Borg Manufacturing became a player in the structural timber products business in January 2018, via the purchase of the Structaflor brand and particleboard flooring manufacturing assets from Carter Holt Harvey in Oberon NSW. The Structaflor brand is well over 40 years old and the range of products includes Yellow tongue, Red tongue, Blue tongue, Termiflor and R-Flor.
In 2016 Borg announced the most significant investment in Australian particleboard production for several decades – a new Seimpelkamp continuous line to be built at Oberon. We are proud to announce that the first flooring panels were pressed on 11th February 2019 and as of March the plant is still commissioning, but is now producing substantial commercial volumes of particleboard – both for flooring and joinery applications. The old Structaflor site in Oberon was closed in February, having started production way back in 1963.
The new production line represents an investment in excess of $120m, and opens up new opportunities for the flooring segment. Being a continuous line, new size opportunities can now be explored, as the pressed mat can be docked at different lengths such as 2700mm, 3150mm, 3600mm. In contrast, the old Structaflor product could only manufacture fixed 3600 lengths.
Borg Manufacturing is a private business based at Somersby NSW (Central Coast), owned by Michael and John Borg who started the business straight from school in 1988. The Polytec brand is well established in the kitchen and joinery markets, and manufactures and sells decorative panels on MDF and Particleboard substrates, plus decorative laminates. The business has a national footprint with 16 company owned distribution sites and 4 major manufacturing sites at Oberon, Somersby, Charmhaven (NSW), and Mt Gambier (SA). The business also has a company owned fleet of more than 200 trucks, and over 1,800 employees nationally.
A feature of the business is a commitment to vertical integration, from forest ownership through to supplying high-end decorative kitchen doors. The company also has a commitment to leading edge technology, which is evident at all of the production sites.
Borg is delighted to be a new member and sponsor of the FTMA, and we look forward to supplying FTMA members and developing the products needed to suit the changing building methods used in both residential and commercial construction.
