$14.5 million expansion of Maryborough’s Hyne Timber

Things are heating up for the timber industry with a new kiln making a big difference to production at Hyne, local jobs and the construction boom.

A major expansion of Hyne Timber is complete as the Maryborough manufacturing giant meets increasing demand for its products amid a construction boom.

The new Continuous Drying Kiln (CDK) heralds a new chapter for the 139-year-old local company.

The milestone was marked with an official ribbon cutting event on Friday, which was also the 35-year anniversary of the original installation of kilns at the Tuan Mill, but the best bit is still to come.

Production is expected to increase by 20% in the next few months and already, 60 extra workers have been recruited to assist with scaling up the mill.

]Hyne Timber CEO, Jon Kleinschmidt said the company was experiencing ‘significant demand’ for its products and the expansion was “timely and can bring the construction sector some comfort as we ramp up production over the next few months”.
“The CDK not only delivers efficiency for the Tuan Mill in addressing the timber drying bottleneck, but it will also improve the consistency of drying quality and overall quality of our timber in addition to delivering energy efficiency,” Mr Kleinschmidt said
“We have had dedicated teams working on this highly specialised project for months.

Tuan Mill team members led by David Spencer and Paul Ryan, supported by contractors including Civil Mining and Construction, Wolff Power, Brisbane Electrical, Platinum Fire, Windsor and representatives of The University of Queensland, Centre for Future Timber Structures and ARC Future Timber Hub, were all acknowledged for their efforts.

“I hope they all feel very proud of this achievement as part of our history and for our future,” he said

The timber yard of Hyne Timber's Tuan Mill. Photo: Stuart Fast

“Scaling up our expansion project is paralleled with us working collaboratively with our suppliers including HQ Plantations, Richers Transport and Log Management Solutions, creating more jobs for the region.

“I would like to thank the Queensland Government, Bruce Saunders and the team at State Development and the Fraser Coast Regional Council for their ongoing support for growth, jobs and expansion in our region.”

The Tuan Mill now employs around 300 people and is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of softwood framing.

Hyne also recently opened its new Glue Laminated Factory.

Hyne Timber's new Glue Laminated Timber plant in Maryborough.

HOW IT WORKS

A CDK operates differently to the Tuan Mill’s existing batch kilns.

Packs of wood are continually fed onto trolleys that are steadily pushed through the kiln without stopping.

Over the course of 37 hours, the wood passes through three zones; a humid heating zone where the wood is gradually warmed up, a central low-humidity drying zone and a humid cooling zone.

Heat is transferred between the cooling and heating zones to increase thermal efficiency.

CDK’s have rapidly been accepted as best practice for wood drying and have several advantages:

• Significantly higher thermal efficiency.
• Automation and improved safety. The CDK is fed with green packs at one end while dry packs are removed at the other end.
• Less moisture variation.
• Straighter product with less risk of discolouration, improving quality for customers
• Less maintenance, reducing ongoing costs.