NeXTimber CLT/glulam plant opens in Australia

Timberlink has announced the opening of its NeXTimber manufacturing facility and upgraded green mill located in Tarpeena.

The launch event was held on February 29, attended by over 300 people, including South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas MP and CEO of the South Australian Forest Products Association, Nathan Paine.

“This unique facility in South Australia’s Limestone Coast presents tremendous opportunities for value adding, product diversification and market expansion for the state’s A$1.4bn forest industries as well as the ability to contribute to the construction of taller and more complex timber buildings,” said Premier Peter Malinauskas.

The State Government contributed A$2m of funding towards this new state of the art facility.

The NeXTimber facility is Australia’s only combined CLT and glulam radiata pine mass timber facility. It is the first in Australia to be integrated with a structural timber manufacturing plant. 

It can produce CLT panels up to 16m long and 3.5m wide, and glulam beams up to 12m long. 

Timberlink’s A$70m capital investment was originally announced in 2020. Ground was broken in 2022 and construction of the site continued until late 2023. The facility

has been taking orders since November 2023. 

An earlier investment saw Timberlink invest A$90m in 2019-2022 installing a new saw line, stacker and edger, contraflow kiln and batch kiln and drying building. This project created over 200 jobs in the construction phase.