Portable Sawmills Distribution Agreement Signed in Africa

KILWORTHY, Ontario, March 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Norwood Sawmills and Austro Group Limited announce a new partnership to bring quality portable sawmills to commercial and industrial tree harvesting, sawmilling and wood-processing operations in Africa.

Norwood Sawmills, a leading global portable sawmill and forestry equipment manufacturer, is pleased to announce it has appointed Austro as its representative and distributor in South Africa and much of sub-Saharan Africa.

"Norwood Sawmills is one of the leading portable sawmill companies in the world. Austro is the leading distributor of quality secondary wood-processing equipment in South Africa and throughout much of Africa," explains Ashlynne Dale, President of Norwood. "Working in partnership together to offer Africans the very best portable sawmills and the very best customer service is a natural for both organizations."

Austro, a South African company, was established in 1980 and subsequently listed on the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) in 2007. It supplies quality-branded, specialized industrial woodworking equipment and related supplies to corporate, commercial and infrastructure markets in sub-Saharan Africa. With the addition of Norwood to their already impressive list of premium brands, Austro offers clients a one-stop solution to all their wood processing needs - from tree to finished form.

Norwood sawmills are ideally suited to operating in Africa and meeting the demands of commercial operations. Norwood invests heavily in sawmilling innovation, a fact underlined by its nearly 50 patents worldwide, more than the combined total of all other portable sawmill companies combined. Norwood targets its research and development on technology to reduce the time it takes to mill a log into lumber. By eliminating operator functions and increasing capacity, Norwood sawmills are dramatically more productive and profitable than any other on the market. In addition, Norwood sawmills are reliable and easy to use; they are built strong to mill timber day-in-and-day-out with the absolute minimum of maintenance and in the harshest of conditions.

"Norwood sawmills have been profitably milling timber throughout Africa for years. But now is the time to make it even easier and even more affordable for Africans to add Norwood mills to their wood processing operations," continues Dale. "We are very excited to be working with Austro in this important and developing world region."

Norwood and Austro will officially inaugurate the start of their new African sawmilling partnership later this month when, together they will be exhibiting Norwood portable sawmills at Booths 5 and 6 at the WoodEX for Africa show from March 21^stto 23^rd, 2013 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

About Norwood Sawmills

Norwood Sawmills has been designing and building top quality portable sawmills for over 20 years. Norwood sawmills are hard at work in over 100 countries worldwide cutting millions of valuable board feet of lumber. With nearly 50 patents, more than the combined total of all the other sawmill companies around the world combined, Norwood has established itself as the global leader in portable sawmill technology.

Contact:
Ashlynne Dale
President
Norwood Industries Inc.
+1-705-689-2800
adale@norwoodindustries.com