About Whakatāne Mill Limited

A paperboard Mill with a proud history.
Part of the community.

We are New Zealand’s’ only Paperboard mill located on the North Island, in the Bay of Plenty region. We are extremely proud of our past having been part of the Bay of Plenty community since 1939.

We directly employ some 160 personnel - the vast majority of whom come from the local Whakatane area. We started production in 1939 to turn the nearby Central North Island Pine forests into export paperboard for New Zealand’s growing economy.

Our ownership history has been diverse – from NZ Forest Products in the early days, to Carter Holt Harvey and Rank Group, SIG Combibloc and now the Smurfit Consortium. We remain an integral part of the local community and New Zealand’s economy. Today we produce 150,000 tonnes of paperboard annually on a 24hr/day, 7 days a week basis.