PLYWOODS
Austral Plywoods extends its premium product range
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ROM MAKING butter boxes in the 1920s to making premium grade plywood ... that’s the story of Brisbane-based Austral Plywoods. It’s been a long, well-planned learning and growth schedule that today sees Austral Plywood regarded as a leading Australian manufacturer in this demanding field. “Our resource is a very special one because Hoop Pine Plywood only grows in Queensland. Hoop Pine trees in particular take 50 years to mature before they can be harvested and it is vital we source from these plantations so we ensure the resource is renewed. Austral Plywoods source logs from HQPlantations in southeast Queensland and all our products have Chain of Custody certification under the Australian Standards AS4707:2006,” says Lizan Yee, Assistant Sales Manager. “We maintain a process quality control system in compliance with the EWPAA-JAS-ANZ product certification scheme. Our A-Bond products have a Super E0 rating, the lowest formaldehyde emission rating obtainable making our products perfect for Green Star Rated projects or environmentally sustainable projects. Our Hoop Pine was recently used in the ‘Superpodhome’ project (superpodhome.com), one of the first certified passive buildings in Australia, and the first passive house system to win a ‘Good Design Award’ in May 2015.” Lizan says with obvious pride. Austral Plywoods manufacture a range of panel products, specialising in Marine plywood and appearance grade plywoods. Austral Plywoods have been involved in a number of high profile projects including the Brisbane Supreme & District Courts, Perth Arena and Melbourne Recital Centre. These projects have earned Austral Plywoods a reputation for high quality products and excellent customer service. “We are particularly proud of The Melbourne Recital Centre where each panel was three sheets of 25mm ‘A’ core Hoop Pine Plywood. The panels had deep acoustic carvings in the face, distributing even sound quality
“ In recent years, we have concentrated on the ‘niche’ markets. ” around the theatre. On the ABC show ‘Catalyst’, the concert hall was described as ‘acoustically perfect’ mainly due to the quality of the Hoop Pine Plywood,” says Gary Holmes, Sales and Marketing Manager. “From making wooden dairy boxes for butter in the 1920s, Austral Plywoods has come a long way. In recent years, we have concentrated on the ‘niche’ markets. Austral Plywoods is now regarded as Australia’s leading manufacturer of premium grade hoop pine plywood and our expertise has grown into decorative panels for walls, ceilings and cabinetry. The product range is mainly for plywood that is ‘seen’ and we produce either B-B grade or A-C grade faced grade plywoods for those decorative applications. Our Marine plywood is the ‘Rolls Royce’ of plywoods being all ‘A’ grade veneer throughout the construction. This year we introduced two new exciting products, Ariaply and Endurapanel,” Gary says. Austral Plywoods’ Ariaply is used in semi-exposed applications and Endurapanel can be used in fullyexposed applications for facades, which is the first time Austral has recommend their plywood to be used fully-exposed. Both of these new products boast a seven year coating warranty and a 25 year bond warranty. These products are also treated against mould and rot plus they are ‘envelope-dipped’ ensuring all edges are sealed and ready to install. These are easy to install and are designed to save projects on labour and installation costs, a common complaint in the industry. Austral Plywood’s client bases are wholesalers who are located conveniently all throughout Australia and New Zealand. From butter boxes to structural beauty -- the Austral Plywood story has been a long time in the making and it looks like it’s got an even longer future.
n Veneer being clipped, photo by Austral Plywoods
n G rading before hot press, photo by Austral Plywoods
n Peeling lathe, photo by Austral Plywoods
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n Trim saws, photo by Austral Plywoods
AUSTRALASIAN TIMBER
JUNE 2015
www.timberbiz.com.au