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 | Nov 30, 2015 | News
We get so excited about Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), the fancy plywood on steroids that we talk so much about on TreeHugger. But in fact, there is a much older technology for building with wood, that warehouses and factories were built out of 150 years ago with a fancy new name: Nail-Laminated Timber, or NLT. It used to be known as heavy timber or mill decking and is drop-dead simple: you just nail a pile of lumber together and voila.
Lucas Epp of Structurecraft stunned the audience in a presentation at the Wood Solutions Fair in Toronto, showing extraordinary projects built out of the stuff. Because while CLT is great stuff, it’s pretty new in North America, it’s expensive, and it’s not fully understood by the building inspectors. Whereas if you are doing a simple span, NLT does the job just fine, it’s a lot cheaper, can be made by anyone with a hammer and has been in the building codes forever.
It’s now being used in a 210,000 square foot, seven story office building in Minneapolis, where the developer, Hines, wanted “the warmth of wood and the embrace of green construction techniques and materials” to attract the tech and creative sector of the market. It also goes together much faster than a conventional steel or concrete building.
Heavy timber office and warehouse construction fell out of favor early in the 20th century after major fires in a number of cities caused the switch to concrete and steel noncombustible construction. The development of effective sprinklers has reduced that risk, and concerns about the carbon footprint of concrete have made renewable wood look a lot more attractive.
From TreeHugger.com: https://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/old-new-again-nail-laminated-timber.html?utm_source=WIT112715&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=WeekInTrees
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 27, 2015 | News
Uniboard is proud to announce an investment of over $7 million at its 91-employee Mont-Laurier MDF plant. Uniboard says the investment will increase the productivity of the plant through what it says is the use of a revolutionary new wood fiber mat-preheating technology.
This process innovation is a first for North America and will allow Uniboard to better service our customer base in Canada and the United States. The Mont-Laurier MDF/HDF plant produces Excel+, Excel, and NU Green/PMDI-NAF and HDF panel products. Uniboard’s overall network of particleboard, MDF and thermally fused laminate facilities are at locations in Sayabec, Val-d’Or, Laval and Mont-Laurier, Quebec.
Overall Uniboard has an installed capacity of over 640 million square feet of raw particleboard, high-density and medium-density fiberboard, of which over 50% is converted into value-added thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring products. Uniboard’s mills in Val-d’Or, Sayabec, Mont-Laurier and Laval employ over 800 people. Its products are sold to retailers, distributors and finished goods manufacturers, which cater to the kitchen cabinet, furniture, office, home renovation and construction industries, as well as to the floor covering industry.
Since its original start-up as Panfibre in 1987, Mont-Laurier’s capacity has been expanded in multiple steps. In 2012, Uniboard was acquired by the owners of Kaycan Ltd., a leading manufacturer of building products in North America, with its head office located in Montreal, Quebec. Kaycan Ltd. and its group of companies offers a full range of products for both the exterior and interior of the home, including vinyl, aluminum and engineered wood siding products, PVC windows & patio doors, particleboard, MDF, thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/uniboard-invests-7-million-innovative-mdf-production?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
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
