New Zealand

What we do

Pine trees are a remarkable, renewable resource grown locally in the central north island. Thanks to sunlight and water, they’re a natural chemical factory that never runs out. About 40% of a pine tree is made up of pulp fibres (cellulose) which are processed into paper, tissue and cardboard at local mills in Tokoroa and Kawerau. The by-products are then separated out and sent to Lawter. These by-products are known as Crude Tall Oil (a sticky brown substance) and Crude Sulphate Turpentine.

We distil these two raw products by heating them and passing the vapours through a series of distillation columns at our manufacturing plant. This process separates out natural components such as fatty acids, pitch, rosin, and pinenes. Some of these compounds are sold without further processing while others are processed into products such as tackifier resins and myrcene.

Each of these products is then packaged at our Mount Maunganui site and shipped off to our clients around the Asia Pacific region and beyond, for use in manufacturing other goods.

The range of products that contain natural chemicals derived from pine trees is truly remarkable. Disinfectants, cough medicines, adhesive labelling (food and general packaging), hot melt glue, body wax, acrylic paint, soap, cardboard packaging, tyres, pharmaceutical steroids…the list goes on! Even road marking paint contains pine tree rosin to help the paint stick to the road surface and dry quickly.

By extracting every last drop of useful material from pine trees, we help other industries – and communities around the globe – make full use of this environmentally sustainable resource.

Our Vision & Values

We strive to make full use of what nature has given us to enhance our quality of life. By cooperating with Mother Nature, and each other, we help to make an extensive range of useful goods and contribute to a productive society.

We rely on our people, innovation and technology to deliver our pine tree products as sustainably and safely as possible to customers around the world.

We operate on the basis of mutual understanding and trust, and responsibly meet any challenges that come our way.

Our History

The origins of Lawter NZ can be traced back to the naval stores industry which maintained wooden ships and sailing tackle pre-20^th Century. The pitch and rosin derived from pine trees was used to waterproof and seal the ships, so they were seaworthy.

The natural compounds found inside pine trees have been highly valued ever since.

In March 1980, an evaluation study suggested there was an attractive investment opportunity here in New Zealand. Tasman Pulp and Paper and NZ Forest Products (who owned the mills in Kawerau and Tokoroa), decided to establish a joint venture to process their pine tree waste and derive maximum value from each log.

They settled on a 3.7ha site in Mount Maunganui as it was close to the Port of Tauranga and began sending their by-products there in August 1983.

The new company was originally known as Pine Chemicals NZ Ltd. A Crude Tall Oil fractionation plant was built first, followed several months later by a crude turpentine facility.

By the late 1980s the company had transformed itself from a basic commodity fractionator and began producing, selling and marketing tall oil and turpentine value-added derivatives.

Ownership has changed multiple times in the past four decades and the company was most recently bought by the Harima Chemicals Group in 2010 and renamed Lawter NZ Limited in February 2011.