by Web Editor | May 2, 2016 | News
Fourteen composite panel facilities and one corporation as a whole were recognized for their safety achievements during the Composite Panel Association’s annual spring meeting held last week in Tucson, Arizona.
Louisiana-Pacific Corp. received the Safety Innovation Award for its Behavior-Based Safety Observation Program.
Awards were also given to participating manufacturing plants with exemplary safety records, including acknowledgments for long-term, annual, safety improvement, and safety achievement. Awards were given to plants with low/less than 277,000 worker-hours per year (Class I) and high/more than 277,000 worker-hours per year (Class II).
The awardees for the best long-term safety record over the past three years were Arauco North America, Malvern, Arkansas (Class I) and Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Roaring River, North Carolina (Class II).
The annual safety award for having zero incidents among Class I plants during 2015 was shared by Arauco North America (MDF), Bennettsville, South Carolina; Kronospan LLC, Eastaboga, Alabama; Plummer Forest Products, Post Falls, Idaho; Roseburg, Taylorsville, Mississippi; and West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), Quesnel, British Columbia.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/composite-panel-plants-awarded-safety-records?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Dec 4, 2015 | News
Arauco has acquired 50 percent of Tafisa’s assets, including 10 composite panel mills in Europe and South Africa, for $150 million.
Announced Nov. 30, the acquisition does not include Tafisa’s North American operations and its laminates and components businesses, which will continue to be fully owned by parent firm Sonae Indústria.
When completed, the new company will be called Sonae-Arauco. According to information from Arauco, estimated annual sales for the new business are $900 million. Located in Spain, Portugal, Germany and South Africa, the 10 mills produce 4.2 million cubic meters of composite panel products and employ 3,000 people.
Sonae-Arauco’s production capacity will be about 460,000 m3 of OSB, 1.45 million m3 of MDF, 2.27 million m3 of particleboard and 100,000 m3 of sawn timber.
With the acquisition, Arauco says it is now the second largest producer in the wood panel global ranking, with an annual production of 9 million m3.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/arauco-buys-50-interest-tafisa-0?ss=wood,wood,wood_of_the_month,wood,pricing_supply,wood,components_sourcing,wood,panel_supply,wood,wood_veneer,wood,lumber_quotes_charts
by Web Editor | Sep 25, 2015 | News
Today, ARAUCO North America announced plans to build a new particleboard mill located in Grayling, Michigan, to produce 424 million ft2 (750,000m3)/year of panels, along with full lamination capabilities to support the Prism TFL decorative surfacing program.
This $325 million investment will be the single largest continuous particleboard press in North America, and one of the highest capacity presses in the world. Ground-breaking is estimated for late 2016, with the rollout of the first panel during the latter part of 2018.
This investment will generate approximately 250 direct permanent jobs, and is expected to yield important economic and community development benefits to the Crawford County region. The addition of panel capacity to this geographical area will improve customer access to a stable, cost-efficient supply of high quality particleboard and decorative panel products. The location of this plant will also complement the supply of MDF from our neighboring mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Together with the ARAUCO North American Executive Management Team, Kelly Shotbolt remarks, “There is no better way to signal the commitment we have to the renewal and modernization of the North American composite panel industry. Our objective with this investment,” Mr. Shotbolt adds, “is to improve the logistics of our entire manufacturing footprint, and support the growth of our customers in the Mid-Western Region.”
From Arauco North America: https://www.arauco-na.com/resources/media-center/news-and-press-releases/arauco-announces-325-million-investment-for-new-particleboard-mill
by Web Editor | Jul 22, 2015 | News
ARAUCO is pleased to announce the debut of PRISM, a new brand name for the company’s thermally fused laminate (TFL) products produced in North America. The PRISM brand will represent ARAUCO’s collection of 76 designs, as well as any future exclusive design releases.
ARAUCO’s commitment to future growth of the TFL product line is evident in the company’s investment in additional TFL capacity, acquisition of a paper treating facility and the development of the TFL brand Prism. In an effort to reach designers and architects, ARAUCO completed in-depth market research and sought out to create a brand that will resonate with the audience’s desire for fresh ideas and color variety.
“After a deep understanding of the design community, we saw an opportunity to create a TFL brand that will stand out from the current product offering with a personality that speaks directly to the design community,” explains Sebastian Cremaschi, Director of Marketing. “On every promotional aspect of Prism you will find a fun, simple and clear message that will not be unnoticed, adding value to our customers, specifiers and consumers.”
ARAUCO will debut the look of the new brand, along with two new design series’, Mherge and Reclamation Maple, at the AWFS trade show in Las Vegas this week.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/arauco-panel-announces-new-tfl-brand?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Jun 24, 2015 | News
Thirteen composite panel facilities and one corporation as a whole were recognized for their safety achievements during the Composite Panel Association’s annual spring meeting held last week in Bonita Springs, FL.
Arauco North America received the Safety Innovation Award for the Safety Leadership Program implemented at its particleboard and MDF mills in Moncure, NC. Arauco’s use of leadership training, monthly safety updates communications, and procedure and policy development resulted in the facilities recording their lowest incident rate in the last 15 years, while the severity and frequency of incidents also decreased. Workers’ compensation claims also dropped 90% in 2014.
Composite panel plants in the Class I (low worker-hours) and Class II (high-worker hours) were also recognized for:
• Best long-term safety record over the past three years: Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR (Class I) and Louisiana-Pacific Corp., East River, NS (Class II).
• Having zero incidents among Class I plants during 2014: Arauco North America (MDF), Bennettsville, SC; Arauco North America, Malvern, AR; Arauco North America, Sault Ste Marie, ON; and Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR.
• Safety improvements: West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), White Court, AB (Class I) and Langboard Inc., Willacoochee, GA (Class II).
• Achieving an incident rate of less than 50% of the industry average, over the past three years. Class I plants were: Arauco North America, Malvern, AR; Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR; SierraPine, Martell, CA; West Fraser Mills Ltd. (Ranger Board), White Court, AB; and West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), Quesnel, BC. Class II plants were: Arauco North America, Albany, OR; Louisiana-Pacific Corp., East River, NS; Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Roaring River, NC; and Roseburg, Missoula, MT.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/composite-panel-plants-recognized-safety-achievements
