Juken New Zealand

History

Juken Nissho was formed for the 1990 purchase of licences to run previously publicly owned forests covering nearly 600 km² of Northland, the Wairarapa and East Cape. It operates plants at Kaitaia, Masterton and Gisborne and employs around 1,000 New Zealanders largely as labourers.

At present Juken Nissho controls around 550 km² of Pinus radiata, Douglas-fir and Corsican pine. Juken New Zealand manufactures and markets timber panel products under the Triboard, Spaceboard and Strandboard brands. Triboard, conceived in the 1980s, competes with older technologies such as particleboard and MDF.

In late March 2026, Juken New Zealand proposed closing its two timber mills in Kaitaia if it could not find a buyer. The Workers First Union deputy secretary Anita Rosentreter expressed concern that the proposed mill closures would lead to significant job losses in the town. In early April 2026, Northland Member of Parliament Grant McCallum said that a group of investors were negotiating with Juken to purchase the two Kaitaia timber mills.

In mid-July 2026, Juken New Zealand director Yasufumi Tsuchiya confirmed that its Northland wood veneer mill would be closed down by 21 August after failing to find a buyer for the mill. The closure of the Northland Mill is expected to affect 60 jobs, with workers being offered redeployment and re-training opportunities. Tsuchiya confirmed that Juken was in the process of negotiating the sale of its Triboard Mill in Northland, which employs 140 workers.