Table of Contents

GP Wood Products Leader Rehwinkel Has Future in Mind by Rich Donnell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike Rehwinkel became President-Wood Products at Georgia-Pacific in 2006. He had served in executive capacities for GP’s box and packaging operations since joining GP in 2000. Rehwinkel, a native of Mobile, Ala., has worked in the forest products industry for more than 30 years, beginning his career with International Paper and working nearly two decades for IP at various locations in financial and management positions. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees of APA—The Engineered Wood Assn.

Advances in Ultra-Low Emitting UF Resins for P'Board and MDF by Dave Harmon

Regulatory pressure to reduce formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels shifted into overdrive last April when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released its long-awaited regulations.

CARB’s two-phase implementation sets limits on emissions for particleboard, MDF and the products which use them that are roughly equivalent to the strictest European and Japanese standards starting in 2009, and will far exceed them in 2011.

These are just the latest in a long line of ever-more-restrictive VOC emission standards championed by regulators and activists. It’s highly debatable whether CARB’s tight restrictions are necessary, whether there is any health risk at all from formaldehyde at realistic indoor air levels, and whether we’ll see any real benefits from this regulation as we go forward.

Finland Based Raute Celebrates First Century of Success by David Abbott

Although the Republic of Finland turned a mere 90 years old in 2007—the former autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire declared its independence in 1917 at the same time as the Bolsheviks overturned the rule of the Czars and instituted what would become the USSR—Raute Corp., based here, had its inception almost a decade earlier.

The name Raute itself is not an actual Finnish word but is a combination of two words—rauta and teollisuus—that taken together roughly mean “iron industry.” The company began in Lahti, Finland (near current headquarters in Nastola) in 1908 on a limited basis as the engineering works Lahden Rauta- ja Metalliteollisuustehdas Oy (Lahti Iron and Metal Works Inc.). It built inland waterway vessels and manufactured steam boilers.

Finnforst Stays Focused on LVL Production by David Abbott

Finnforest’s LVL mill here—it has another one in Lohja—has seen an increase in production to the tune of 70,000 m3 since the addition of a second line less than three years ago. Antti Termonen, Finnforest technology manager at the Punkaharju mill, reports that a 2005 expansion more than doubled output, from 60,000 m3 to 130,000 m3. Combined with Finnforest’s other LVL mill, the company has a total annual output of 220,000 m3 of its popular Kerto brand of LVL.

Punkaharju has two lines. The original 8 ft. line, installed when the mill was built in 2001, was also the world’s first 8 ft. wide LVL line. For both lines Finnforest chose Raute as the primary technology provider. The decision to produce 8 ft. wide LVL was in part based on observation of 8x8 plywood produced on Raute machines at UPM’s Pellos III mill in Ristiina, Finland. The 8 ft. production line was also highly automated, another benefit.

Georgia-Pacific Plywood Plant at Prosperity Exemplifies Company's New Modus Operandi by Rich Donnell

Then Panel World last visited Georgia-Pacific’s softwood plywood operation here, in late 1992, the plant had been rebuilt and new equipment recently started up following a nearly totally destructive fire at the beginning of the year.

Plant personnel were beaming—and had every right to—over how quickly and smoothly the construction and startup had gone, not to mention the fact that GP had even decided to rebuild the plant during a recessionary market.

Tafisa Canada's New P'Board Line Sidesteps Old Line's Hiccups by Scott Jamieson

As its staff sifted through the ashes on April 18, 2006, the future for Tafisa Canada’s particleboard plant here must have seemed dim. The day prior a spark in a system serving Line 2 turned into an explosion, and then a rapidly spreading fire. In the end, Line 2, the newest line and responsible for 65% of the plant’s output, was destroyed, and Line 1 was put out of service for two months. Only the company’s melamine lines remained operating, but they would soon run out of in-house raw board to process.

In one fell swoop, 10% of North America’s particleboard production was gone, and 350 employees feared for their futures.

Xyle Xpo New

The 21st edition of Xylexpo NEW—Biennial World Exhibition for Woodworking Technology was held at the FieraMilano-Rho exhibition center in Milan, Italy during May 27-31. The event attracted 81,980 visitors, 12% less than in 2006, a reflection of soft markets in certain locales. The biennial event featured a record 853 exhibitors from 38 countries, covering 75,675 square meters of exhibition surface. Numerous equipment and supplier companies in the primary panel industries participated in the event, among them, beginning at left and moving clockwise: Steinemann, Dieffenbacher, Giben, Hymmen, Fezer, Schelling, Kuper and Shanghai Wood Based Panel Machinery. A special section in the May issue of Panel World previewed the exhibits of these and other exhibitor companies. (Photos by Murray Brett)

Recent Mill Orders, Installations & Startups

Dieffenbacher reported the sale of its 100th CPS (continuous) press, the first having been built in 1990, to Weihua Fengkai, a member of the Chinese Weihua Group, which is already operating eight MDF lines in a number of Chinese provinces, including five Dieffenbacher CPS lines.

The latest MDF line in Fengkai City in the province of Guangdong includes a CPS press with a width of 9 ft., a length of 38 m and a designed board capacity of 250,000 m3 per year. This plant will increase the yearly production capacity of the Weihua Group to a total of 1,220,000 m3.

Equipment & Supplier News

Three-hundred-fifty customers from 30 countries participated in Siempelkamp’s 125th anniversary celebration June 19-21 in Germany. For Siempelkamp the festivities were not only a welcome opportunity to celebrate the past but also to lay the foundation for sustainable and close future business relationships.

All three Siempelkamp business units were involved, including machinery and plants, foundry, and nuclear technology, with each presenting their range of services.

The Sierra Club Will Save Us! by Rich Donnell

As reported on page 6 in this issue, the Environmental Protection Agency is launching a major study to truly understand the science and the emissions-related risks, if any, of formaldehyde in pressed wood products.

I would have thought, being that they are the Environmental Protection Agency, that they would already understand the science, being that it has been in place for quite some time. But apparently they were awakened to this matter by…drum roll please, none other than the Sierra Club, whom as we all know is an expert on formaldehyde, and forest management, and what you should eat for breakfast.

Breaking News

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports it is launching a broad effort to gain a greater scientific understanding of the potential health risks of formaldehydes use in pressed wood products. EPA states it will develop risk assessments on potential adverse health effects, evaluate the costs and benefits of possible control technologies and approaches, and determine whether EPA action is needed to address any identified risks.

The Agency is pursing this course of action following review of a TSCA Section 21 citizens’ petition, which requested that EPA adopt nationally a recently enacted California regulation to control formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products (specifically hardwood plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard) and to extend the rule to include composite wood products in manufactured homes.