WML Paperboard are Australasia’s only manufacturer of coated folding boxboard grades for the packaging market. 

All of our folding boxboard is produced to the highest quality from virgin fibre for the greatest product safety and optimal performance.  

We are extremely proud of our past having a steadfast presence since 1939.

We directly employ in excess of 185 personnel - the vast majority of whom come from the local area.  We started production in 1939 to turn the nearby Central North Island Pine forests into export paperboard for New Zealand’s growing economy.

Folding boxboard is an environmentally sustainable packaging format, with raw materials sourced responsibly from nearby renewable pine plantations or from a dedicated, qualified supplier base.  Every product that we make fits easily into already established circular recycling programs, ensuring that our impact on the environment and consumer waste to landfill is minimised.

Our ownership history has been diverse – from NZ Forest Products in the early days, to Carter Holt Harvey and Rank Group, SIG Combibloc and since June 2021 by the Smurfit Consortium.  Our current owners are committed to investing in WML to ensure that the business has a future for decades to come.

Today we produce in excess of 150,000 tonnes of folding boxboard annually on a 24hr/day, 7 days a week basis, with an already invested expansion plan that will take the Mill volume to in excess of 200,000 tonnes by the end of 2023.

We are committed to being an employer of choice in the Bay of Plenty area and continuing to support the New Zealand timber industry and our many customers and suppliers all over the globe.

And we're delighted to help strengthen the families of our employees and contribute meaningfully to the communities in which we live.




Whakatane Mill Limited

This department focuses on driving revenue growth through acquiring new customers and managing client relationships.

Sales Development

This department manages the processes and operations involved in pulp production and handling.

Pulp Operations

This department oversees the flow of goods and materials, managing procurement, logistics, and inventory to ensure efficient operations.

Whakatane Mill Limited

Org chart

Teams

Sales Development

Pulp Operations

Supply Chain Management

Offices

Whakatane Mill Limited

Org chart

Teams

Sales Development

Pulp Operations

Supply Chain Management

Offices

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