Wood Manufacture (Except Furniture)

Sawmilling, with an average-sized unit of 11 persons, employs 5,900 workers and produces 617 million bd. ft. of rough-sawn timber, valued at £20.6 million. Exotic pines and the native rimu form most of the timber sawn, nearly 60 per cent of which is produced in the Auckland Province from the native forests of the King Country and the native and exotic forests of the Bay of Plenty. There are over 5,800 persons engaged in planing mills and joinery factories with an output of £24.2 million. These operate in or near towns, with three-quarters of the mills in the North Island. Other units manufacture wooden containers for the export trade, plywood, veneers, turnings, handles, dowelling, mouldings, and various household utilities.