OFFICIAL RIBBON CUTTING MARKS MILESTONE IN
CONTINUOUS DRYING KILN TECHNOLOGY AT HYNE

HYNE Timber’s much anticipated, new continuous drying kiln has commenced operation, a milestone marked with an official ribbon cutting event last Friday.

Since the initial announcement in March, around 60 additional team members have been recruited to assist with scaling up the Tuan mill with an added 20% capacity over the next few months.

CEO Jon Kleinschmidt said Hyne Timber had invested significantly over its 139-year history and this latest milestone was yet another chapter for the history book.

“We are currently experiencing significant demand for our products so this $14.5 million investment for expansion is timely and can bring the construction sector some comfort as we ramp up production over the next few months.

“The kiln not only delivers efficiency at Tuan 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 and I would like to acknowledge them. They include several 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. I hope they all feel very proud of this achievement as part of our history and for our future.

“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.”

Mr Kleinschmidt thanked the Queensland government, Bruce Saunders MP Maryborough and the team at State Development and the Fraser Coast Regional Council for their ongoing support for growth, jobs and expansion in the region.

To officially mark the opening, Jon Kleinschmidt was joined by Bruce Saunders, Fraser Coast Deputy Mayor, Darren Everard, Hyne family members Chris Hyne and Kelly Hyne, Hyne team members David Spencer, Paul Ryan, and Giaan Muller and Abby Zipf, two of the newest recruits to join the team as part of the expansion in cutting the ribbon.

The event coincided with the 35-year anniversary of the original installation of kilns at Tuan, which now employs around 300 people and is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of softwood framing.

The continuous drying kiln operates differently to Tuan’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.

MAIN PIC: Kiln-drying milestone: cutting the ribbon … Chris Hyne, ex director, Hyne Timber, Bruce Saunders, MP, Maryborough and Assistant Minister for Train Manufacturing and Regional Roads, Jon Kleinschmidt, Hyne Timber CEO, Giaan Muller, Hyne recruit, Brian Selke, kilns manager, Abby Zipf, Hyne recruit, Darren Everard, Fraser Coast Deputy Mayor, Kelly Hyne, Tuan mill optimisation officer, Paul Ryan, CDK engineering lead, and David Spencer, CDK project lead.