Long-established veneer production facility Nordic Veneer is closing the veneer plant near Roseburg, Ore. it purchased from Forest Industries in 1960.

Nordic Veneer was founded in 1954 by Dick Adams and Norm Jacobsen when they purchased a closed plywood facility in Sutherlin, Ore. In 1960 they purchased the Perkins veneer plant near Roseburg, and the company has operated under the stewardship of the Adams family across four generations. It has been a vital local employer, producing high-quality veneer and contributing to the regional wood products economy. (They sold the Sutherlin facility in 1975.)

“After careful and difficult consideration, we have made the decision to close our operations,” comments Art Adams, owner of Nordic Veneer. “Our industry has faced sustained wood supply and market challenges, structural realignment, and foreign competition. Despite our team’s hard work, recent investments in efficiency, and deep commitment to this business, sustaining operations is no longer viable under current market conditions.”

Nordic Veneer has long been defined by its family leadership and strong ties to the community, including support for local hospitals and cancer centers, libraries, schools, healthcare systems and Umpqua Valley Christian School.

The company will work closely with its dedicated team of employees to provide transition support, and is actively working with employees on job placement resources. Nordic Veneer extends its sincere gratitude to its employees—many of whom have been part of the “family-oriented” culture for decades—as well as to its suppliers, customers, and the broader Roseburg and Douglas County community for their partnership over more than seven decades. 

Hood Industries has said it is closing its plywood mill in Wiggins, Miss., which Hood has operated since 1984 and was started up in 1971 by International Paper.

Hood Industries’ closure at Wiggins will affect approximately 260 employees. Facility-wide meetings were held with employees to share the news and explain that the decision followed a comprehensive assessment of the extensive damage caused by Tropical Storm Arthur in mid-June.

“After a thorough assessment, we determined that the damage caused by the recent storms, combined with the age of our 56-year-old facility, would require an investment that is not economically feasible. As difficult as this decision is, repairing and restoring the mill is not a sustainable option,” Hood Industries President Jay Galloway told employees. “We have made the decision to close the mill.”

The Wiggins plywood mill was built in  1970 by International Paper and was acquired by Hood Industries in 1984, becoming the company’s second and largest plywood manufacturing operation. Hood acquired the former Weyerhaeuser plywood mill in Beaumont, Miss. a year earlier.

“This was not an easy decision for us to make. We are well aware of the impact this decision will have on the Wiggins employees, their families and community,” Galloway said. 

Operations are expected to conclude after the remaining inventory is processed, with the mill anticipated to cease manufacturing operations by the end of August. 

Hood Industries is currently starting up a $200 million investment rebuild of its plywood mill in Beaumont, after the existing operation sustained heavy damages following a tornado in 2022.

Union Pacific Railroad and Rocky Mountain Steel Mills have reached a new, seven-year contract for the domestic production of steel rails, underscoring Union Pacific’s clear commitment to buying the majority of its rail from a U.S. manufacturer.

Rocky Mountain Steel, located in Pueblo, Colo., is the only remaining dedicated rail production facility in the U.S. and one of the largest producers of steel products in North America. Steel made for Union Pacific, and all Rocky Mountain Steel customers is produced by members of the United Steelworkers (USW).

Union Pacific has been using steel rail from the mill at Rocky Mountain Steel since the early 1890s. This renewed commitment by Union Pacific underscores their commitment to Rocky Mountain Steel, now operating under new ownership and management, as well as the skilled workers of the USW and the historic steel community in Pueblo. The agreement ends any pending legal disputes between the companies, as Union Pacific has withdrawn its previously filed lawsuit in Nebraska.

Rocky Mountain Steel expects to begin operations this year at a new, state-of-the-art long rail mill, constructed with a more than $1 billion investment in domestic steel production. The new mill will ensure Pueblo will remain the only dedicated steel rail mill in the U.S., operating one of the most advanced rail production lines in the world.

The new rail mill at the Pueblo facility will deliver extraordinary long-rail capability, producing 100 meter (328 ft.) lengths of premium rail. The long rail produced at the facility will bring significant efficiency gains to the industry, as it requires 80% fewer welds than standard 80 ft. rails, improving track safety and reliability for major railroads, like Union Pacific. The new rail mill is powered by a dedicated 1,800 acre solar farm, making it the world’s largest solar-powered steel mill.

On May 19 and 20, more than 100 participants from the international wood-based panels industry gathered at the b’mine Hotel Frankfurt Airport at the Dieffenbacher Technology Symposium to discuss new solutions and best practices for the industry’s most pressing challenges. The series of results-oriented expert presentations and personal exchanges comprised the German machinery and plant manufacturer’s second such symposium since 2024.

“We were very impressed by the high level of interest our second Technology Symposium generated even before the event took place,” comments Stefan Zipf, CTO and member of the Management Board at Dieffenbacher. “The symposium was a big hit with our partners and customers. We had to raise the cap on attendance twice during the registration period and still couldn’t offer everyone a spot for this year.”

The symposium program featured prominent guest speakers, including Geert Coudenys, R&D Director at Unilin Panels; Francisco Javier Blanco Fernandez, Plant General Manager of Finsa’s production site in Nelas, Portugal; and Michael Riffel, Senior Consultant at AFRY.

Two other highlights: Timber HP Co-founder and CEO Matthew O’Malia described how his company became a pioneer in wood fiber insulation boards in North America with the help of a Dieffenbacher plant relocated from Germany to the U.S., and Prof. Dr. Mario Beyer, Head of the Chemical Department and Deputy Head of the Chemical Testing Laboratory at the Dresden Institute of Wood Technology (IHD), together with Venla Hemmilä, Material & Technology Engineer at IKEA, shared their insights related to low-carbon boards and bio-based resins.

In their presentations, Dieffenbacher experts focused on hot-button topics, including fiberboard and waste-wood recycling, hybrid boards and special applications, the future of drying technologies and emission control, and the digitalization of wood-based panel plants. In addition, attendees gained insights into new Dieffenbacher products and the company’s innovation process. International event host Camilla Biasio guided the audience through the two-day program.

“Our partners and customers clearly have an enormous thirst for knowledge and a strong desire for personal interaction,” Zipf adds. “Our Technology Symposium helps to fill that need—especially during LIGNA off-years—and we look forward to hosting another symposium in 2028.”

Medite Smartply has announced a €75 million investment at its MDF manufacturing facility in Clonmel, Ireland, supporting the next phase of production as the company marks 50 years of Medite.

The investment reinforces Medite Smartply’s long-term commitment to panel manufacturing in Ireland and will help strengthen supply resilience for customers across the Irish, UK and European construction and interiors markets. Operating 24/7, the Clonmel plant produces approximately 400,000m³ of MDF products annually. 

The investment will focus on the replacement and renewal of the site’s existing biomass boiler system, alongside upgrades to fuel handling, dryer systems and supporting infrastructure that is critical to the facility’s day-to-day operations. The investment will enhance plant reliability, improve process control and reduce downtime, helping to ensure consistent product quality across continuous production lines. It will also support the long-term stability of employment at the Clonmel site and sustain the network of local and regional suppliers connected to the facility.

The project has already secured planning consent through Ireland’s Strategic Infrastructure Development process and includes measures relating to environmental protection, waste management, water supply and ecological monitoring.

Alongside operational improvements, the new system will eliminate natural gas usage by transitioning fully to renewable biomass as the primary heat source. This is expected to materially reduce fossil fuel related CO₂ emissions and support Medite Smartply’s work to reduce Scope 1 carbon emissions as part of its broader climate action commitments.