Kinleith Mill

The Kinleith Mill was a pulp and paper plant located at Kinleith, Tokoroa, New Zealand. It was one of eight mills operating in the New Zealand pulp and paper industry.^[1] It is currently operated by Oji Fibre Solutions, formerly Carter Holt Harvey.

An aerial view of the mill

The mill from the northeast

Kinleith Mill produced approximately 330,000 tonnes of paper grades per year, plus 265,000 tonnes of predominantly bleached pulp.^[2] The site boasted its own cogeneration plant operated by Genesis Energy, which burned wood waste and generates approximately 40 MW used mainly on-site,^[3] with the rest of the required electricity mainly coming via a 110 kV transmission line direct from the nearby Arapuni Dam. The mill was Tokoroa’s largest employer, with some 450 employees and 280 additional subcontractors, mainly from ABB.^[4] A cycleway path ran between the mill and Tokoroa township.

Kinleith was established as a sawmill community and dedicated timber forests serving it were planted from 1924 on, with a heavy duty railway reaching the facility in 1952 (Kinleith Branch line), and the mill itself commencing production in 1953. Tokoroa was at that time mainly a service/dormitory town to the mill facilities. Kinleith was built by New Zealand Forest Products and named for the Kinleith paper mills, on the Water of Leith, Scotland by Sir David Henry KBE, who worked there during his papermaking apprenticeship.^[5]

The mill shut down in June 2025.^[6]

See also

• New Zealand portal

• List of paper mills