Oji Fibre Solutions is about to open a new $72m cardboard packaging factory on the Gold Coast, with the help of the state government’s Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund (AQIAF).
Oji is being coy about the printing set-up inside the new factory, however its plants around the world and in Australia typically have flexo printing facilities inside them, as well as pre and post print. Interestingly EFI is about to import the first Nozomi digital carton printer into the country to an as yet un-named printer.
The new facility in Yatala will be a centre for manufacturing corrugated packaging goods, with packaging products to be supplied for end-use markets in QLD, northern NSW and the NT, particularly in fruit and vegetable and meat sectors. Oji also supplies to the wine and horticultural markets, and supplies packaging for point of sale (shelf ready).
Dr Jon Ryder, CEO and managing director of Oji Solutions says, “Queensland is offering us a huge opportunity for the expansion of our packaging business here in Australia. Part of the reason we came to Queensland is the people, the employment base, the talent pool that we can tap into, and the central location to the client base that we want to grow with here in Queensland."
Oji Fibre Solutions Packaging is one of Australasia’s largest fibre-based packaging manufacturers with manufacturing facilities located in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Auckland, Levin, and Christchurch. Oji Group says it is the fifth largest pulp and paper and company in the world, with 158 subsidiaries located in 17 countries.
The company is also growing through acquisition, buying Cardboard Cartons in Melbourne last year, renaming the company as Oji Cardboard Carton Solutions.
Annastacia Palaszcuk, QLD state premier, says the new Yatala plant has increased staff numbers from 55 to 70 ahead of schedule.
[Related: Barry sells Cardboard Cartons]
Oji CEO Ryder says, “The Queensland Government has been an absolutely tremendous help. They really are pro-business. They are commercially astute and the industry attraction program they put together has been fundamental in helping us select Queensland as the best destination for this factory.”
Palaszczuk says, “The Government’s incentive of returning payroll tax on new company employees for a period figured in Oji’s decision to site the new operation in Queensland rather than elsewhere in Australia or in Asia.
“Oji’s decision in 2016 to build a corrugated box manufacturing factory here in south-east Queensland was a corporate vote of confidence in our state from one of the world’s largest forest, paper and packaging producers with a billion-dollar-plus turnover.
“The incentives our government is providing through our industry attraction fund were instrumental in Oji building this highly automated facility here in Queensland, providing jobs for Queenslanders and another feather in the cap of our state’s growing manufacturing industry.”
The state’s $400m Industry Attraction Fund was established in 2016. Oji was the first company under the state programme to locate in QLD and received additional help from the Gold Coast City Council’s $300,000 Investment Attraction Program.
Cameron Dick, Queensland’s Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning says “The Palaszczuk Government has manufacturing at the heart of our economic agenda to build on Queensland’s competitive strengths.
“The Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund was set up to specifically attract industries to contribute to economic growth and generate the knowledge-based jobs of the future.
“Whilst no capital funding was provided to Oji, the Palaszczuk Government does provide incentives, including cash grants and payroll tax relief, to enhance Queensland’s attractiveness as a place to invest for contested projects.”
[Related: Major packaging plant to open in QLD]
Nicholas Molloy, general manager, Packaging Australia at Oji says the construction and operation of the Yatala facility also creates significant opportunities for surrounding business such as electrical and plumbing services, engineering firms, parts manufacturers, accommodation providers and food suppliers.
He says, “If we use our Sydney and Melbourne operations as a guide, those businesses interact with up to 50 other businesses within their local areas, so we expect our Yatala operation will do likewise and be a huge support to the local municipality.”
Oji says the Yatala site was chosen due to its central location between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and vicinity to key end-use markets. The company also says the location is also attractive to potential employees and customers in South East Queensland and is less than five minutes from the M1 Pacific Motorway at the heart of key industrial production, warehousing and distribution hubs. The new site is said to hold a 2.4 hectare building sits on 5.8 hectares of land, with a rainwater harvesting system which will reduce potable water consumption by 80 per cent, a 100kW Solar PV System, daylight sensors, and a lighting control system in the warehouse. Oji claims the new Yatala facility created 300 jobs during construction.
QLD’s Department of State Development says demand for Oji’s corrugated packaging is expected to grow fastest in Queensland, driven by long-term growth in horticulture and meat segments, with Queensland already being the dominant corrugated container market in Australia for fruit and vegetables and meat.
Dick says, “Oji is a growing company, and the Government welcomes their plans for expansion. Now they have an established presence in Queensland, Oji have the same opportunity as other Queensland companies to apply for a range of Palaszczuk Government assistance programs, including our Made in Queensland and Jobs and Regional Growth Funds.”
Ryder says, “The new facility confirms our commitment to grow our business in Australia and New Zealand. We believe there is opportunity to take advantage of the increasing demand for corrugated packaging in Queensland and the Yatala project fits our strategy to increase vertical integration across our pulp, paper and packaging businesses.”
Dr Anthony Lynham, Minister for State Development says the Palaszczuk Government’s success in luring a multinational company to set up shop in Queensland demonstrates the government’s commitment to jobs and economic growth.
Stirling Hinchcliffe, acting minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning says, “Queensland’s $20bn manufacturing sector employs around 170,000 people, and with programs like AQIAF, Made in Queensland, the Jobs and Regional Growth Fund and our priority industry roadmaps supporting growth, businesses are queueing up to join in.”
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