Overseas investment decision for case 202300156 - Pan Pac Forest Products Limited

The Applicant is a fully integrated forest products company, which has been operating in Hawke’s Bay since 1971, where it runs its own sawmill and pulpmill. It is part of Oji Group, a Japanese business involved in forest, paper and packaging industry, with production sites and forestry operations throughout Japan and offshore.

The Land is currently leased and used as part of a beef and sheep farm and includes 10ha of existing forest. The Land is LUC 6 (99%) and 7 (1%).

The Applicant intends to convert the Land to be used nearly exclusively for forestry activities by planting approximately 390ha of radiata pine trees. The Applicant plans to process all suitable logs harvested on the Land at its own mills.

The main benefits to New Zealand include increased revenue and export receipts from the Land, continued employment of the Applicant's employees in it mills,  increased domestic processing of primary products, and increased productivity due to the use of forestry precision technologies such as mechanised planting machine and pruner. The Investment is also likely to result in various ecological benefits, enhance an historic heritage feature on the Land, advance significant government policies and increase public access.

Consent was granted to this Investment as the Applicant met the investor test criterion and the Investment is likely to result in benefit to New Zealand.