Pine plantations supplying Visy's new mill
State Forests is drawing on its plantation resources around Tumut and Tumbarumba - the largest pine-growing region in Australia - to supply Visy's new pine pulp and paper mill.
The $400 million state-of-the-art mill, near Tumut, took its first delivery of pulpwood from Buccleuch State Forest in July. Since then, contractor's Ryam has been delivering 1,200 tonnes of pulpwood a day, seven days a week.
The first load of logs leave Buccleuch State Forest en route for the Visy mill.
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Minister for Forestry, Kim Yeadon, said State Forests' staff felt a great deal of satisfaction when the first load of small logs was delivered earlier this year.
"In the past, there have been limited markets for smaller logs but now, with the advent of the Visy mill, State Forests sees a great future for them," Mr Yeadon said.
"It is very important to understand that pine plantations need to be thinned in order to produce larger logs best suited to high-value products, mainly used in the construction industry.
"The thinning process is designed to create more space and less competition to allow the best trees to grow on so that optimum use can be made of the resource.
"During this process the lower-value material (pulpwood) is removed.
"Ultimately, the key to making the best of use of the resource is finding a market for the entire forest and Visy has allowed us to do just that with its new mill."
State Forests has a 30-year agreement to supply Visy with up to 450,000 tonnes of pulpwood a year.
The establishment of an additional 30,000 hectares of new plantation over the next 10 years is also part of the agreement.
(left to right) Visy's Rodney Anderson, State Forests' Rod Baker and Don Hobson, Ryam managing director Lex McLean, Visy's Kenneth Epp, Ryam's Peter Wren and Visy's Tony Quinnell with the first load of State Forests' logs being unloaded in Visy's logyard.
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"The greater development of the pine resource in the area will lead to a host of further opportunities as the plantations mature," Mr Yeadon said.
"During the peak of construction at the mill, more than 900 people were employed on site.
"Ongoing, there will be 150 jobs at the mill, plus another 350 jobs in supporting areas such as harvesting and haulage."
Visy's fibre and forestry manager, Kenneth Epp, said the availability of a sufficient pulpwood resource was the key factor in the choice of the mill's location.
"With the first deliveries of pulpwood, we are making pulp out of a blend of 75 per cent plantation-grown thinnings and sawmill residues, and 25 per cent recycled paper," he said.
The mill will produce 240,000 tonnes of unbleached kraft pulp and packaging paper each year to supply both domestic and export markets.
"This pulp and paper mill is important for its import replacement value and the development of an export market to meet overseas demand, particularly in Asia, which means more jobs." Mr Epp said.
He said the mill would be officially opened in November with celebrations on site befitting such a massive achievement.
Sarah Chester 
Public Affairs, Albury
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The new Visy mill
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What is a kraft pulp mill?
The mill is known as a kraft pulp mill because it uses the kraft (or sulphate) process developed in 1879 by Dahl, a German chemist.
This involves using an alkaline solution to separate the wood fibres in a cooking process.
Small logs are chipped and processed into kraft pulp, which is used to make paper (kraft linerboard) for cardboard boxes.
The Tumut mill ranks in the top four mills in the world for leading-edge technology in kraft pulp production.
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