Uniboard Announces Capital Investment At Quebec Plant

by | Jul 20, 2015 | News

Uniboard is proud to announce an investment of over $29 million at its Sayabec plant. Two major investments being announced today at Sayabec are an innovative wood fiber mat-preheating unit to expand capacity in particleboard line 2, as well as a new short-cycle thermally fused laminate press adding capacity for high-end surface structures and finishes.

Both investments will allow Uniboard to increase productivity and improve its product offering and service to our customer base in Canada and the United States. The announced investments will be implemented in early 2016. The particleboard investment will continue to position the Uniboard Sayabec facility as one of North America’s preferred particleboard producers while the thermally fused laminate investment further confirms Uniboard’s leadership and innovation position in the North American laminate arena. Both investments will strengthen Uniboard’s overall network of particleboard, MDF and thermally fused laminate facilities that are located in Sayabec, Val-d’Or, Mont-Laurier and Laval, Quebec. Uniboard employs a skilled workforce of 380 at its Sayabec site and over 800 people within the entire corporation.

Since its original start-up as Panval in 1982, Uniboard’s Sayabec plant has seen a series of investment and expansion steps leading to today’s highly integrated mega site with 2 particleboard lines and 4 high speed short-cycle thermally fused laminate (TFL) presses.  In 2012, Uniboard further solidified its position in the industry when it 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. The Kaycan group of companies offers a full range of products for both the exterior and interior of the home, including vinyl, aluminium and engineered wood siding products, PVC windows and patio doors, particleboard, MDF, thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring.

From PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uniboard-to-invest-into-particleboard-capacity-expansion-and-a-new-thermally-fused-laminate-tfl-line-at-its-sayabec-plant-515009931.html

North American Panel Products Analysis And Forecast To 2019

by | Jun 29, 2015 | News

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “North America Urea Formaldehyde Resin Market by Application (Particleboard, Medium Density Fiberboard, Plywood, Molding Powder, Adhesives & Coating, Roofing Mat), by Country (U.S., Canada, Rest of North America) – Analysis & Forecast to 2019” report to their offering.

The value of the North America UFR market was $714.6 million in 2014 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2014 to 2019.

The study provides the value chain analysis with respect to UFR raw materials, manufacturers, and end-users. The value chain describes the key contributors to the materials market at different stages from product development to end use. It represents the key players who are contributing to the growth of the North America UFR market.

The impacts of different market factors, such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities are also illustrated in the report. This gives an idea about the key drivers, such as developing furniture industry, rising demand for wood-based panels, rising population, and growing infrastructure industry; and restraints, such as UFR’s toxic emission property, which has influenced major countries to put UFR under stringent regulations.

The UFR market is also classified on the basis of applications. The important applications include particleboard, MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard), plywood, molding powder, adhesives and coating, and roofing mat, among others. The particleboard segment held the largest share of the UFR market in North America, in terms of consumption.

From Business Wire: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150625006183/en/Research-Markets-North-America-Urea-Formaldehyde-Resin#.VZGCNKaDrwc

Swanson Acquires Olympic Panel

Swanson Acquires Olympic Panel

by | Apr 17, 2015 | News

Swanson Acquires Olympic Panel

 

Swanson Group Manufacturing LLC has acquired Olympic Panel Products in Shelton, Wash., a longtime panel manufacturing facility and top plywood overlay producer in North America. Swanson purchased the plant from Atlas Holdings subsidiary New Wood Resources.

The plant in Shelton will operate into 2016 while Swanson rebuilds its Springfield, Ore. plant that was destroyed by fire in summer 2014. Plans are to eventually transfer Olympic Panel’s assets and production to the new Springfield facility.

“Swanson is building a world-class plywood and veneer manufacturing facility in a location with an excellent workforce and log supply,” says Steve Swanson, President and CEO of Swanson Group. “We have long been impressed with the quality and depth of Olympic’s overlay product line and believe this acquisition fits with our goal to become the leading producer of overlay panels in North America.”

According to Swanson, some of the equipment in Shelton will make its way to Springfield. “We won’t be using the lathe or dryers from Shelton, but we will be using some presses, sand­ers, spreaders, detail saws, etc.,” he says. “We plan to start some layup at Springfield before we take Shelton down.”

The plywood plant at Shelton dates to 1964 when it was built by Simpson Lumber—and it’s physically a part of Simpsons’ large manufacturing complex there, sharing power and steam. Atlas Holdings purchased the plant’s assets from Simpson in 2003 and renamed the plant Olympic Panel Products.

Swanson plans to have its new mill finished and ready to start up by mid 2016. The plant will employ 190.
Swanson says the mill will utilize a state-of-the-art triple-spindle peeling system with sheet and random stacking; two dryers, one handling wides and the other randoms, feeding to respective stacking systems; and a layup line and related systems that enable more overlay production.

When in full operation, the plant should produce 20MMSF of veneer per month while laying up about 10-12MMSF. Of the remaining output, lower grade material will go to Swanson’s Glen­dale, Ore. plywood plant for use in sheathing products, and higher grades will be sold to LVL producers in the region.

The Swanson Group acquired the Springfield plant in 2007 and also operates a plywood plant and saw­mill in Glendale and a stud mill in Roseburg, Ore. Including a helicopter division and forest products sales and distribution company, Swanson Group employs more than 630 in western Oregon.

 

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North American Composite Panel Market Grows

by | Mar 2, 2015 | News

Composite panel consumption is projected to grow in North America through 2016, buoyed in part by the strengthening of the U.S. housing market and positive indicators of improvement in the furniture and related industries. Figures from Resource Information Systems, Inc. (RISI) project particleboard consumption to rise 10 percent in 2015, to 3.29 billion square feet, and grow 11 percent in 2016, to 3.64 billion square feet. Similarly, MDF is projected to hit 2.97 billion square feet in 2015, a rise of 9 percent, and jump to 3.28 billion square feet in 2016, up 10 percent.

Panel producers are gearing up, with already two companies announcing multi-million plant investments this year.

Uniboard announced Feb. 5 that it will invest more than $53 million at its Val-d’Or particleboard and thermally fused laminate (TFL) facility as part of its plan to increase productivity and upgrade key production areas. The company produces particleboard, MDF and TFL from mills in Val-d’Or, Sayabec, Mont-Laurier and Laval, Canada.

Uniboard President and CEO James N. Hogg said the project will enable the company to enhance its engineered wood and value-added product offerings. “Over recent years, Uniboard has invested heavily into product development, launching new color collections including North America’s first registered embossed thermofused laminate panels as well as expanding our successful NU Green range of low and no-formaldehyde products,” he added.

This followed the Jan. 26 news from Arauco that it will invest $30 million to grow the particleboard and TFL capacity at its mill in Bennettsville, SC. The new technology is expected to be in place by the fourth quarter. Arauco said increased dryer capacity will help it to improve its particleboard production by 60 million ft2, on a 3/4-inch basis annually. Arauco also will add a high-tech fast-cycle press for TFL production.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/Composite-Panel-Market-Grows-Consumption-to-Hit-10-in-2015-294396371.html#sthash.7iZYxiAW.dpbs