Composite Panel Plants Awarded For Safety Records

by | 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

Composite Panel Market To Grow 4.21% In 2016

by | Apr 20, 2016 | News

Capacity for the North American composite panel industry is expected to increase 4.21 percent in 2016, Composite Panel Association Chairman Steve Stoler told a record crowd at the CPA’s spring meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Increased usage of engineered wood panels in cabinetry, furniture, flooring and other products is helping spur the growth.

The upward trend follows a three-year capacity decline, reported Stoler, general sales manager of Boise Cascade. Capacity is defined as the amount of panels produced, based on maximum press utilization.

“I’ve been encouraged by signs of growth an new investment in our industry after a long period of inactivity,” Stoler said, citing recent announcements of plant upgrades and new lines. The addition of three mills in Mexico also is projected to increase North American MDF capacity by 10 percent.

The CPA also projects shipments of particleboard and MDF to grow 3 percent in 2016. Last year’s shipments of U.S. and Canadian panels hit 5.561 BSF, which was up 3 percent from 2014 figures.

More than 300 people from more than 100 companies attended the April 17-20 CPA event.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/composite-panel-market-to-grow-4-percent?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news