Arauco Considers Plant In Mexico

by | Dec 20, 2021 | News

Arauco Considers Plant In Mexico

Arauco is conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment as the first step toward evaluating the viability of a new $200 million MDF production line in Zitácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. If the project proceeds, subject to the approval of local and state authorities, production is expected to start during 2024. It would double the company’s MDF capacity in Mexico.

“We are investing in Mexico to meet the growing demand in the construction and furniture industries,” remarks Pablo Franzini, president of Arauco North America. “This is a demonstration of our commitment to the market and will ensure we continue to develop and maintain successful relationships with our commercial partners.”

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West Fraser Buys OSB Mill

by | Dec 20, 2021 | News

West Fraser Buys OSB Mill

An oriented strandboard plant in Allendale, SC will now have its third ownership since starting up in 2006. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is purchasing the facility from Georgia-Pacific for $280 million. The Allendale facility has been idle since late 2019 when GP shut it down citing market conditions. The plant has an estimated annual production capacity of 760MMSF (3/8 in. basis).

West Fraser intends to invest $70 million to upgrade and optimize the facility in preparation for a restart in nine months. The mill is expected to employ 135. West Fraser states the mill will be one of the lowest cost mills in the company’s OSB portfolio after the optimization is completed and the mill has ramped up to full production, a process that it says typically takes 18-24 months after restart.

In 2005 Ontario-based Grant Forest Products announced it would invest $400 million in building two OSB mills in South Carolina, one in Allendale and the other in Alcolu in Clarendon County. When the U.S. economy went into a recession Grant sold the two OSB plants to Georgia-Pacific in 2010. In 2019 GP idled the Allendale OSB facility along with a sawmill in South Carolina.

Early this year West Fraser entered the OSB arena when it completed the purchase of Norbord Inc., the world’s largest OSB producer, for $3.1 billion. Norbord operated 15 OSB mills in the U.S., Europe and Canada. West Fraser was known primarily as a sawmill company, while operating a handful of non-OSB panel facilities.

GP continues to own five OSB plants in North America.

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USNR, WFG Sold To Equity Firm

by | Dec 20, 2021 | Supply Lines

USNR, WFG Sold To Equity Firm

One Equity Partners (OEP), a middle market private equity firm, announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisitions of USNR and Wood Fiber Group. OEP reports it subsequently merged the two businesses, with projected 2021 revenues greater than $500 million.

JB Cherry, Senior Managing Director, OEP, comments, “Combining these two great companies that are headquartered seven miles apart with a long history of collaboration and complementary customer bases is a natural next step to drive value for the businesses and their customers.”

Headquartered in Woodland, Wash., USNR provides comprehensive automation and technology system integration for wood products mills. The company boasts the largest global installed base of wood processing equipment, serving more than 1,800 customers operating 2,500 mill sites in 56 countries.

Ridgefield, Wash.-based Wood Fiber Group acts as a “one-stop shop” provider of leading cutting tool products under brands including Simonds International, Burton Saw & Supply, BGR Saws, Cut Technologies, Global Tooling, U.S. Blades, Armstrong Manufacturing, and Wright Machine Tool. The company has 12 facilities across all the major North American wood processing regions.

“We at USNR are so excited to come together with One Equity Partners and our great friends at Wood Fiber Group,” says Dale Brown, CEO of USNR. “OEP’s ambitious vision to combine these two enterprises and its established track record of successful investments in industrial companies immediately made the firm a preferred partner as we evaluated pathways to continued growth.”

One Equity Partners is a middle market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare and technology sectors in North America and Europe. Since 2001 the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.

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Lend Me Your Ear

Lend Me Your Ear

by | Dec 20, 2021 | Taking Stock

Lend Me Your Ear

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Panel World January 2022

The staff at Panel World magazine is in full in-person-conference mode in preparation for the eighth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) to be held March 31 to April 1, 2022 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta. On page six of this issue you’ll see a listing of the exhibitor sponsors who had signed on as of early December.

Some of the keynote speakers we’ve lined up include: Roseburg’s Jake Elston, Swiss Krono’s Wedig Graf Grote, American Wood Council’s Jackson Morrill, Coastland Wood Industries’ Doug Pauze, RoyOMartin’s Scott Poole, AFRY’s Philipp Sauter and Kennesaw State economist Roger Tutterow. We’re in negotiation with several others as well and will be announcing those soon.

In addition, PELICE will feature numerous technical sessions on Air Emissions Control, Resins & Waxes, Project Implementation, Quality Control, Fire Prevention, Digital Integration, and Veneer & Plywood Technologies. We continue to line up speakers for these topics, such as Rob Freres of Freres Lumber, Tom Evans of Coastal Forest Resources, Rodney Schwartz of Dürr Systems, Steve Banick of Hexion, Dane Floyd of Veneer Services, Richard Lepine of Argos Solutions, Ed Pridgen of Flamex, Michael Spurgin of Limab, Bijan Shams of Cogent Industrial Technologies, Rodney Pennington of Nestec and many others.

The full timeline agenda will be released in mid-January on the website: www.pelice-expo.com, as well as through e-mail blasts and in the Panel World newsletter. The March issue of Panel World will encompass a special PELICE 2022 preview.

Attendee registration is open at www.pelice-expo.com.

Needless to say, we’re pumped up for the PELICE coming out party!

 

 

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Kronospan Completes Simsboro Particleboard Purchase

Kronospan, a producer of wood panel products, has announced the closing of its purchase of Roseburg’s Simsboro, La., particleboard facility following the expiration of the required regulatory review period. Ownership of the plant has been transferred from Roseburg to Kronospan…

Hymmen’s Dr. Werner Pankoke Dies

Werner Pankoke, died at the age of 85 following a stroke. Born March 29, 1938 as the third child of Bielefeld, Germany dentist Dr. Wilhelm Pankoke, Werner decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps when he began his studies. Instead, he was drawn to Munich Technical University, where he pursued his grandfather Theodor Hymmen’s engineering interests—studying mechanical engineering…

Metsä Group, Sweco Sign Agreement For Design Of LVL Mill

Metsä Group and Sweco have signed an agreement for the implementation planning of the new Kerto LVL mill in Äänekoski, Finland. “We have strong confidence in Sweco’s expertise and resources from our previous collaboration projects. It is therefore natural that we continue our cooperation in this project to develop the Äänekoski mill area,” says Jaakko Anttila, Executive Vice President, Metsä Wood…

Find Us On Social

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Subscribe/Renew

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January 2022

January 2022

by | Dec 16, 2021 | Magazine

January 2022

Cover: Annual Directory & Buyers’ Guide

The Annual Directory & Buyers’ Guide is a year-long keeper on the desks of producers and suppliers worldwide.

See More

Inside This Issue

COVER: Annual Directory & Buyers’ Guide

The Annual Directory & Buyers’ Guide is a year-long keeper on the desks of producers and suppliers worldwide. The Directory includes

  • Products/Services/Supplies
  • Machinery Manufacturers/Suppliers
  • Trade Associations
Exhibitors Knocking On PELICE Door

As of early December, exhibitor sponsor space for the eighth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) was 80% sold out, including what is already a record number of Gold sponsors.

UPDATE
  • Proposed OSB Mill Finds Home
  • Arauco Considers Plant In Mexico
  • Forest Service Weighs In Again On 4FRI
  • Industry Doubtful Of BC ‘Defer’ Plan
  • USNR, WFG Sold To Equity Firm
  • West Fraser Buys OSB Mill
  • Okaply Acquires VIZÜSOLUTION
Martco Maintains Focus On Culture And Goals During Bizarre Times

Roy O. Martin III is Chairman, CEO and CFO of Martin Sustainable Resources, L.L.C. and Martco L.L.C. The grandson of Roy O. Martin, Sr., he is a third-generation leader. Roy O. Martin III currently serves as chairman of the APA – The Engineered Wood Association Board of Trustees. He graciously agreed to answer several questions posed by Panel World magazine.

Panel Industry Veterans Denounce Performance Of Paperboard Wall Sheathing

Innovative and/or more economical building materials are regularly introduced to the market. During the post-World War II building boom, softwood plywood replaced diagonal tongue and groove boards as the standard exterior wall bracing. Over about the past 30 years, OSB has come to dominate the wall sheathing segment.

Article by Richard F. Baldwin, Frederick T. Kurpiel and Richard W. Baldwin

PROJECTS
  • ‘Best Watchdog We Could Ask For’
  • PG Bison Orders MDF Operation
  • Turkey’s Küpeliler Orders Two Plants
  • Wanhua Goes For ‘Super PB’
  • Installation Due For 63.7 M Press
  • Biyang Huifeng Starts Up Refiner
  • Greenply Orders Refining System
  • Naturheld Orders Fiber Prep Systems
  • GUTEX Focuses On Insulation
  • Greenply Orders MDF/HDF Plant
SUPPLY LINES
  • Hymmen Announces U.S. Jupiter Order
  • Con-Vey Launches New Web Site
  • 7Robotics Continues To Build Staff
  • Morbark Reveals Wheel Loader
  • Platinum Equity Acquires Oregon
WHAT'S NEW
  • Horizontal Chipper
  • Dryer Rebuild
  • Robotic Inkjet
  • Info Management

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Taking Stock: Lend Me Your Ear

Article by Rich Donnell, Managing Editor, Panel World

The staff at Panel World magazine is in full in-person-conference mode in preparation for the eighth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) to be held March 31 to April 1, 2022 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta. On page six of this issue you’ll see a listing of the exhibitor sponsors who had signed on as of early December.

Below, you’ll see some of the keynote speakers we’ve lined up, including, Roseburg’s Jake Elston, Swiss Krono’s Wedig Graf Grote, American Wood Council’s Jackson Morrill, Coastland Wood Industries’ Doug Pauze, RoyOMartin’s Scott Poole, AFRY’s Philipp Sauter and Kennesaw State economist Roger Tutterow. We’re in negotiation with several others as well and will be announcing those soon. Attendee registration is open at www.pelice-expo.com.

READ MORE

JAKE ELSTON

WEDIG GRAF GROTE

JACKSON MORRILL 

SCOTT POOLE

DR. PHILIPP SAUTER 

ROGER TUTTEROW

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Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

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Newsletter

The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.

Subscribe Now
Subscribe/Renew

Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

Complete the form
Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!

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