Millari Group Australia has celebrated its first milestone for 2025

Millari NZ reaches first milestone, supplying sustainable MANA products to Australian timber industry.

MANA Timber products from Millari NZ.

MAIN PIC: Millari NZ timber sourced locally from FSC certified forest.
Images: Millari NZ

Millari Group and its 110-strong Millari NZ whānau (family) have reached their first major milestone for the Australian timber industry this month, with the introduction of their newly branded MANA Timber and MANA LVL products for Australian customers. This follows Millari Group’s acquisition of the former Juken (JNL) Gisborne facilities in New Zealand earlier this year.

The MANA brand for Millari NZ is a reflection of the deep respect and acknowledgement the company holds for the Gisborne community. In Māori culture, mana represents a person’s or group’s spiritual power, integrity, authority, prestige, and influence. It can be inherited, earned through actions, or bestowed through connection to the land and people. Millari NZ’s MANA product range has been developed to embody these principles of strength, respect, quality, and responsibility.

The MANA product family includes MANA-Beam, MANA-Joist, MANA-Form, MANA-Edge, MANA-Pine, and MANA-Frame, with additional product lines currently under development.
Further investment remains on track over the next three years to increase the combined capacity of the sawmill, LVL and plywood operations from 130,000m³ to 200,000m³ by 2027. This includes targeted increases across timber (100,000m³), LVL (80,000m³), and plywood (20,000m³).

Since launching in February this year, Millari NZ has reignited production across the LVL, Timber, and Plywood facilities, supplying a full range of products that meet AS/NZS standards directly to Australia’s eastern seaboard.

Owner and CEO Ryan Yari states, “We are excited that Millari NZ is progressing well with production and delivery, especially with our distinctive MANA timber product, which we look forward to celebrating with our Australian customers.

“Our growing Gisborne staff and team at Millari NZ have worked above and beyond to provide a reliable source of high-quality EWP (engineered wood products) and timber products for the Australian Timber Industry with the tight turnarounds and direct delivery we are known for”.

Yari continues, “We are excited about the future and the opportunity to help ease the burden on local and Australian businesses, which have been forced to rely on imported products due to the lack of local manufacturing”.

Millari Group Australia includes Millari NZ, True Blue Timber and True Blue LVL and supplies FSC 100% timber products to Australia’s leading Timber and Hardware retailers. For more information visit https://truebluetimber.com.au and https://millarigroup.com

The Millari Group also has a video with more details. Click here to view.

About True Blue Timber / Millari Group Australia

  • True Blue Timber (TBT) offers a versatile range of products, from Structural framing material in treated and untreated, LVL (laminated Veneer Lumber), I-Joist, GLT, Plywood, and Ancillary products.
  • TBT supply FSC 100% timber products to Australia’s leading Timber and Hardware retailers
    There are two sites in Australia, True Blue Timber Sydney in Smithfield and True Blue Timber Melbourne in Clyde North.
  • Millari Group Australia was formed in 2024 to support the growth of True Blue Timber operations, including True
  • Blue LVL and True Blue Plywood, adding Millari NZ facilities in 2025 with 35,000m2 factory space.

About Millari NZ sawmill in Gisborne New Zealand

  • Millari Group Australia (True Blue Timber, True Blue LVL, True Blue Plywood) has entered a sales and purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the JUKEN Gisborne facilities (100% owned by Japanese) and 
will be rebranded as ‘MILLARI NZ’.
  • The current output capacity of the Millari NZ sawmill is 130,000m³ per year, 60,000m³ is timber, LVL is 55,000m³ and Plywood is 15,000m³.
  • This is the first Sawmill purchase in the Millari Group Australia portfolio
  • Millari NZ opened in February 2025

Investment in Millari NZ sawmill

  • Millari Group will invest a significant amount into the LVL and Plywood manufacturing line in the next two years to upgrade and increase the production capacity.
  • The production capacity of the sawmill, LVL and Plywood is expected to increase to 200,000m3 by 2027. (Timber 100,000m³, LVL 80,000m³ and Plywood 20,000m³)
  • With the re-opening of the facility by Millari NZ in February 2025, over 110 jobs have been created and are growing.