Tasman Mill facts for kids

The Tasman Mill is a large factory that makes pulp and paper. It's located on Fletcher Avenue, just outside the town of Kawerau in New Zealand. This mill is a very important place for jobs in the Eastern Bay of Plenty area.

There are three main companies that work at the Kawerau site. Norske Skog makes mechanical pulp and paper. Oji Fibre Solutions (which used to be called Carter Holt Harvey) makes kraft pulp. And SCA makes tissue paper.

The Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill has caused some discussion because it puts its waste into the Tarawera River. Even though some local people and Iwi (Māori tribes) were concerned, the mill was allowed to keep putting waste into the river for 25 more years starting in 2009.

History of Tasman Mill

In 1952, the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company built this mill. They wanted to use timber from the grown Radiata Pine trees in the state-owned Kaingaroa Forest. The mill was built here because there was a lot of geothermal steam available. This steam could be used as a power source. The mill started making pulp by 1955.

In the 1970s, the mill grew a lot with new projects. This meant many more people got jobs there. Later, new technology came along, and the timber industry started to slow down after 1980. Because of this, the number of workers at the mill went down. In the mid-1980s, there were 2,000 workers, but by 1998, that number was 1,200. In 2000, a company called Fletcher Challenge sold its part of the mill to Norske Skog.

Because geothermal energy is easy to get here, a 100-megawatt geothermal power station was built right at the mill. This power plant helps the companies at the mill know how much their power will cost.

What the Mill Produces

Today, Oji Fibre Solutions uses about 1.25 million cubic metres of wood each year. They turn this wood into special bleached and unbleached pulp. This pulp is then used to make paper, tissue, and building products. Forty percent of this pulp is sold to customers in New Zealand, mostly to Norske Skog.

Norske Skog Tasman makes all of New Zealand's newsprint (paper for newspapers) and telephone directory paper. They also make about thirty percent of Australia's newsprint. Norske Skog Tasman is owned by Norske Skogindustrier ASA, a Norwegian pulp and paper company. This company is one of the biggest makers of newsprint and magazine paper in the world.

Norske Skog Tasman now produces 300,000 tonnes of paper each year from its two paper machines. A third paper machine was recently closed. This was done to help the company stay competitive in the global market. SCA also buys pulp from Oji Fibre Solutions. They use it to make base paper for their brands like Purex and Libra.

The rest of the products from both Norske Skog and Oji Fibre Solutions are sent to countries in Asia and Oceania. This brings in $224 million in export money.

In August 2012, Norske Skog announced that it would make less paper. This was because people around the world and in the region were buying less newsprint. The company said it was sending two-thirds of its paper to Asia. However, low prices for newsprint and other factors made this market not profitable for them.

Images for kids

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  A Christmas parade in Kawerau, New Zealand.