Henneberry bows out from Australian Paper

Jim Henneberry is resigning from his post as CEO of Australian Paper, after eight years with the company. During the course of his international career he has also worked with International Paper/Carter Holt Harvey in New Zealand and the US.

The long time industry identity was at the helm during the sale of Australian Paper from PaperlinX to Nippon Paper Group of Japan in 2009. Henneberry’s tenure coincided with the turbulence created by the GFC. When he took over the compan  as CEO in July 2006, PaperlinX’s share price was sitting at $3.16. On the company’s sale to Nippon Paper in June 2009, it had declined to just 43 cents.

Known for his outspoken defence of Australian paper’s place in the national economy, and his campaign against foreign dumping, Henneberry says he is happy to be leaving with several programs set in motion.

He tells Australian Printer, “It has certainly been an exciting, challenging and sometimes rewarding time. Honestly the best thing has been the many great people who have supported Australian Paper and myself across the journey. We took three organisations and put them together, and that organisation still stands. I think that is an outstanding outcome, and we now offer a whole bunch of products that people see and use all the time – from Reflex paper to Tudor envelopes, to Queen’s Slipper playing cards.

“Probably right now I feel the best about our Wombat Strategy; out of that came a number of more environmentally friendly products, our fibre resource plan and the recycling plant we are building at Maryvale. I am also proud of our maintenance alliance with Valmet, they have been excellent, and recently we made a lien holder agreement with Qube to take all of our products out of the mill by rail and other routes, so those have been outstanding steps in the last year. They are excellent platforms to go forward with.”

Henneberry says he is looking forward to travelling with his family and pursuing new opportunities outside the business. However, he will no doubt be keeping an eye on the outcome of the Australian anti-dumping commission’s inquiry into foreign imports from China, which he says he hopes will level the playing field in the Australian market. He tells AP, “An internationally fair playing field would be fantastic for all involved. And I’d like to see strong collaboration between industry and government with long term strategic alignment that carries on from government to government, party to party. Many of the things that need to be done for Australia’s future take a long time, so I’d like to see a long term vision carried out.”

Hirofumi Fujimori, representative director of Australian Paper’s holding company Nippon Paper Industries, will take over as acting CEO from February 14 this year.

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