“We can confirm, we will permanently shut the PM6 paper machine at Kinleith Mill at the end of June 2025 and move to a paper import model for our packaging operations,” he said.
“We expect this decision will result in the loss of around 230 jobs.”
Ryder said the company will now focus on a transition plan to close the paper machine safely and to continue sustainable pulp operations at Kinleith.
Specialist cleaner at the mill, Aaron Bell, said the unions were going through the questions now.
”The 230 were the Oji workers but that didn’t count contractors.”
Bell said he had a wife and three children and had bought a house a couple of years ago.
”I’m okay - it’s these younger ones who just bought a house who are in the s**t.”
E tū union members said they were devastated to learn that Oji was set close the paper manufacturing operations at Kinleith.
Senior delegate Ian Farrall said he believed the company had made this decision long ago.
“The writing has been on the wall for some time, and the company never seemed serious about saving paper production,” Farrall said.
“They have neglected essential maintenance that could have put us in a much stronger position. Of course, high power prices play a role, but the company should have been far better prepared for this.”
Farrall also criticised the Government for failing to intervene meaningfully.
“We’re shocked and angry that the Government isn’t stepping in to save the paper mill,” he said.
“It’s a key part of our domestic manufacturing and vital to the wider Tokoroa community.”
E tū negotiation specialist Joe Gallagher says the closure is yet another example of the Government failing to protect local industry.
“We hear (Prime Minister Christopher) Luxon talking about a focus on growth while doing next to nothing about the crisis facing manufacturing,” he said.
Ryder said Oji planned to continue producing paper at Kinleith through to the end of June 2025.
“This provides a period in which options for affected staff can be explored; while ensuring we meet our customer obligations and provide a smooth transition to alternative paper supply arrangements for our packaging operations.”
Oji said the move would create projected profit rather than ongoing losses for the mill.
It would also reduce Oji’s energy footprint and exposure to the New Zealand energy market and would avoid exposure to “expensive saw” log fibre supply.
Last year, the company was one of a number of big power users to complain about the cost of electricity, which spiked to over $800 a megawatt hour in August.
Oji Fibre Solutions is a pulp, paper and packaging company owned by Japan’s Oji Holdings Corp - the world’s seventh biggest pulp and paper company.
Most of Oji Fibre Solutions’ operations are based in New Zealand.
It employs more than 1840 people in New Zealand and Australia.
Market pulp and containerboard products are produced in the Central North Island of New Zealand and at a recycling mill in Auckland.
There are also nine packaging operations in New Zealand and Australia that produce a range of wood-fibre based packaging solutions, principally for the horticulture, dairy, meat and beverage industries.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.
