Vanua Levu Chip Plant

Fiji

Innovation is a word that you will hear often from Pedersen Group’s Managing Director Paul Pedersen. “Renowned for our innovation, we have an exemplary track record, spanning nearly 40 years, of designing and implementing individual solutions for individual sites.”

A good example of this innovative thinking is Pedersen Group’s recent project in Nabouwalu, Fiji.

“In the southwestern region of Vanua Levu, Nabouwalu is a tiny settlement 127km west of Savusavu. Nowadays it’s mainly used as a ferry landing point for travellers, Nabouwalu in the 19th century was an important port for European traders who exported sandalwood from this area. Only accessible from the bus via Labasa, you cannot reach Nabouwalu from Savusavu. To travel from here to Savusavu you will need a four-wheel drive as the road is nearly impassable in some places.”

With little if any infrastructure, little access to power and machinery and labour, the approach to this pulping operation has called on all the innovative resources the Pedersen Group could muster. Pedersen Group chartered a ship from Tauranga, Bay of Plenty in New Zealand taking over all the equipment they would need to operate a chipping plant as successfully and efficiently as they would in other mills throughout Australasia. Vehicles, debarkers and a massive generator with a 2000 kwh capacity along with all the other equipment was shipped across to be offloaded onto barges, taken to the government built wharf and trucked to the site. Sourcing logs from the Fiji Holdings Ltd forest, Pedersen Group achieved what the previous operator could not i.e. setting up and running an efficient chipping mill with the chips being transported along a conveyor belt to ships using the $25 million wharf.

Because of its remoteness, the site has been equipped with modern equipment including Wi-Fi for tracking operational movements ensuring the high standards of efficiency expected from Pedersen Group operations. The local community will benefit greatly from the project by supplying labour and other supplies.

The site was successfully commissioned and officially opened by the Fiji Prime Minister, Commodore Voreque Bainimarama in April 2012. Following the commissioning, the Pedersen Group sold the site in total to Tropik Wood Products Limited in September 2012.

The Pedersen Group is proud of its involvement in this project in Fiji. This project demonstrates our ability to deliver a world class chip mill and export chip facility covering all aspects of logistics, project management, construction and commissioning.