2001 marked Hyne Timber’s single, largest investment: the acquisition and expansion of the Tumbarumba sawmill!
Approximately 90% of the site was rebuilt as part of the $180million investment, transforming the site within the small town of Tumbarumba, into a world class sawmill, employing over 200 people.
This strategic move was a game-changer for the company’s move into southern markets.
Today, the mill processes approximately 500,000 cubic metres of log per year, or the equivalent of about 16,600 timber framed homes.
Sustainability
The company prides itself on its sustainable, plantation pine log supply, all locally grown, and independently certified, harvested and replanted as part of its renewable cycle.
Similar to Hyne’s Tuan Mill in Queensland, there is no log waste at its Tumbarumba mill. With a circular economy focus, all by-products generated are either used as biofuel to heat the mill’s own heat plant, or sold to local customers, such as Visy’s operation in nearby Tumut.
Innovation, Efficiency and Safety
With a focus on continuous improvements across all aspects of the site, including team safety, as part of an industry world first, the sorting and stacking process of graded timber is done by optical recognition and robotics.
The main objective of this ground-breaking project was “safety-first” and to eliminate injuries to team members from manual handling, sorting and stacking timber.
Following a series of devastating bushfires, in 2024 Hyne opened a new 4700 square metre storage facility at the site to protect timber from extreme weather.
The facility was supported with funding by the Australian and NSW Governments, as part of a commitment to building stronger, more resilient regional economies.
The large-scale storage facility can store up to 4000 cubic metres of timber, known as ‘Rough Sawn, Kiln Dried’ (RSKD) material.
Community
In 2007, the Hyne Community Trust was founded and remains unique to the Tumbarumba region. To date, the Trust has contributed almost one million dollars across a range of community initiatives which add value to the town such as local infrastructure upgrades ,as well as life-saving equipment to the local SES and fire services.
