A natural disaster that struck New Zealand has affected Pan Pac Forest Products, a New Zealand pulp and forestry group. Hurricane Gabriel began to ravage the country on February 12, causing floods and destroying a site of the company.

The company announced the closure of the Whirinaki plant on its website until further notice. The New Zealand Herald reported that after assessing the damage caused by the storm, Pan Pac decided to rebuild the plant instead of permanently closing it or moving it elsewhere.

Pan Pac is owned by Oji Holdings, a Japanese pulp and paper group. The company produces bleached chemical-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) in Whirinaki, located in the Hawkes Bay area in the northeast of New Zealand. The daily output of the factory is 850 tons, and the pulp produced is sold to all parts of the world. It is also the location of a sawmill. Pan Pac operates another sawmill in Otago, the southernmost part of the country. The total capacity of the two sawmills is 530000 cubic meters per year. The company also owns several forest estates.