An Expanding, Renewable Resource
The Wespine sawmill has operated since 1985. In 1991/92, Wespine signed an agreement with the Government of Western Australia to purchase sawlogs produced by State owned and private pine plantations, over a forty year period. Under the agreement, the company committed to construct and operate a sawmill which would make full use of the economies of scale provided by the deal, producing timber for sale throughout Australia and the countries of the Pacific Rim. The sawmill’s capacity is approaching 200,000m3 output per annum.
Environment and Sustainability
Of all the major building materials timber framing made from plantation timber offers a unique and positive environmental story.
Natural and renewable
Timber is nature's own structural material which evolved to support trees that can grow as high as 100 metres. Every tree harvested is replaced - in fact Australia’s plantations are currently expanding so more trees are getting planted than are being harvested. For more information about Western Australia's pine plantations go to the websites of the
Plantation Information Network
and the Forest Products Commission Western Australia
Low carbon footprint
Plantation trees absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store carbon in the wood and in the process release life-giving oxygen back into the air. The contribution of trees in reducing the quantity of greenhouse gases in the air is recognised as a key process in reducing the effects of climate change.
In the manufacturing process, little energy is needed to process the raw wood into framing timber. What little energy is needed to process and dry the wood to make timber is commonly produced from renewable biomass energy. Energy sourced from biomass is regarded as greenhouse neutral.
Considering the amount of carbon absorbed by the trees that produce the timber, compared to other products such as concrete, brick and steel, using timber framing actually reduces carbon emissions rather than increases them ….. read more
Sourced from well-managed, sustainable plantations
All timber planting, harvesting and marketing is managed with a strong sustainability focus in Western Australia. The majority of plantation forests in Australia have been certified by independent third parties as being sustainably well-managed when assessed against the internationally recognised standards of the Australian Forestry Certification Scheme
(AFCS) or the interim standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ….. read more
Strength You Can Stand On
Wespine MGP is graded using a system developed with the CSIRO, based on the testing of some 10,000 full-sized lengths of structural pine. Timber is the only framing material that's backed by a national performance code.
Dependability of Supply
Wespine has a secure long-term supply of plantation logs guaranteed by an agreement with the West Australian Government. The growth of the plantations and of the mill has been the result of a cooperative Government and Company strategy to meet the timber needs of Western Australia (particularly now hardwood has become less available). As the demand for structural timber grows into the future, so will Wespine.
Pine Timber
Pine is generally sold in a dressed rather than sawn form. The timber is often dressed all round (DAR) with arrissed or square edges. Pine is one of the easiest timbers with which to work. It stains and glues well, has good nail holding capacity, is easy to saw and plane and is widely available. Pine can be cut, nailed, drilled and screwed with ordinary hand tools and is relatively light to lift. All structural pine is planer gauged or profiled for easy handling and more accurate marking and jointing. Pine is kiln dried to overcome the shrinkage and distortion problems associated with 'green' timbers. It is therefore advisable to protect it when it is delivered to site, particularly if the timber is to be used where a high standard of appearance is desired.
The Wespine range includes dressed, stress graded and, if required, preservative treated timber, for use in new and renovated housing construction and furniture manufacturing.
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Ideal for outdoor structures where decay and termite protection is essential.
Where necessary, Supapine is machine stress graded for structural application.
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An affordable, effective treatment for standard size framing timber.
Wespine Blue makes the benefit of termite and borer protected timber available to virtually everyone.
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Milled and dressed to meet the exacting specifications required for interior
structures such as wall and roof framing, Structural is machine stress graded and its
performance is backed by a national code. |
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Ideal for the home handyman or renovator, Project Pine is graded
for appearance and is available either square dressed or profiled.
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