James Hardie Industries plans capacity expansion in Australia
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX), producer and marketer of high-performance fiber cement and fiber gypsum building solutions has entered into an
agreement to purchase land in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to enable continued capacity expansion.
James Hardie acknowledges the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land and pays respect to their Elders past and present. The greenfield site in Melbourne is part of the group’s global strategic capacity expansion program and will be the fourth manufacturing site within James
Hardie’s Asia Pacific manufacturing network.
Currently there are manufacturing sites in Rosehill, NSW, Australia, Carol Park, Queensland, Australia and Cabuyao, Philippines.
Commenting on the Melbourne Site, Interim CEO Harold Wiens stated, “Adding a manufacturing site in the State of Victoria enables James Hardie to continue to meet the strong demand for our high value building solutions in the Asia Pacific region.
As we continue our strategic focus on marketing directly to the homeowner and commercializing market-led innovations, this site will help us not only meet this demand but enable the manufacturing of new innovations and existing high-value products.”
LOGOS Group, one of Asia Pacific’s leading logistics property specialists, has been selected as the developer for the project. It is anticipated the Melbourne Site will begin production with one sheet machine by April 2025.
Ultimately, we anticipate the Melbourne Site will be able to accommodate 2 sheet machines as well as additional manufacturing capabilities.
Similar to our existing 19 manufacturing sites around the globe, we believe the Melbourne Site will help to build a sustainable community in Victoria. We will source raw materials locally, deliver products locally, donate locally
and employ locally. During construction, the Melbourne Site will generate an average 250 jobs per day, peaking at approximately 500 jobs per day.
Once the first phase of works is completed, there will be 150 new fulltime jobs created which we anticipate will increase to 200 jobs, once the full project is completed.
The Melbourne Site will generate multiple additional opportunities within the local community for professional and skilled labor to support site operations.
The Melbourne Site will be able to directly deliver high value products to key growth
markets both locally and internationally.
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