Wesbeam GM Kathy Morris, MP for Pearce Tracey Roberts and Wesbeam CEO James Malone.
Wesbeam has been awarded an Accelerate of Wood Processing Innovation Program Grant for $4.5 million. Source: Timberbiz
This contribution will assist to fund an $11.5 million total Capital Expenditure Investment of the manufacturing facility located in Neerabup, Perth.
With a world class Australian factory that operates 24/7, Wesbeam is Australia’s only manufacturer of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) beams and I-joists.
Wesbeam controls every step of production and supply; from the sustainable wood sourcing, managed under strict Government guidelines, through to the manufacture, design and engineering support, and Australia wide distribution.
The Wesbeam facility was constructed in 2004, developing a new forest industry for Western Australia with a near $100 million Greenfields investment.
As a Western Australian owned and operated company, it has invested in and continues to build and operate a world scale, State of the Art, LVL and I-Joist plant supplying products for the construction of residential houses included in the roof, walls and floors.
Supported by a 25-year plus 25-year WA State Government Agreement, the proposed significant capital investment will ensure Wesbeam’s plant continues to be one of the most efficient LVL processing plants in the world. It will also continue to provide direct employment at the Neerabup facility of nearly 200 people, with many hundreds more indirectly employed.
Further to this, Wesbeam has an additional 100 employees across Sales, Distribution and Engineering located in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide.
“We believe it to be an important initiative to ensure Australian wood processing facilities increase output and efficiencies that will enhance Australia’s resilience in wood supply to the construction industry, and to the residential housing market,” CEO of Wesbeam, James Malone said.
“The need for local manufactured product was never more clearly seen than during the Covid pandemic when Australian wood supply was critical to ensure residential housing construction was able to continue in the face of a world supply chain gridlock.”
The proposed investment will significantly enhance Wesbeam’s efficiency and provide an important increase in production output (both through wood yield improvements and debottlenecking) which will further reinforce Australia’s LVL and I-Joist supply.
