The South Australian Forest Products Association has hailed the commencement of construction on Timberlink’s $63m NeXTimber facility in Tarpeena as the “first step on the road to transformative change in the way we build the buildings of the future”.

South Australian Forest Products Association chief executive Nathan Paine said the state-of-the-art facility would not just drive job creation, it would also deliver more sustainable engineered wood products.

“South Australia’s forest products industries are already building the nation through growing and processing 35% of the nation’s locally produced house framing timbers, 25% of the nation’s particle board and now this new facility will deliver CLT and GLT products that offer a greener, more sustainable alternative to steel and concrete in mid and high-rise construction projects,” Mr Paine said.

“Each year, the South Australian plantation estate sequesters 4.64 million tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere, making timber the Ultimate Renewable.

“The CLT and GLT timber products that will be processed by NeXTimber will provide carbon negative mass timber products for use in mid and high-rise construction helping create a cleaner, greener future.

“This project, with the support of the South Australian Government through the Regional Growth Fund is another step to a cleaner, greener future and demonstrates the capacity of the South Australian forestry industry to drive new manufacturing jobs that not just deliver new products but also generate new employment in the State’s South East.”