One of Nelson Tasman’s largest employers, Nelson Pine Industries is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week. 

The company which employs 275 full time staff and contributes significantly to the region’s economy was founded in October 1984. Its products Golden Edge MDF® and Nelson Pine LVL® are widely used in furniture, kitchens, residential and commercial buildings throughout the Asia-Pacific markets but also in the Nelson region. The company supplied LVL (laminated veneer lumber) product to the new Nelson Airport which has won a number of architectural awards. 

Nelson Pine Industries (NPI) is also proud of its support of other major building products in the region, including the NMIT Arts and Media building, Suter Art Gallery, Nelson Tasman Hospice and Nelson School Music. 

In the 1960s a chipmill operated at Lower Queen St, Richmond until 1984 when Newmans Group, Odlins Ltd and Sumitomo Forestry Ltd (SFC) decided to establish a MDF factory to add more value to a wood chip commodity. Later, in 1993 Sumitomo Forestry became the sole shareholder of Nelson Pine Industries.

At that time, the MDF production using continuous presses was the most advanced technology available worldwide. Nelson Pine Industries has since expanded to run three lines of MDF production and one production line for LVL and has now become the biggest wood processor in New Zealand’s South Island.

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