this expansion, plus new jobs in the harvesting of additional timber.”
Radial Timber has received $1.5 million under the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Program, which is jointly funded by the State and Federal Government.
Caption: Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester, Project Manager Keith Savory and Radial Timber Mill Manager Heath Pownall discuss the expansion plans, pictured in front of the new mill being built at Radial Timber Yarram.
