Boyer Mill owner Norske Skog running expression of interest process for potential sale

The last remaining producer of newsprint in Australasia, the Boyer Mill in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, could have a new owner in the not too distant future.

Norske Skog paper mill at Boyer from the Derwent River. PIC: MATT THOMPSON

The Norwegian owner of the Boyer Mill has moved to hose down speculation it could be looking to close the facility amid an ongoing sale process for the site.

The mill is the last remaining producer of publication-grade newsprint in Australasia, following the closure of sites in Albury and New Zealand.

Norwegian paper company Norske Skog bought the Boyer Mill in 2000. It has been running an expression of interest process for potential buyers for the past year.

A Norske Skog spokesman said the company remained “a committed owner of the Boyer Mill”.

The Norske Skog paper mill at Boyer near New Norfolk.

“Norske Skog wants to further develop the unique Boyer industrial site,” they said.

“The location is attractive for green industrial players to develop new biomaterials and renewable energy either on their own or in partnership with Norske Skog Boyer.”

The mill occupies about 10 per cent of the total 585ha site, with just 55ha of the property currently developed.

With established infrastructure and access to raw materials, water, renewable energy, transport and effluent treatment, Norske Skog is hopeful that an attractive buyer will emerge for the Boyer Mill site.

The sale process comes against a backdrop of a continuing decline in print media readership.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Tasmanian state secretary John Short said the uncertainty was “nothing really new to the workforce” at the mill.

“They get used to the fact that it’s on the market and it changes hands,” he said.

AMWU State Secretary John Short. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

“Obviously there’s always a little bit of apprehension about what the future is because obviously they closed the Albury-Wodonga mill down and then they closed the Tasman mill down.”

“There are a lot of people who work [at the Boyer Mill] from the local area and it would be terrible if they [closed the mill]. There’s no suggestion it will be. But obviously there’s some challenges ahead with the sale of newsprint, the paper.”

Mr Short said it was “positive” that Norske Skog was listening to offers from buyers interested in further developing the site.

“There’s land there. They’ve got all the facilities and utilities up there and it would be great to attract more manufacturing,” he said.

Since the completion of its $85m PM2 conversion project in 2014, the Boyer Mill produces about 261,000 tonnes of newsprint per annum, as well as book grades and lightweight coated grades.

It is one of the state’s largest employers.

Originally published as Boyer Mill owner Norske Skog running expression of interest process for potential sale