Sawmill plans to stay open with skeleton staff

A struggling Gisborne sawmill which last week announced it was facing closure will stay open, but with a heavily reduced workforce.

Winstone Pulp International (WPI) managing director Dave Anderson said the rising New Zealand dollar and falling wood prices were crippling the industry.

He said last week that the company would hold a meeting with staff to see if theyhad any ideas, "but at this stage it wouldtake a miracle not to close this sawmill".

Yesterday, Mr Anderson said staff had come up with some good proposals to keep the site going and suppliers and customers had "offered assistance on pricing" - the details of which could not be revealed.

"Lots of people have said, 'Look, we can help' in different ways and that gave us enough [to say], 'Well, let's try with this much-reduced workforce to see if we can just keep something ticking over here.'

"If you shut a plant, it's very, very difficult to get it restarted again."

Staff totals would drop from 65 to around 20, essentially a skeleton crew, and it was not yet clear if the move would be sustainable.

"The mill still faces serious challenges. But we will keep the site operational for as long as possible and monitor progress closely so we can at least aim to capture gains from any possible future improvement in trading conditions."

- NZPA