MONTIGNY INVESTS E40 MILLION, CREATES 200 JOBS

MBABANE – Adding value!

Montigny Investments continues to live up to its motto of adding value through implementing innovative systems to create more jobs and realise maximum value from high quality timber grown on Eswatini soil. The company has recently invested E40 million through the acquisition of South Africa’s door and shelves manufacturing company, TDM, whose machinery has been relocated from Pietermaritzburg to the kingdom with intent to improve the entity’s production capacity. Courtesy of the recent acquisition, the company, which employs about 12 000 people (directly and indirectly), has created 200 more jobs.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew le Roux said their ultimate objective was to create more value from timber as opposed to selling it as a raw product. He explained that their intention of purchasing the company was not particularly to manufacture doors and shelves as well but to utilise the equipment to add value to the company’s produce. During a tour of the company’s Bhunya premises last Thursday afternoon, this reporter had the opportunity to witness how the newly-installed equipment had been utilised to improve production capacity.

Rejects

For instance, what used to be sold as rejects now gets processed into roofing timber using the finger joining plant, which forms part of the equipment that was taken from the TDM plant.
Managing Director Ward Rijkenberg mentioned that in the next few weeks, they would install another finger joining plant that would double the 60 cubic metres, which they produce on a daily basis. He disclosed that 70 interlink trucks of the different products produced at Montigny leave the premises everyday destined for different markets. The company produces planks, charcoal, biomass, chip boards, eucalyptus oil and some logs.

Another interesting development, which has come about as a result of the various innovations being implemented at Montigny, was the installation of kilns which extract water from timber to allow for the next process of value addition. 

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: