News that the Whakatane Board Mill will remain open is being welcome by the Eastern Bay business community.

It was announced on Monday that the one of the region's largest employers was purchased by The Smurfit Consortium.

In March, it was announced the site would close at the end of June because its Swiss owner, SIG Combibloc​, had not been able to find a buyer.

But after reportedly having the mill on the market for two years, SIG said in April it had received an expression of interest from a buyer.

SIG Combibloc says it has agreed the sale of Whakatane Mill Limited to a consortium of investors who will enable the Mill to continue to operate.

Toi EDA general manager, Karl Gradon, says the flow on effects from this announcement are great news for the entire region, with a significant boost to local confidence, which is already strong.

He says not only will this retain some of the best skilled staff in the region, but it will also likely mean investment in the Mill to bring it to the modern and global scale that most Smurfit factories are renowned for.

'Toi EDA looks forward to working alongside Smurfit to ensure that their investment is a success for the region and for the investors.”

While this is good news, Karl is expressing caution as there are still clouds on the horizon with the fibre processing sector.

He says China has announced self-sufficiency in logs by 2035, which creates significant risk for the forestry sector.

'The majority of New Zealand logs are exported to developing countries in their raw form in anticipation of their domestic logs becoming available in just a few years.

'Toi EDA encourages the government to work on policy that incentivises investment in added value processing in New Zealand, rather than shipping the value creation offshore.

'Employing 46,000 staff globally, in 35 countries, Smurfit is claiming global leadership in fibre based, environmentally friendly, packaging under their 'Better Planet Packaging” initiatives.

'The future is bright for the environmental outcomes as a result of this acquisition.

'Strong demand for alternatives to plastic packaging are driving significant growth for the company, according to their recent global results announcement.”