West Fraser Timber reports its OSB mill in Chambord, Quebec has completed commissioning and panels are being produced and shipped to customers. The Chambord mill is ramping up toward its stated annual production capacity of 550MMSF. After significant reinvestment and with a strong available labor force and committed wood supply in the region, the Chambord mill is expected to be among the company’s lowest cost OSB operations.

West Fraser acquired the Chambord mill earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Norbord, Inc., which included 17 plant locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Norbord had earlier announced it intended to restart production at Chambord.

Norbord had taken ownership of the Chambord mill in 2016 as part of an OSB mill swap with LP, with LP assuming Norbord’s OSB mill in Val-d’Or, Quebec. Both mills had been curtailed for a number of years. The Chambord OSB mill was curtailed by LP in 2008.

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At its General Assembly held on March 24, 2021 by videoconference, the European Wood-Based Panels Federation (EPF) unanimously elected Martin Brettenthaler, CEO of Swiss Krono Group, and Tobias Schindler, CSO of Steico SE, to its Managing Board.

Brettenthaler was also named as Chairman designate of EPF, subject to approval by the General Assembly in June, when the third consecutive term of existing Chairman Dr. Paolo Fantoni of Fantoni Spa will end.

Brettenthaler, 50, is a citizen of both Austria and Switzerland, economist by training, active in the wood-based panel industry for more than 20 years and lives in Basel with his wife and three children.

The General Assembly also accepted, with thanks for their service and commitment, the resignations from the EPF Managing Board of Max von Tippelskirch of Swiss Krono Group and Boris Buchwald of Steico SE.

European Panel Federation has members in more than 32 European countries and represents manufacturers of particleboard, MDF, OSB, hardboard and plywood. EPF reports the EU wood panel industry has an annual turnover of 22 billion euro, creates more than 100,000 jobs directly and counts more than 5,000 enterprises in Europe.

 

With uncertainty around continued U.S.-Canadian border closures, Composite Panel Assn. has moved the 2021 Fall Meeting to Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. to be held October 17-19, 2021.

The meeting originally planned for the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, Quebec will now be the venue for the 2022 Fall Meeting to be held September 11-13, 2022.

Lansdowne Resort is 12 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport, close to CPA’s offices and 30 minutes from Washington, DC. The resort is situated on 500 beautiful acres overlooking the scenic Potomac River and the meeting dates should overlap the peak of the fall foliage season. The Resort boasts an award-winning championship golf course designed by Greg Norman and Robert Trent Jones Jr.

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Despite the worldwide pandemic and travel restrictions, Shanghai International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair (WMF) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Hongqiao, Shanghai September 3-6 as scheduled.

Along with CNFMA (China National Forestry Machinery Assn.) as one of the organizers of WMF, China’s leading woodworking machinery associations Qingdao Woodworking Machinery Assn. and Foshan Shunde Lunjiao Woodworking Machinery Chamber of Commerce are long-term partners. WMF states it is the only woodworking machinery fair of its kind in China supported by EUMABOIS (European Federation of Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers).

In 2021, WMF has further upgraded its online and offline services and allows visitors to access exhibitors.

Visit woodworkfair.com/WMF21/.