Restructuring At Nelson Pine Industries
Nelson Pine Industries Ltd today announced a restructuring of its production operations in response to difficult market
conditions resulting from the worldwide financial crisis.
Managing Director, Murray Sturgeon, said the company will have excess capacity if it continues to operate the whole
plant on a 24 hour continuous basis, and is restructuring its operations to undertake as much work as possible during
Monday to Friday daytime hours.
The company regrets that this change will result in approximately 60 staff positions becoming surplus to production
requirements.
The situation was announced to company staff today. Nelson Pine will now enter a period of consultation with staff and
unions to explore alternatives before affected staff are notified and redundancy notices are issued. Mr Sturgeon said
the company cared deeply about its people and would provide all assistance possible to affected staff.
“Today is a black day in the history of the company, but we have every expectation market conditions will recover as
soon as world financial markets improve, and the company will continue the growth path that has led to it being one of
the largest engineered wood products producers in the world,” he said.
“The company is in a sound financial position and will soon be commissioning a major capital investment in new finishing
plant. It is unfortunate that this coincides with the largest market downturn the company has experienced in recent
years. By trimming operations now Nelson Pine will be in a better position to respond when the inevitable recovery
occurs.”
Nelson Pine Industries Limited is the South Island’s largest forestry processor with the capacity to process 40% of the
Nelson-Marlborough pine resource into Medium Density Fibreboard and Laminated Veneer Lumber. Currently 265 people are
employed at the Richmond site.
ends