Egger Group Breaks Ground On N.C. Office To Accompany Particleboard Plant

Egger Group, a wood-based materials supplier for the furniture, wood construction and flooring industries, broke ground on its North American corporate offices in North Carolina’s Davidson County. The Austrian panel producer says this is a critical step in expanding its U.S. presence to better serve North American customers.

The office building, which is scheduled for completion in early 2019, will house Egger’s North American future office staff. This building also lays the groundwork for future plant operations, which includes an ‘ultramodern’ particleboard manufacturing plant.

Construction of the plant is expected to start at the end of 2018 and production at the future facility is slated to begin in 2020. Sources report the 4.5 million-square-foot production facility will be spread across more than 200 acres in an industrial park. The first stage of the project will involve the construction of a composite panel plant with coating capacities. The company said the North Carolina plant will feature state-of-the-art facilities and will enable it to better serve customers in North America.The company also plans to establish a training center at this location to train and grow skilled workers in the region.

“Today, we celebrate a significant milestone for Egger’s presence in North America,” said Bernhard Vorreiter, technical project manager. “This groundbreaking is an important moment as we work to become a leading resource for wood-based solutions in North America.”

The office building will house approximately 80 workplaces and improve access for architects, designers, wholesalers and furniture industry customers to Egger’s wide range of wood-based products and cutting-edge designs.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/egger-group-breaks-ground-office-building-will-accompany-massive?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news,canadian_news

Composite Panel Association Reports Panel Shipments End Year Slightly Below 2015

Composite Panel Association Reports Panel Shipments End Year Slightly Below 2015

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The Composite Panel Association’s December Industry Snapshot Report indicates that North American composite panel shipments of particleboard and MDF totaled 5.511 billion square feet for the year 2016, a slight decrease of 0.9 percent below 2015.

December shipments totaled 412 million square feet (MMSF) (3/4-inch basis), down 1.5 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Particleboard shipments totaled 236 MMSF (3/4-inch basis) in December, and were 3.305 BSF for the year 2016, coming in 1.4 percent below 2015. MDF shipments totaled 176 MMSF (3/4-inch basis) for the month and 2.206 MMSF for 2016, essentially flat compared to 2015.

Capitalization rate for particleboard production was primarily in the 65 to 75 percent range for 2016. Particleboard shipments for both the United States and Canada have remained about the same for the past four years. Shipments are extrapolated based on data received from 95.2 percent of the U.S. industry and 100 percent of Canadian industry.

The Industry Snapshot Report is published by the 15th of each month and is available to members on CPA’s web site. The 2016 North American Shipments and Downstream Market Report will be published in May and provide a comprehensive analysis of industry shipments.

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Wisewoods Adds Second Dieffenbacher Z-Sifter In Thailand 

Wisewoods Co. Ltd. has commissioned a second Dieffenbacher Z-Sifter with Dryer Discharge Conveyor (DDC) for optimized material feeding at its medium-density fiberboard (MDF) site in Khao Yoi, Thailand, replacing two conventional sifters in an existing…

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Borg Manufacturing Orders Particleboard Plants From Siempelkamp

Two successful sales confirm that Siempelkamp’s expertise enjoys best reputation in Down Under as well: Borg Manufacturing Pty. Ltd., a leading Australian producer of melamine-laminated boards, has ordered a new particleboard plant for its Oberon location. Moreover, Borg has ordered a retrofitting concept from Siempelkamp to use their latest technologies effectively in their existing plant.

The new particleboard plant will be set up in Oberon in the Australian state of New South Wales, where Borg Manufacturing operates a facility for wood-panel surfacing. Impressive investments will enhance its market value significantly. Having so far purchased all their particleboard the company now strives for more autonomy by running their own production facility.

In this Borg relies on Siempelkamp’s support: The Krefeld-based machinery and plant manufacturer received the order for a particleboard plant including a Generation 8-ContiRoll (pressing format 8’ x 40.4 m, designed for an output of 1,500 m³/day). In this plant, two important technological core competences will be realized: for one the almost isobaric pressure distribution in the press and secondly the latest forming technology, presently representing the latest benchmark with respect to raw material consumption.

This is achieved, amongst others, by an optimized material feed into the dosing bins and by two field proven EcoFormers, which are wind formers for producing the surface layers. The mat former system is completed with two CageFormers for producing the core layers; the formers are equipped with modules designed to adjust the weight-per-unit area of the mat. The interplay of these components enables a high forming precision and – along with the almost isobaric pressure distribution in the ContiRoll – ensures an especially material- and cost-efficient particleboard production. These important features have contributed to convince our customer.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/borg-manufacturing-orders-new-particleboard-plants-siempelkamp

B.C. Particleboard Plant Revamps For Pellet Production

A Northern Engineered Wood Products (NEWPRO) particleboard facility is filing a permit amendment to become a wood pellet manufacturing plant. Particleboard production has been halted at the Smithers, BC, plant since January 2014.

Although not typically required when reducing emissions, a full consultation report will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment Aug. 3, said Rebecca Martin of SLR Consulting, who is overseeing work on the plant. News reports of the application say it shows the switch will result in 94 percent decrease in total particulate matter, from 432 to 26 tons per year. Modeling was done to predict the emissions levels.

Martin said NEWPRO’s use of the best available control technology will make the facility a new provincial standard for wood pellet plants. Among the upgrades to be made are state-of-the-art dryers.

When it reopens, the plant will bring an estimated 30 full time jobs, and 10 contractual jobs to the area, Martin added.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/canadian-news/particleboard-plant-revamps-pellet-production

North American Composite Panel Market Grows

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