India’s largest MDF manufacturer, Greenpanel Industries Ltd., has ordered its third MDF plant from Dieffenbacher. The new thin-board line based on Dieffenbacher’s smart plant concept, CEBRO, will be added in Routhusuramala, Andhra Pradesh. That’s the same site where Greenpanel commissioned a Dieffenbacher MDF line with a 56 m long CPS, the longest continuous press in Asia, in 2018. The two companies’ first project, an MDF plant that started up in 2010, pioneered the Indian MDF market with the first continuous wood-based panel plant on the subcontinent.

“Over the last two years, we have increased our MDF production capacity from 500,000 to 660,000 m³, but the demand for our premium-quality boards produced with Dieffenbacher technology is still growing significantly,” comments Shobhan Mittal, Managing Director and CEO of Greenpanel. “Because our experience with our first two Dieffenbacher MDF plants was so positive, there was no question that we would order our third plant from Dieffenbacher. The CEBRO smart plant concept was another factor that made the decision very easy.”

The new CEBRO line, scheduled to go into operation in summer 2024, will include a fiber dryer, air grader, forming station and forming line, a CPS+ continuous press system including Press Emission Control System, the raw board handling system and the new Wireless STS raw board storage system. Dieffenbacher’s scope of supply also includes the digital service platform MyDIEFFENBACHER and Dieffenbacher’s new plant digitalization solution, EVORIS.

“EVORIS is a great tool that will help us make even better decisions in the shortest possible time,” Mittal says. “That’s why we decided not only to use it in our new line but also to add EVORIS to our existing MDF line in Routhusuramala.”

Kronospan will begin construction of a new OSB manufacturing plant on its 460 acre site in Oxford, Ala. The new facility, employing 125, will have a footprint composed of 44 acres of new development, including substantial areas designated for product storage, rail spur and loading docks. Groundbreaking for the $350 million facility is scheduled for later this year.

“We’re very pleased to announce the next project at our Oxford site,” says Hans Obermaier, CEO of Kronospan North American companies. “This is not only an opportunity to further expand our portfolio of wood panel products in the United States but also meets our customers growing need for high quality construction materials. Just like the other plants on our site, the OSB plant will be constructed with our sustainability principles in mind and will further enhance our negative carbon footprint status.”

This latest expansion is one of several new investments Kronospan has made in recent months. New equipment for the site includes an extension of its existing MDF press, a new water treatment plant, expansion of manufacturing capacities of its existing particleboard plant and the ongoing construction of a new wood yard. Capital projects of more than $89 million have occurred in the last six months or are currently in progress at the Oxford site.

“Kronospan is very proud of our commitment to job creation in Calhoun County and East Alabama,” says John Connell, Director of Human Resources at Kronospan. “As we continue to grow our operations in the U.S., we are very conscious of the impact on our local communities and are consistent in our philosophy of creating a sustainable future for generations to come.”

Kronospan Oxford is a multi-product site with MDF, particleboard, laminate flooring, TFL, paper impregnation, resin and power generation capabilities. Kronospan also operates a MDF/HDF and laminate flooring facility in Clarion, Pa.

Panel World magazine and its affiliates will be exhibiting at the upcoming international wood products fair, Ligna, to be held May 15-19 in Hannover, Germany. In addition to Panel World, the Hatton-Brown organization, which dates back to 1948 in Montgomery, Ala., today publishes five business magazines geared to the wood products industry. These include:

• Panel World (covering the North America and international structural and non-structural wood panel industries

• Timber Processing (covering the North America and international softwood and hardwood sawmill industries)

• Wood Bioenergy (covering the North America and international wood-to-energy industries including industrial wood pellets, biomass electricity and biofuels)

• Timber Harvesting (covering the North America and international in-woods harvesting industry)

• Southern Loggin’ Times (covering the Southern U.S. logging industry)

Panel World serves as the media host of the biennial Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), with the ninth edition scheduled March 14-15, 2024 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga.

Timber Processing, Panel World and Wood Bioenergy serve as the media hosts of the biennial Timber Processing & Energy Expo, with the sixth edition scheduled September 25-27, 2024 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore.

Wood Bioenergy serves as the media host of the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, with the eighth edition scheduled March 12-13, 2024 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga.

All three of these events are produced by Hatton-Brown and its affiliates.

At Ligna, Hatton-Brown will be represented by Editor-in-Chief Rich Donnell and International Sales Specialist Murray Brett.

LP Building Solutions (LP) and Forex Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement for LP to acquire the assets owned by Wawa OSB Inc., a subsidiary of Forex Inc. The manufacturing facility in Wawa, Ontario will be converted into an LP SmartSide trim and siding mill. The transaction, which is subject to court approval and customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early May 2023.

“LP SmartSide Trim & Siding has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, becoming one of the fastest-growing siding brands in the United States,” says Jason Ringblom, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Siding. “In response to customer demand, we continue to expand our capacity across North America to position SmartSide for long-term growth. Our acquisition of Forex Inc.’s Wawa facility is a great addition to our fleet of siding mills and perfect example of how we are investing in the future of SmartSide.”

Once converted, the mill will add approximately 400 million sq. ft. of capacity, making it LP’s largest single-line siding mill. This will bring LP’s total siding capacity to 2.7 billion sq. ft. annually.

Built in the mid-1990s as an OSB mill, the site is an ideal location for SmartSide production due to its access to an ample and sustainable aspen wood basket and efficient logistics options. The mill’s conversion will bring more than 150 sustainable jobs to the region.

LP is evaluating project schedules to determine when construction at the facility will begin. While a second SmartSide manufacturing line is still planned for LP’s Houlton, Me. facility, the project will now break ground after the conversion of the Wawa mill.

Structurlam Mass Timber Corp. has filed for bankruptcy protection and agreed to sell the company’s new Conway, Ark. CLT plant and its Canadian assets for $60 million, pending court approval.

Structurlam entered the asset-purchase agreement with Mercer International Inc., a global forest products company which operates a mass timber facility in Spokane, Wash. However, Mercer’s purchase is subject to a better offer in a court-monitored process.

The Conway facility opened in 2021 in a project that was pitched as a long-term $90 million investment to establish Structurlam’s first U.S. plant. The investment was tied to a deal to produce 1.7 million cubic feet of mass timber for Walmart’s new corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. But in January Structurlam suspended operations in Conway after Walmart canceled work with the manufacturer. The move led to about 144 employees being laid off.

“I am delighted and grateful for Mercer’s vote of confidence in Structurlam and in its leadership in the mass timber industry,” Structurlam Chief Executive Officer Matthew Karmel said in a statement. “It is especially rewarding given the difficult period the company has had since suspending its operations in Arkansas mid-January, and it will help in normalizing the plant operations going forward.”