What Carter Holt Harvey does

Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) is a privately held New Zealand forest products company with more than 150 years of operating history, headquartered in Auckland and operating across four wholly-owned business units: CHH Timber, CHH Plywood, Futurebuild LVL, and Carters Building Supplies. The company manufactures structural and outdoor timber at its Kawerau and Kinleith mills under the Laserframe and Pinex brands, produces appearance- and performance-rated plywood including Ecoply, Shadowclad, and Handiply at Tokoroa, and runs Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) production at Marsden Point under the Futurebuild umbrella covering hySPAN, hyJOIST, hyONE, hy90, hyCHORD, truFORM, hyPLANK, edgeFORM, and hyFRAME building systems. Inputs are sourced from sustainably-grown plantation resources, and the company converts approximately 160,000 tonnes per annum of waste into renewable energy, sourcing roughly 80% of total energy from renewables.

CHH's go-to-market combines direct B2B sales through business-unit websites with a trade-focused downstream distribution network: Carters operates 49 wholesale outlets and 9 frame-and-truss plants across Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, and Christchurch, reaching residential builders, commercial contractors, and trade customers throughout New Zealand. An Australian branch office in Heidelberg, VIC supports regional sales. Revenue is generated through hardware sales of timber, plywood, and LVL products; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The Futurebuild LVL platform bundles proprietary design software and engineering services to support specification in residential mid-floor and roofing applications.

The company is currently navigating a defensive restructuring phase. The Tokoroa plywood mill closure was announced in October 2025, marking the fourth major wood processing mill closure in New Zealand in twelve months, with structural timber production being consolidated into the Kawerau plant. Headcount sits in the 5,001-10,000 range. Macro headwinds include a 0.9% contraction in New Zealand Q2 GDP and US tariffs of 10% on timber imports and 25% on wood furniture and cabinets. CHH is led by CEO Jim Snelson, holds multi-site FSC chain-of-custody certification plus Declare Red List Free labels, and remains in active operating status across its consolidated footprint.

Name

Carter Holt Harvey

Legal name

Carter Holt Harvey

Website

https://chh.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1870

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Carter Holt Harvey is a privately held New Zealand forest products company operating four business units (CHH Timber, CHH Plywood, Futurebuild LVL, and Carters) that manufacture structural timber, plywood, and laminated veneer lumber, and distribute building supplies through 49 wholesale outlets across New Zealand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineered Wood Products Manufacturing

NAICS

Lumber, Plywood, Millwork, and Wood Panel Merchant Wholesalers (42331)

SIC

Millwood, Veneer, Plywood, & Structural Wood Members (2430), Sawmills & Planting Mills, General (2421), Wholesale-Lumber, Plywood, Millwork & Wood Panels (5031), Wholesale-Lumber & Other Construction Materials (5030)

akta.pro primary industry

LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) Manufacturing (IMAMACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Plywood & Panel Products Distribution (Plywood, OSB, MDF, Particleboard) (IMAMAIAC), Sawmilling & Lumber Production (IMADADAA), Engineered Wood Product Distribution & Fabrication Services (IMAMACAO), Building Materials & Lumber Distribution (CRAOAFAD)

Keywords

• Engineered wood products
• Timber manufacturing
• Plywood products
• Laminated veneer lumber
• Building supplies distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Timber and Building Products Sales: CHH manufactures and supplies timber, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), plywood and other building products to the New Zealand market. Revenue is generated through direct sales via business unit websites and through Carters wholesale distribution network.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Core offering

Carter Holt Harvey manufactures and supplies timber, plywood, and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for residential and commercial construction, along with operating a trade-focused building supplies distribution network. The company runs four core business units—CHH Timber, CHH Plywood, Futurebuild LVL, and Carters Building Supplies—sourcing logs from sustainably-grown plantation resources and operating manufacturing facilities in Kawerau, Kinleith, Tokoroa, and Marsden Point.

Product overview

Carter Holt Harvey is a multi-brand timber and building products company organized into four distinct business units. CHH Timber produces structural and outdoor timber under Laserframe® and Pinex® brands; CHH Plywood distributes plywood products including Ecoply®, Shadowclad®, and Handiply®; Futurebuild LVL offers Laminated Veneer Lumber products under multiple brands (hySPAN®, hyJOIST®, hyONE®, hy90®, hyCHORD®, truFORM®, hyPLANK®, edgeFORM®, hyFRAME®); and Carters operates as a building supplies distributor with 49 wholesale outlets and 9 frame and truss plants. The company sources logs from sustainably-grown plantation resources and operates manufacturing facilities in Kawerau, Kinleith, Tokoroa, and Marsden Point.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Laserframe®: Timber brand for structurally graded or outdoor timber applications manufactured at Kawerau and Kinleith Mill facilities.
• Pinex®
• Ecoply®
• Shadowclad®
• Handiply®
• Futurebuild® LVL
• hySPAN®
• hyJOIST®
• hyONE®
• hy90®
• hyCHORD®
• truFORM®
• hyPLANK®
• edgeFORM®
• hyFRAME®

Products and services

• CHH Timber Manufactures structural and outdoor timber products under the Laserframe and Pinex brands for residential, commercial construction and outdoor applications. Produced at CHH's FSC-certified manufacturing facilities in Kawerau and Kinleith Mill.
• CHH Plywood Manufactures and distributes appearance and performance rated plywood products under the Ecoply, Shadowclad, and Handiply brands for structural and non-structural applications. Produced at CHH's FSC-certified Tokoroa facility.
• Futurebuild LVL Offers the largest range of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) products in New Zealand under the Futurebuild brand, including hySPAN, hyJOIST, hyONE, hy90, hyCHORD, truFORM, hyPLANK, edgeFORM, and hyFRAME building systems. Includes proprietary software and design services to support LVL specification in residential mid-floor and roofing applications. Produced at FSC-certified Marsden Point manufacturing plant.
• Carters Building Supplies Trade-focused building supplies and hardware distributor with 49 wholesale distribution outlets and nine frame and truss plants across New Zealand, supplying residential and commercial building markets including Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, and Christchurch regions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Near 100% raw material utilisation with 160,000 tonnes per annum converted to renewable energy
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Fletcher Building: Fletcher Building is New Zealand's largest building products manufacturer and distributor, with overlapping exposure to LVL, plywood, and building supplies distribution through PlaceMakers and Mico — the most direct head-to-head competitor for CHH in the domestic market.
• Nelson Pine Industries: Nelson Pine Industries is a New Zealand-based manufacturer of LVL and MDF products, directly competing with Futurebuild LVL in the engineered wood segment serving residential and commercial construction applications.
• Wesbeam: Wesbeam is one of Australia's largest manufacturers of LVL and engineered wood products, competing head-to-head with Futurebuild across Australasian commercial and residential specification projects.
• PlaceMakers (Fletcher Building): PlaceMakers is New Zealand's largest trade building supplies merchant and a direct competitor to Carters, with overlapping trade-customer base, frame-and-truss manufacturing, and distribution footprint across NZ.

Broad incumbents

• Bunnings Warehouse: Bunnings is the dominant Australasian home improvement and building supplies retailer, competing with Carters in trade and DIY segments through an extensive store network across NZ and Australia.
• Louisiana-Pacific Corporation: Louisiana-Pacific is a major North American manufacturer of engineered wood products including OSB, LVL, and siding — comparable as a broad engineered-wood incumbent competing in similar structural building product categories.
• Boise Cascade Company: Boise Cascade manufactures engineered wood products (LVL, I-joists) and distributes building materials across North America — a broad incumbent in the same engineered-wood category with overlapping end-markets in residential construction.
• Weyerhaeuser Company: Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands and a major manufacturer of wood products, comparable as a vertically integrated forest products incumbent with exposure to similar commodity timber and engineered wood cycles.
• Stora Enso: Stora Enso is a global forest products company with significant LVL, CLT, and engineered wood operations in Europe — comparable as a broad incumbent in sustainable wood building products targeting green-building specifications.

Regional players

• Mitre 10 (New Zealand): Mitre 10 is a New Zealand-based hardware and building supplies retail cooperative, competing with Carters in trade supplies distribution across domestic NZ markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carter-holt-harvey

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Carter Holt Harvey