Arauco Announces $325 Million Investment For New Particleboard Mill

by | 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

Arauco Announces Particleboard Expansion

by | Feb 2, 2015 | News

From: Panel World Staff

Arauco is investing $30 million to expand particleboard and TFL (thermally fused laminate/melamine) capacity for its Carolina Particleboard Mill in Bennettsville, SC.

The particleboard expansion, with a scheduled startup in the fourth quarter of this year, will increase production by 60MMSF (¾ in. basis or 100,000 m3) annually through increased dryer capacity. This project will also improve the plant’s flexibility to source a broader range of raw material in response to regional changes in the wood supply mix.

To complement the panel expansion, Arauco is also investing in a next generation fast-cycle press for TFL production, which is also scheduled to start in the fourth quarter. The new installation will add to the three existing fast-cycle TFL presses in the region.

The new line will further equip the particleboard and MDF site with a state-of-the-art press featuring higher throughput, faster changeover capabilities, higher pressure for deep textures and paper alignment technology for registered emboss designs. The company’s goal with these investments is to meet the growing demand for particleboard, and to broaden its TFL design offering in the region.

“These capacity and value-add investments translate into improved product sourcing options for our customers, and in turn generate additional long-term jobs for this manufacturing complex and the Bennettsville community at large,” states Mike Reardon, Regional Manufacturing Director.