Raute Group’s newly inaugurated Service Center is the company’s second Service Center in Russia. It was opened to ensure Raute’s capability to meet its customers’ needs better and serve the Kirov region plywood mills more effectively by offering shorter delivery times for spare parts and local services.
Within a radius of 400 kilometers, there are more than ten plywood mills that will be served in the first stage.
“The opening of the new Kirov Service Center marks an important milestone for Raute Service LLC in terms of providing local services to a growing veneer, plywood and LVL industry in the local market,” says Jouni Putkonen, Vice President, Market Area Russia (CIS).
“Raute’s strategy is to establish local service points close to its customers in order to be able to offer fast local service utilizing global knowhow – global presence, local service. The demand for technology services has increased strongly in recent years, which is why Raute Service LLC moved into larger and more professional premises in the beginning of 2017 in order to have more office and warehouse space. 2018 was a year of extensive service growth and this trend looks set to continue in 2019 and 2020,” says Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO, Raute Corporation.
ARAUCO held a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 16, 2019 at its new particleboard and lamination facility in Grayling, Mich. Executives from ARAUCO, ARAUCO North America, as well as customers and public officials from Chile and the state of Michigan attended the ceremony, which also included a plant tour. The Grayling mill represents a $450 million investment toward supporting ARAUCO’s North American customer base and increasing the company’s ability to meet the furniture manufacturing industry in the U.S. Midwest market area and beyond.
The 820,000 sq. ft. operation is the company’s first greenfield facility in the U.S., its 11th North America manufacturing site and the largest of its kind globally. The operation is designed to be one of the most productive in the world and houses North America’s highest-capacity, single-line particleboard press, two thermally infused laminating (TFL) lines and a large stocking warehouse for just-in-time service delivery. The plant currently staffs more than 200 full-time employees and has generated 700 additional jobs in related supplier and logistics industries since construction commenced in spring 2017.
“This is a historic day and milestone for our company,” said Matías Domeyko, CEO, ARAUCO. “The official start of production at Grayling exemplifies the outstanding innovation and sustained growth ARAUCO is known for globally, and what has been central to propelling our positive business results. The Grayling mill achievement also is the culmination of unwavering commitment from our valued investor who shared our vision for capturing significant market opportunity in North America.”
Kelly Shotbolt, President of ARAUCO North America, acknowledged the significant contributions of the Grayling project managers, and praised state of Michigan officials and local Crawford County representatives for creating an environment conducive to undertaking such a large-scale business endeavor.
“We are grateful for the incredible support received both from Grayling community leaders and the state of Michigan. It has been vital to enabling ARAUCO to renew our industry in North America through what is arguably the most advanced, automated and large-scale facility of its kind anywhere in the world,” Shotbolt said. “While known for automobile manufacturing, Michigan also is the office furniture capital of the world. We are pleased to substantially expand our production capacity to assure a strong, sustainable supply of quality, raw and finished product for this growing region.”
With an annual production capacity of 452MMSF, the Grayling plant will soon produce the full breadth of the company’s high-quality raw particleboard in a variety of thicknesses, as well as ARAUCO’s PRISM TFL collection.
FLAMEX Inc. announced Tony Thomas as its new President, succeeding Allen Wagoner after 13 years at that post. Thomas has been with the company for almost 32 years and has been serving as Vice President. Ed Pridgen assumes the role as Vice President in addition to his position as MINFOG Product Manager…
Georgia-Pacific recently announced a $20 million addition to its oriented strandboard (OSB) facility in Alcolu, South Carolina. The major scope of the project will be to add a third strander to the behemoth facility, which will increase the annual output of…
Egger Wood Products will invest $20 million for an additional thermally fused laminate (TFL) production line at the company’s sole U.S. location in Lexington, NC. The company’s Supervisory Board announced the investment, part of completion for Phase I work at the site, after visiting the U.S. plant for its…
Peak Renewables Ltd., an emerging, innovative, opportunity-driven company focused on growing the forest economy with sustainably sourced and renewable energy products, is pleased to announce that Scott Bax has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective December 20, 2021...
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
The 4,200-capacity engineered wood mass-timber facility is slated to open in 2021 as home court for Vandal basketball programs and campus and community events.
Planning for the structure has brought in wood industry partners from across the state to take part in the project. These critical partners support the building as an example of what can be done in the realm of modern wood construction.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen praises the wooden construction for it’s sustainability and the economic opportunities it creates.
“Every piece of timber from this building will be harvested from the state of Idaho,” says Isakson.
PotlatchDeltic Corp. has appointed Ashlee Cribb as Vice President, Wood Products. She succeeds Tom Temple, who is retiring in October after serving in this role since 2009. “We are thrilled to welcome Ashlee,” comments Eric Cremers, PotlatchDeltic…
Equipment and technology supplier Ledinek reports it has been selected to supply a CLT line for a new venture, Arboreal, in Tacuarembó, Uruguay. In March 2021, businessman Mark Crandall from the United States and Matías Abergo, CEO of…
Martco L.L.C. (RoyOMartin) announced that its Texas subsidiary, Corrigan OSB, L.L.C., will invest $211 million and construct a stand-alone oriented strandboard (OSB) manufacturing facility near its current OSB plant located in Corrigan on U.S. Highway…
Mercer International Inc., a global forest products company based in Vancouver, BC, reported it received approval from the applicable Bankruptcy Court for the purchase by its subsidiary, Blue Varsity, of the cross-laminated timber manufacturing facility in…
Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World July 2021 – We are saddened by the demise of Katerra, the company that stormed in like gangbusters to put a totally new spin on how building construction is managed and completed. We’re very aware that many…
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Tolko Industries announced its Armstrong and Soda Creek lumber operations would take downtime during the weeks of May 27 and June 3.
“High log costs and weak market conditions continue to impact our lumber operating footprint in British Columbia,” says Vice President of Solid Wood, Troy Connolly. “While we prefer to remain operational, we must manage the business responsibly and ensure we are sustainable for the long run.”
Connolly says employees were informed of the decision and local HR representatives are available to assist them with any questions they may have.
“We do not make these decisions lightly,” says Connolly. “We know we have great people working at these operations and this is in no way a reflection on them or their commitment. However, industry conditions in B.C. are challenging right now and could be for some time.”
Pino Pucci, Vice President, Tolko Marketing and Sales assured customers that Tolko’s Marketing and Sales team “will continue to support our customers and do our best to minimize any impacts as a result of these operations taking downtime.”
A 28-year
program to monitor logging Best Management Practices (BMPs) implementation on
east Texas timber harvest sites shows overall 93.8% BMP implementation in 2018
across all land ownerships.
That’s a solid improvement in the last 20 years—the
implementation rate was 87% in 1998—and remains at a high rate since the last
survey in 2015 when overall BMP implementation was 94%.
Every three years, the Texas A&M Forest Service conducts
BMP implementation monitoring on 150 randomly selected forested tracts across east
Texas where silvicultural activities occurred. The program is funded by Clean
Water Act Section 319(h) grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
through the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and seeks to measure
the degree of BMP implementation by forest landowners, silvicultural
contractors, forest industry and government agencies.
The recently completed round of monitoring covered sites in
33 counties between March 2017 and December 2018. Averaging all 150 scores,
overall BMP implementation on the sites was 93.8%. In general, implementation
was highest on sites under public ownership, with an overall implementation of
99%. Corporate lands (commercial landowners without wood processing facilities)
scored 95.3% overall, and family forest owners scored 91.1%.
As the program has consistently shown since its inception, the sites with the highest rates of BMP implementation were those where a forester was involved, the contractor had attended BMP training and the landowner was already familiar with BMPs. Other factors that boost BMP implementation are having BMPs in the sale contract, the timber purchased by an SFI mill, and a landowner forest management plan.
Overall BMP implementation has remained steady the last several years, the report says. The last time overall Texas BMP implementation fell below 90% was in 2000, at just under 89%. The highest recorded implementation rate so far in the program was 94.1% in 2011.
According to the report, most impressive is the considerable
progress demonstrated by family forest owners since monitoring began in the
early 1990s. This year, the 91.1% BMP implementation rate on family forest owner
sites represents a 31% increase since 1992. This improvement demonstrates that
ongoing education and training strategies geared towards loggers, landowners
and foresters were the driving force behind the increases in BMP implementation.
A Texas A&M on-line archive has an information-filled web
page detailing the program and a full lineup of every report beginning in 1992.
To find out more, visit https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/BMPMonitoring
The Michigan State University STEM Teaching and Learning Facility will be the first in Michigan to use mass timber wood products, rather than concrete and/or steel, for its load-bearing structure. The $100 million facility will be constructed of glue-laminated wooden columns and cross-laminated timber (CLT), a relatively new product for the floors and ceilings.
“We compared mass timber with other framing methods and were intrigued by how far wood has come as a building material,” said John LeFevre, MSU’s Planning, Design and Construction director. “A major advantage is the speed of construction – the panels can be assembled very quickly.” The new building will be constructed around the former Shaw Lane Power Plant. Two new mass timber wings will offer 117,000 sq. ft. of modern teaching labs, responding to STEM course demand, which has increased 40% in the last 10 years at MSU. The building is slated to open in fall 2020 with classes beginning in January 2021. The wood panels are being manufactured in Quebec and will arrive on campus in April.
Currently there is no CLT manufacturing in Michigan, although it’s a prime place for future development. In addition to economic development, the building will have environmental benefits, especially for locking up carbon that otherwise would be in the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. “I am excited to see the educational, research and outreach opportunities that the building itself promises to many academic units and to our land-grant mission,” says Ron Hendrick, dean of MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “It is an interdisciplinary platform encompassing forestry, construction management, biosystems engineering and beyond, and can serve as a catalyst to develop this new technology in Michigan.
“Having a CLT manufacturer in Michigan would not only create green jobs using sustainable resources, but also provide the financial resources and incentives that are needed to restore and conserve healthy, diverse and productive forests that provide so many other benefits,” says Debbie Begalle, state forester and chief of the Forest Resources Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
FLAMEX Inc. announced Tony Thomas as its new President, succeeding Allen Wagoner after 13 years at that post. Thomas has been with the company for almost 32 years and has been serving as Vice President. Ed Pridgen assumes the role as Vice President in addition to his position as MINFOG Product Manager…
Georgia-Pacific recently announced a $20 million addition to its oriented strandboard (OSB) facility in Alcolu, South Carolina. The major scope of the project will be to add a third strander to the behemoth facility, which will increase the annual output of…
Egger Wood Products will invest $20 million for an additional thermally fused laminate (TFL) production line at the company’s sole U.S. location in Lexington, NC. The company’s Supervisory Board announced the investment, part of completion for Phase I work at the site, after visiting the U.S. plant for its…
Peak Renewables Ltd., an emerging, innovative, opportunity-driven company focused on growing the forest economy with sustainably sourced and renewable energy products, is pleased to announce that Scott Bax has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective December 20, 2021...
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
