RAUTE Plywood Factory for Sale
RAUTE
| raute.pdf |
Euroinvestor.co.uk 10.12.09
RAUTE TO RECEIVE AN EUR 12 MILLION ORDER FOR A PLYWOOD MILL IN RUSSIA RAUTE CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10 DECEMBER 2009 at 1:20 p.m.
RAUTE TO RECEIVE AN EUR 12 MILLION ORDER FOR A PLYWOOD MILL IN RUSSIA
Raute Corporation has received an order worth approx. EUR 12 million from the
Russian company Brjanskij Fanernyi Kombinat. The order comprises all production
lines for a plywood mill. The machinery deliveries to Russia will take place in
summer 2010 and the start-up of the mill will take place during autumn 2010.
Brjanskij Fanernyi Kombinat is a well-established, relatively small Russian
plywood producer with production operations in Brjanskij, in the South-West of
Russia. The machinery now ordered will be placed in a new mill with an annual
production capacity of 40 000 m3 of overlaid birch plywood. The mill will
produce 4x8 ft and 5x10 ft plywood by Western production standards.
The received order improves Raute's order book but has no impact on the net
sales and operating profit for 2009. Because of the very low declined order
book, the order will only have minor, short-term mitigating effect on the
ongoing adaptation measures. Despite this single received order the market
situation as a whole is still challenging.
RAUTE TO RECEIVE AN EUR 12 MILLION ORDER FOR A PLYWOOD MILL IN RUSSIA
Raute Corporation has received an order worth approx. EUR 12 million from the
Russian company Brjanskij Fanernyi Kombinat. The order comprises all production
lines for a plywood mill. The machinery deliveries to Russia will take place in
summer 2010 and the start-up of the mill will take place during autumn 2010.
Brjanskij Fanernyi Kombinat is a well-established, relatively small Russian
plywood producer with production operations in Brjanskij, in the South-West of
Russia. The machinery now ordered will be placed in a new mill with an annual
production capacity of 40 000 m3 of overlaid birch plywood. The mill will
produce 4x8 ft and 5x10 ft plywood by Western production standards.
The received order improves Raute's order book but has no impact on the net
sales and operating profit for 2009. Because of the very low declined order
book, the order will only have minor, short-term mitigating effect on the
ongoing adaptation measures. Despite this single received order the market
situation as a whole is still challenging.
www.euroinvestor.co.uk
RAUTE TO DELIVER PLYWOOD TECHNOLOGY TO LATVI
RAUTE TO DELIVER PLYWOOD TECHNOLOGY TO LATVIA
Raute Corporation has received in August and November 2007 orders for plywood
technology worth 14 million EUR from the Latvian company A/S Latvijas Finieris.
The machine deliveries will take place in the summer and autumn of 2008.
In August, Latvijas Finieris ordered all production lines for a new green veneer
mill to be built in Ukmerge, Lithuania. To be further processed, the veneer
produced with Raute machinery in Lithuania will be transported to Latvijas
Finieris' mills in Latvia.
In November, Latvijas Finieris ordered for its Lignums mill situated in Riga,
Latvia, a mill modernization including several production lines. The investment
targets in making the raw material handling more efficient and thus improve the
raw material recovery and increase production efficiency and flexibility. The
order also includes a rationalization plan for the conditioning process
targeting significant improvement in energy efficiency.
The received orders are part of a long-term development plan of Latvijas
Finieris. The target of the plan is to make the company the globally leading
birch plywood developer and producer. A/S Latvijas Finieris is a Latvian company
specialized in the production of birch plywood. The products are sold on the
global market. The company has 3 plywood mills in Latvia and it is one of the
biggest birch plywood suppliers in Europe. All Latvijas Finieris' mills have the
latest, high-performance production technology, most of which supplied by Raute.
RAUTE CORPORATION
Raute Corporation has received in August and November 2007 orders for plywood
technology worth 14 million EUR from the Latvian company A/S Latvijas Finieris.
The machine deliveries will take place in the summer and autumn of 2008.
In August, Latvijas Finieris ordered all production lines for a new green veneer
mill to be built in Ukmerge, Lithuania. To be further processed, the veneer
produced with Raute machinery in Lithuania will be transported to Latvijas
Finieris' mills in Latvia.
In November, Latvijas Finieris ordered for its Lignums mill situated in Riga,
Latvia, a mill modernization including several production lines. The investment
targets in making the raw material handling more efficient and thus improve the
raw material recovery and increase production efficiency and flexibility. The
order also includes a rationalization plan for the conditioning process
targeting significant improvement in energy efficiency.
The received orders are part of a long-term development plan of Latvijas
Finieris. The target of the plan is to make the company the globally leading
birch plywood developer and producer. A/S Latvijas Finieris is a Latvian company
specialized in the production of birch plywood. The products are sold on the
global market. The company has 3 plywood mills in Latvia and it is one of the
biggest birch plywood suppliers in Europe. All Latvijas Finieris' mills have the
latest, high-performance production technology, most of which supplied by Raute.
RAUTE CORPORATION
Rautewood.com
Arauco chooses Raute as main supplier for Greenfield Plywood plant Paneles Arauco S.A. has chosen Raute as the main supplier of equipment to their greenfield ‘Itata’ plywood plant, which will be located in Nueva Aldea, 50 km northeast of Concepcion, Chile. The project has been named after the nearby Itata River. Delivery is set for late 2003 and early 2004, with the plant to be operational by the end of 2004.
Capacity of the new Itata plant will be 210,000 m3 of radiata pine plywood annually. Raute will supply all the veneer manufacturing equipment, automatic gluing and lay-up lines and panel handling lines. The delivery will include one 8 -ft and one 4 -ft high-tech peeling line, a log cutting, three drying and grading lines with automatic feeders, dry veneer stackers and Mecano moisture meters, a VDA visual defect analyzer for grading, two core composers, two fully-automatic lay-up lines and panel repairing and packaging lines. Arauco has also placed an order for an automatic lay-up line and two Mecano VDA veneer grading systems for their plywood mill in Los Horcones. Total value of these orders is approximately 20 million euros.
Arauco has previously cooperated with Raute in a similar project at their first plywood mill. Reasons cited by Arauco for their decision to buy from Raute were Raute’s advanced plywood technology and understanding of the processing requirements for plantation wood, the mill’s raw material.
Arauco is one of the world’s largest forestry enterprises in terms of available plantation timber, production of kraft pulp, sawn lumber and panels. The company’s forest plantations and industrial facilities are located in Chile and Argentina. Paneles Arauco S.A. was founded in 1995 to produce plywood and other panels from radiata pine.
Raute Wood supplies machinery, complete production lines, and related technologies and services to the wood products industry globally. The company’s strengths are its expertise in understanding the customers’ processes and related automation needs, its ability to supply complete production lines, its comprehensive range of services and its long experience in global project deliveries.
RAUTE OYJ
Capacity of the new Itata plant will be 210,000 m3 of radiata pine plywood annually. Raute will supply all the veneer manufacturing equipment, automatic gluing and lay-up lines and panel handling lines. The delivery will include one 8 -ft and one 4 -ft high-tech peeling line, a log cutting, three drying and grading lines with automatic feeders, dry veneer stackers and Mecano moisture meters, a VDA visual defect analyzer for grading, two core composers, two fully-automatic lay-up lines and panel repairing and packaging lines. Arauco has also placed an order for an automatic lay-up line and two Mecano VDA veneer grading systems for their plywood mill in Los Horcones. Total value of these orders is approximately 20 million euros.
Arauco has previously cooperated with Raute in a similar project at their first plywood mill. Reasons cited by Arauco for their decision to buy from Raute were Raute’s advanced plywood technology and understanding of the processing requirements for plantation wood, the mill’s raw material.
Arauco is one of the world’s largest forestry enterprises in terms of available plantation timber, production of kraft pulp, sawn lumber and panels. The company’s forest plantations and industrial facilities are located in Chile and Argentina. Paneles Arauco S.A. was founded in 1995 to produce plywood and other panels from radiata pine.
Raute Wood supplies machinery, complete production lines, and related technologies and services to the wood products industry globally. The company’s strengths are its expertise in understanding the customers’ processes and related automation needs, its ability to supply complete production lines, its comprehensive range of services and its long experience in global project deliveries.
RAUTE OYJ
www.specialtywoodjournal.com
Richmond Plywood stay successful in its own unique way. Richmond Plywood, located on the south bank of the Fraser River, began in 1956 when 300 investors each paid $5,000 to establish what has become a successful plywood producing co-operative. Fifty-two years later, according to President and Chairman of the Board, Sukhwinder (Sandy) Grewal, it is ongoing investments that continue to secure Richply’s success in what has been described as a sunset industry.
“Investments in plant and process, together with reliable management and product flexibility, enable Richply to prosper where many have failed”, said Grewal. Grewal believes strongly in Richply’s management philosophy. “The Board of Directors may change regularly, but our management remains stable and consistent”, he said, adding that there are several 20-plus year employees in key positions throughout the company. According to Grewal, part of ensuring the company’s success lies in securing future ownership. “We need to be sure that our shares retain their value so that they are attractive to potential buyers. Proper management and investment has enabled us to do this and attract new owners as the existing one’s retire.” This strategy would appear to be working. Today, shares are valued at $300,000 each. A 30-year veteran of the wood products industry, Sandy Grewal joined Richply in 1984 when he bought a share for $45,000 and started work as a core layer on the spreaders. Today, the certified steam engineer carries out his maintenance duties in the steam plant in the mornings and his duties as Chairman of the Board after lunch. It is an unusual arrangement, admitted Grewal, but one that works. “We all pull our weight and contribute here”, he stated. Richply’s 282 owners all have equal voting rights when electing the seven board members. All shareholders, too, earn the same wage rate. “The President and the sweeper get the same rate of pay”, said Grewal, who has been a board member for 12 years and is currently serving his seventh term as Chairman. All told, Richply’s total workforce numbers over 400, with non-shareholders making up the balance. As to the present situation in the wood products industry, Richply’s owners remain positive. Said Grewal, “We are here making plywood every day, investing in our business to ensure our future. As our anniversary slogan states - we are moving towards 100 years and beyond.” Experienced and Stable Management Richply’s General Manager, Doug Scott started at Richply in 1994. He likes to add the letters M.B.L. after his name - Management By Luck. If the truth be known, however, luck has little to do with Richply’s success.
According to Scott, it is more to do with consistency and continuity, both in the way the mill is run and how products are made. “If management properly utilizes and fosters the skills of its people, success will follow”, he states. Improvement through upgrading and modernization has created value for Richply. Management constantly re-evaluates its performance and makes improvements through capital investments, like a new dryer, or through smaller investments, like upgrading software or rebuilding a press. As a member of the corporate team responsible for making equipment purchasing decisions, Scott believes in establishing good vendor relations. He stated that local machinery manufacturer, Raute Canada, has a successful track record with Richply. “We have co-operated with Raute in developing products, such as a clipper scanner, rotary clipper controller and dryer speed control, among others”, said Scott. He further stated that, while having Raute’s factory nearby is advantageous, the vendor must perform to Richply’s expectations. He stated that the 2005 dryer project helped build strong relations between the two companies. “Raute’s 6-deck dryer has outperformed its design capacity and veneer quality is consistent and good. It has also proven to be an energy-efficient and reliable performer.” Raute Delivers Successful Upgrade Projects In recent years, Raute has delivered numerous capital and modernization projects to Richply. Notable projects include a 6-deck dryer system incorporating a multi-bin dry veneer stacker and VDA camera grading system, as well as the infeed, outfeed and controls supplied by Raute when Richply rebuilt their #2 dryer. New high-speed sheet refeeders were also added to the dryers. More recently, Raute installed hydraulic clipping trash gates on the two 8 ft. lathes, as well as a Smart Scan XY block optimization system on #1 lathe and a Smart Scan XY including a block charging system on #2 line. Peeling line #2 also benefited from the installation of a new-style Raute sheet diverter and 5-bin Raute green stacker in 2001. Outdated VME lathe controls were replaced with ControlLogix PLC controls, which provided open-architecture programming and have simplified trouble-shooting. New controls were also added to #2 green stacker, as well as Raute VCA clipper scanners and Raute rotary clipper controllers on both lines. “It is still early days for the new XY’s”, stated Scott, “however, we are already seeing improvements in full-sheet recovery and a reduction in random.” Other recent projects include the installation of saw line feeders and a multi-bin panel stacker for the sanding line.
Freres Plywood makes the switch to revolutionary new light sorting technology When times are tough, businesses as a rule tend to tighten their belts, batten down the hatches and hang on tight to ride out the storm. This is not the case with the Freres Lumber Company. They have traditionally taken times when the economy is soft as an opportunity to re-invest in their mill and add technology to ensure they stay ahead of the curve, says Tyler Freres, grandson of founder Theodore George (TG) Freres. This mindset of investing in new technology when other companies are lying low is one of the reasons, Tyler says, that the 3rd generation family owned business is approaching their 100th year of operation. “I think being willing to re-invest in our plant and our equipment when others aren’t willing to do that has been a big help, “ he says. “We have been less interested in growing quickly and in a different location and more interested in making sure the processes we have in place at the current plant are sufficient.” Mill manager and 40-year company employee Norm Persons says with a laugh that he has seen many changes in his time at Freres, and agrees that has played a major part in their success. “They bought a plywood mill when plywood mills were going out of business, and that turned out to be a great thing for the company,” he says. “They choose downtimes to make improvements that would normally cost production hours. It has been a good strategy, it has proven out over the years. They are really proactive about putting money back into the company, keeping things up to date.” The Lyons, Oregon based mill came to be in the Freres family when TG traded one of the two thrashing machines he had been operating, with income from the family grain farms, for a small struggling sawmill in the Fern Ridge area in 1922, according to the company’s history. After struggling financially through the Second World War the mill came into more prosperous times and moved to Lyons, where it remains today. The company has remained in the family, as was the dying wish of TG in 1979. Second generation Bob Freres is now chairman of the board, Ted Freres is president, and Rob Freres is executive vice-president. Freres operates two primary wood lathes in Lyons as well as a plywood plant in Mill City, five miles away. The latest instance of the company making lemonade of the current sour economic climate is the recent installation of Westmill’s LightSORT™ Green Veneer Moisture Measuring (GVMM) sorting system at their mill. The project was put into service and replaced their existing moisture meter in May of this year, says Tyler, and is the most current in a line of recent upgrades. LightSORT is an alternative technology for sorting veneer, says Brian Martin, general manager at Westmill Machine Automation in Aldergrove, B.C.. They are the exclusive distributors of the product that was developed by Forintek.
“Investments in plant and process, together with reliable management and product flexibility, enable Richply to prosper where many have failed”, said Grewal. Grewal believes strongly in Richply’s management philosophy. “The Board of Directors may change regularly, but our management remains stable and consistent”, he said, adding that there are several 20-plus year employees in key positions throughout the company. According to Grewal, part of ensuring the company’s success lies in securing future ownership. “We need to be sure that our shares retain their value so that they are attractive to potential buyers. Proper management and investment has enabled us to do this and attract new owners as the existing one’s retire.” This strategy would appear to be working. Today, shares are valued at $300,000 each. A 30-year veteran of the wood products industry, Sandy Grewal joined Richply in 1984 when he bought a share for $45,000 and started work as a core layer on the spreaders. Today, the certified steam engineer carries out his maintenance duties in the steam plant in the mornings and his duties as Chairman of the Board after lunch. It is an unusual arrangement, admitted Grewal, but one that works. “We all pull our weight and contribute here”, he stated. Richply’s 282 owners all have equal voting rights when electing the seven board members. All shareholders, too, earn the same wage rate. “The President and the sweeper get the same rate of pay”, said Grewal, who has been a board member for 12 years and is currently serving his seventh term as Chairman. All told, Richply’s total workforce numbers over 400, with non-shareholders making up the balance. As to the present situation in the wood products industry, Richply’s owners remain positive. Said Grewal, “We are here making plywood every day, investing in our business to ensure our future. As our anniversary slogan states - we are moving towards 100 years and beyond.” Experienced and Stable Management Richply’s General Manager, Doug Scott started at Richply in 1994. He likes to add the letters M.B.L. after his name - Management By Luck. If the truth be known, however, luck has little to do with Richply’s success.
According to Scott, it is more to do with consistency and continuity, both in the way the mill is run and how products are made. “If management properly utilizes and fosters the skills of its people, success will follow”, he states. Improvement through upgrading and modernization has created value for Richply. Management constantly re-evaluates its performance and makes improvements through capital investments, like a new dryer, or through smaller investments, like upgrading software or rebuilding a press. As a member of the corporate team responsible for making equipment purchasing decisions, Scott believes in establishing good vendor relations. He stated that local machinery manufacturer, Raute Canada, has a successful track record with Richply. “We have co-operated with Raute in developing products, such as a clipper scanner, rotary clipper controller and dryer speed control, among others”, said Scott. He further stated that, while having Raute’s factory nearby is advantageous, the vendor must perform to Richply’s expectations. He stated that the 2005 dryer project helped build strong relations between the two companies. “Raute’s 6-deck dryer has outperformed its design capacity and veneer quality is consistent and good. It has also proven to be an energy-efficient and reliable performer.” Raute Delivers Successful Upgrade Projects In recent years, Raute has delivered numerous capital and modernization projects to Richply. Notable projects include a 6-deck dryer system incorporating a multi-bin dry veneer stacker and VDA camera grading system, as well as the infeed, outfeed and controls supplied by Raute when Richply rebuilt their #2 dryer. New high-speed sheet refeeders were also added to the dryers. More recently, Raute installed hydraulic clipping trash gates on the two 8 ft. lathes, as well as a Smart Scan XY block optimization system on #1 lathe and a Smart Scan XY including a block charging system on #2 line. Peeling line #2 also benefited from the installation of a new-style Raute sheet diverter and 5-bin Raute green stacker in 2001. Outdated VME lathe controls were replaced with ControlLogix PLC controls, which provided open-architecture programming and have simplified trouble-shooting. New controls were also added to #2 green stacker, as well as Raute VCA clipper scanners and Raute rotary clipper controllers on both lines. “It is still early days for the new XY’s”, stated Scott, “however, we are already seeing improvements in full-sheet recovery and a reduction in random.” Other recent projects include the installation of saw line feeders and a multi-bin panel stacker for the sanding line.
Freres Plywood makes the switch to revolutionary new light sorting technology When times are tough, businesses as a rule tend to tighten their belts, batten down the hatches and hang on tight to ride out the storm. This is not the case with the Freres Lumber Company. They have traditionally taken times when the economy is soft as an opportunity to re-invest in their mill and add technology to ensure they stay ahead of the curve, says Tyler Freres, grandson of founder Theodore George (TG) Freres. This mindset of investing in new technology when other companies are lying low is one of the reasons, Tyler says, that the 3rd generation family owned business is approaching their 100th year of operation. “I think being willing to re-invest in our plant and our equipment when others aren’t willing to do that has been a big help, “ he says. “We have been less interested in growing quickly and in a different location and more interested in making sure the processes we have in place at the current plant are sufficient.” Mill manager and 40-year company employee Norm Persons says with a laugh that he has seen many changes in his time at Freres, and agrees that has played a major part in their success. “They bought a plywood mill when plywood mills were going out of business, and that turned out to be a great thing for the company,” he says. “They choose downtimes to make improvements that would normally cost production hours. It has been a good strategy, it has proven out over the years. They are really proactive about putting money back into the company, keeping things up to date.” The Lyons, Oregon based mill came to be in the Freres family when TG traded one of the two thrashing machines he had been operating, with income from the family grain farms, for a small struggling sawmill in the Fern Ridge area in 1922, according to the company’s history. After struggling financially through the Second World War the mill came into more prosperous times and moved to Lyons, where it remains today. The company has remained in the family, as was the dying wish of TG in 1979. Second generation Bob Freres is now chairman of the board, Ted Freres is president, and Rob Freres is executive vice-president. Freres operates two primary wood lathes in Lyons as well as a plywood plant in Mill City, five miles away. The latest instance of the company making lemonade of the current sour economic climate is the recent installation of Westmill’s LightSORT™ Green Veneer Moisture Measuring (GVMM) sorting system at their mill. The project was put into service and replaced their existing moisture meter in May of this year, says Tyler, and is the most current in a line of recent upgrades. LightSORT is an alternative technology for sorting veneer, says Brian Martin, general manager at Westmill Machine Automation in Aldergrove, B.C.. They are the exclusive distributors of the product that was developed by Forintek.
www,euroinvestor.co.uk
THE EUR 11 MILLION ORDER FOR PLYWOOD MILL RECEIVED IN SEPTEMBER TO BE DELIVE RAUTE CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE
Translation 27 November 2006 at 12.30 pm
THE EUR 11 MILLION ORDER FOR PLYWOOD MILL RECEIVED IN SEPTEMBER TO BE DELIVERED
TO FRANCE
The order for plywood mill machines and equipment announced by Raute with a stock
exchange release on 12 September 2006 will be delivered to Thebault Plyland
S.A.S. in France. The order is worth EUR 11 million and it includes the machines,
lines and automation for a completely new greenfield mill. The machine deliveries
and installation are scheduled for the summer of 2007.
Thebault is a well-established plywood manufacturer. The company owns plywood
mills in France using okoume and maritime pine as raw material, and a mill in
Gabon producing veneer of tropical species. The company holds a significant
position as a supplier of both okoume and maritime pine plywood, and the main
market for its products is Europe. The earlier Raute delivery in the 1990s
included the production lines for maritime pine plywood. The new mill-scale
project will be the first true greenfield plywood project since the beginning of
the 1990s in Europe.
"The focus in the construction of the new mill was especially on the flexibility,
the production efficiency and the high utilization rate of raw material. Plyland
will have the possibility to manufacture an exclusive 2800 x 1250 mm sized panel
the construction of wooden houses. Raute's competence in and excellent references
from mill-scale deliveries in view of our interests were the decisive factors for
placing the order with Raute. We are very satisfied with our long-term
partnership and we wish to continue the development of our production together
with Raute also in future." the three brothers Jean-Charles, Benoît and Henri-
Jean Thebault state
The received order further enhances Raute's position as the leading technology
supplier for mill-scale units in the plywood industry.
Translation 27 November 2006 at 12.30 pm
THE EUR 11 MILLION ORDER FOR PLYWOOD MILL RECEIVED IN SEPTEMBER TO BE DELIVERED
TO FRANCE
The order for plywood mill machines and equipment announced by Raute with a stock
exchange release on 12 September 2006 will be delivered to Thebault Plyland
S.A.S. in France. The order is worth EUR 11 million and it includes the machines,
lines and automation for a completely new greenfield mill. The machine deliveries
and installation are scheduled for the summer of 2007.
Thebault is a well-established plywood manufacturer. The company owns plywood
mills in France using okoume and maritime pine as raw material, and a mill in
Gabon producing veneer of tropical species. The company holds a significant
position as a supplier of both okoume and maritime pine plywood, and the main
market for its products is Europe. The earlier Raute delivery in the 1990s
included the production lines for maritime pine plywood. The new mill-scale
project will be the first true greenfield plywood project since the beginning of
the 1990s in Europe.
"The focus in the construction of the new mill was especially on the flexibility,
the production efficiency and the high utilization rate of raw material. Plyland
will have the possibility to manufacture an exclusive 2800 x 1250 mm sized panel
the construction of wooden houses. Raute's competence in and excellent references
from mill-scale deliveries in view of our interests were the decisive factors for
placing the order with Raute. We are very satisfied with our long-term
partnership and we wish to continue the development of our production together
with Raute also in future." the three brothers Jean-Charles, Benoît and Henri-
Jean Thebault state
The received order further enhances Raute's position as the leading technology
supplier for mill-scale units in the plywood industry.
www.worldwidewood.com
With the exception of the Scandinavian countries, plywood manufacture has generally been in decline in Europe for some years. However, Jomar of Portugal has continued to invest in its plywood production facilities, as Mike Botting discovered
The words 'mature product' are often associated with plywood. Many see it as yesterday's panel product and one which will inevitably be replaced by OSB in structural applications, and MDF or particleboard in other areas. However, that is to overlook the many benefits and unique properties of plywood.
While total production volume of this oldest of panel products it is said to date back to Egyptian times seems certain to decline worldwide, there will always be applications where nothing else quite fits the bill.
Jomar SA of Perafita, Matosinhos, near Porto in northern Portugal, has been making plywood since its foundation in 1934. The company went into particleboard production in 1958 and has continued to invest in both products over the years.
In 1996, the company was divided into two operational divisions or business areas UNIP for particleboard and UNIF for veneer and plywood production. This was done in order to enable the company to pursue the respective markets more closely and to make the management of the business simpler.
Also in 1996, UNIF was certified under the European Norm (EN) standard NP 29002.
In 1999, Jomar invested a total of e40m (US$36m) in both its particleboard/SuperPan line (WBPI April/May, p44) and in improvements to its plywood manufacturing, as well as doubling the output of its co-generation unit to 16MW.
The plywood investment involved e5m (US$4.5m) of the total and included improvements in optimisation of rotary peeling and veneer handling and a new Raute press. The old calibrating line was also replaced with Kvaerner (now part of Valmet) equipment. The objective was to double capacity of plywood production using a higher proportion of domestic logs.
The original plywood line at Matosinhos was installed in 1969, following the purchase of that 40ha site to facilitate expansion of the company in both main products. Initially, it had two Ritter peeling machines, which were later augmented by the addition of a Raute and an Angelo Cremona machine, three dryers and a 20-daylight Siempelkamp press.
Seeking to secure supplies of tropical logs for its veneer and plywood production, the company purchased, in 1959, forest concessions in the far north of what is now Angola, at Cabinda on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Then, in 1961, it built the first of two plywood and veneer mills in Angola in the capital city of Luanda, also on the Atlantic coast. Here it produced plywood, sliced veneer and blockboard.
In 1970, Jomar built a second mill, in Cabinda, to produce rotary peeled veneer. Logs were also exported to Portugal from the company's concessions in Angola.
However, after Angola gained independence in 1976, both factories were nationalised, although the Cabinda mill was in fact destroyed in the war. The Luanda mill continued in production but Jomar's interests have changed.
"Now our strategy is mainly to work with native wood such as eucalyptus and pine," explained Mr Rui Pinto, who is responsible for international sales and marketing of Jomar's plywood and veneer production. "Eucalyptus is very strong and fibrous but is difficult to peel because it has a density of about 750kg/m3, which also makes drying difficult it tends to split and distort and has to be both peeled and dried slowly," he said. "We have invested a lot of money in working with eucalyptus and in sanding it and adapting phenol faced boards to using this species."
The first peeling line at Matosinhos has an RFR (Ritter) peeler which handles logs up to 2.65m in length. The second line, also RFR, is more suited to tropical logs with large diameters and shorter lengths.
In the adjacent hall is a Colombo & Cremona peeler and a Raute peeler, both used for small diameter logs now the main source of veneer for the factory.
"There has been a lot of investment in these two machines," confirmed Mr Pinto "We modified and rebuilt the Raute in 1999 and it is mainly used to peel eucalyptus, which has an average diameter of 25-30cm." This formed part of phase one of the investment in veneer based manufacturing.
Logs are steamed before peeling and, in the case of eucalyptus, debarked before steaming. Tropical and pine logs are steamed before debarking. On the Raute lathe, logs are centred manually by skilled operators and peeled to leave a core of 70-80mm. The lathe is equipped with double spindles so that the larger diameter spindle retracts as the log diameter decreases.
A Raute automatic clipper, which is operated by a photosensitive system, clips the veneer ribbon as it exits the peeler.
There are three veneer dryers, modified to process eucalyptus in the second stage of investment in the veneer based business at Jomar. There are two chain belt dryers and one roller dryer.
Four Kuper composers joint the peeled veneer before glue is applied by roller coaters. Phenolic glue is used to produce exterior (WBP) plywood, urea formaldehyde (UF) for interior grades and melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) for decorative exterior panels.
There are three cold pre-presses and three hot presses: a 20-daylight, 15-daylight and in 1999 Jomar purchased a new Raute 24-daylight press, which is used to press plywood panels by day and to apply phenolic film to plywood by night. A phenolic paper application system can be lowered down into the line before this latest press.
Coated plywood requires careful calibration, pointed out Mr Pinto, hence the purchase of the new Kvaerner four-head calibration line in 1999. The faces of the plywood which is to be coated are also filled as necessary before calibration and the filling line incorporates a board turner to enable both faces to be accessed.
Jomar has been part of the large Portuguese Vicaima Group since 1988. Vicaima is owned by the Costa Leite family and Humberto Costa Leite is the managing director of Jomar.
It is a major producer of wooden flush doors and makes sliced veneers, as well as having a sawmill for exotic timbers and producing particleboard-based components.
All slicing for the group is now done by Vicaima and Jomar obtains its supplies from there as well as from outside suppliers. It slices sapele, pine, eucalyptus, oak, cherry and beech.
Sliced veneers are then composed at Jomar for facing particleboard and plywood panels for decorative applications. There is one Ompec and one Rückle guillotine, while jointing is done by Fisher & Rückle and Rückle jointing machines.
Two Kuper stitchers deal with small size veneers and small production batches.
Blockboard is also produced at Jomar using pre-composed cores of the softwood criptomeria, from the Azores, bought in from another group company. Its density is 350-400kg/m3, which makes very lightweight panels. Generally, the blockboard produced is five-ply and it is pressed in the Siempelkamp 15-daylight hot press.
Jomar's veneer based products are called Jomarply for interior decorative panels, Jomarblock for the blockboard, Jomarform for formwork and Jomardek for plywood decking.
Some panel manufacturing companies have learnt the hard way that ongoing investment in production facilities is essential to the survival of a competitive business. Those who failed to upgrade particleboard lines, for instance, have often fallen victim to those firms which invested to reduce production costs.
Jomar has a long history of investment since it started up as João Marques Pinto & Ca Lda in 1934. That investment has been ongoing since Vicaima took control in 1988 and seems set to continue.
With SuperPan the particleboard with MDF faces produced in one continuous process a high quality particleboard produced on the same line and a range of veneer based products, Jomar has been loyal to its core products, developed a revolutionary new product (SuperPan) and in the process has been loyal to its established customer base.
Types Average-quality plywood with show veneer High-quality concrete pouring plate in plywood A number of varieties of plywood exist for different applications. Softwood plywood is usually made either of Douglas fir or spruce, pine, and fir (collectively known as spruce-pine-fir), and is typically used for construction and industrial purposes.[2]
Hardwood plywood is used for some demanding end uses. Birch plywood is characterised by its excellent strength, stiffness and resistance to creep. It has a high planar shear strength and impact resistance, which make it especially suitable for heavy-duty floor and wall structures. Oriented plywood construction has a high wheel-carrying capacity. Birch plywood has excellent surface hardness, and damage- and wear-resistance. [3]
Decorative plywood is usually faced with hardwood, including red oak, birch, maple, lauan (Philippine mahogany) and a large number of other hardwoods.
Plywood for indoor use generally uses the less expensive urea-formaldehyde glue which has limited water resistance, while outdoor and marine-grade plywood are designed to withstand rot, and use a water resistant phenol-formaldehyde glue to prevent delamination and to retain strength in high humidity.
The most common varieties of softwood plywood come in three, five or seven plies with a metric dimension of 1.2 m × 2.4 m or the slightly larger imperial dimension of 4 feet × 8 feet. Plies vary in thickness from 1/10" through 1/6" depending on the panel thickness. Roofing can use the thinner 5/8-inch plywood. Subfloors are at least 3/4-inch thick, the thickness depending on the distance between floor joists. Plywood for flooring applications is often tongue and grooved. The mating edge will have a "groove" notched into it to fit with the adjacent "tongue" that protrudes from the next board. This prevents one board from moving up or down relative to its neighbour, so providing a solid feeling floor when the joints do not lie over joists. Tongue & groove flooring plywood is typically 1" in thickness.
High-strength plywood, known as aircraft plywood, is made from mahogany and/or birch, and uses adhesives with increased resistance to heat and humidity. It was used for several World War II fighter aircraft, including the British-built Mosquito bomber which was nicknamed the wooden wonder.
Certain plywoods do not have alternating plies. These are designed for a specific purpose. One such plywood is known as "Bendy Board". This is very flexible and is designed for making curved parts. In the UK this is known as "Hatters Ply" as it was used to make gents stovepipe hats in Victorian times. However these may not be termed plywood in some countries because the basic description of plywood is layers of veneered wood laid on top of each other with the grain of each layer perpendicular to the grain of the next.
Marine plywood is specially treated to resist rotting in a high-moisture environment. Marine plywood is frequently used in the construction of docks and boats. It is much more expensive than standard plywood: the cost for a typical 4-foot by 8-foot 1/2-inch thick board is roughly $75 to $100 US or around $2.5 per square foot, which is about three times as expensive as standard plywood.
Marine plywood can be graded as being compliant with BS 1088, which is a British Standard for marine plywood. There are few international standards for grading marine plywood and most of the standards are voluntary. Some marine plywood has a Lloyd's of London stamp that certifies it to be BS 1088 compliant. Some plywood is also labeled based on the wood used to manufacture it. Examples of this are Okoume or Meranti
Other types of plywoods include fire-retardant, moisture-resistant, sign-grade, pressure-treated, and of course the hardwood and softwood plywoods. Each of these products is designed to fill a need in industry.
The adhesives used in plywood have become a point of concern. Both urea formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde are
carcinogenic in very high concentrations. As a result, many manufacturers are turning to low formaldehyde-emitting glue systems, denoted by an "E" rating ("E0" possessing the lowest formaldehyde emissions). Plywood produced to "E0" has effectively zero formaldehyde emissions[4].
In addition to the glues being brought to the forefront, the wood resources themselves are becoming the focus of manufacturers, due in part to energy conservation, as well as concern for our natural resources. There are several certifications available to manufacturers who participate in these programs. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and Greenguard are all certification programs that ensure that production and construction practices are sustainable. Many of these programs offer tax benefits to both the manufacturer and the end user
Plywood is used in many applications that need high-quality, high-strength sheet material. Quality in this context means resistance to cracking, breaking, shrinkage, twisting and warping.
Exterior glued plywood is suitable for outdoor use, but because moisture affects on the strength of wood, optimal performance is achieved in end uses where woods moisture content remains relatively low. On the other hand subzero conditions don't affect on plywood's dimensional or strength properties which opens some special application possibilities.
Plywood is also used as an engineering material for stressed-skin applications. It has been used for marine and aviation applications since WWII. Most notable is the British De Havilland Mosquito bomber, which was primarily made out of wood. Plywood is currently successfully used in stressed-skin applications.[citation needed]. The American designers Charles and Ray Eames are famous for their plywood-based furniture, while Phil Bolger is famous for designing a wide range of boats built primarily of plywood.
Softwood plywood applications Typical end uses of spruce plywood are:
The words 'mature product' are often associated with plywood. Many see it as yesterday's panel product and one which will inevitably be replaced by OSB in structural applications, and MDF or particleboard in other areas. However, that is to overlook the many benefits and unique properties of plywood.
While total production volume of this oldest of panel products it is said to date back to Egyptian times seems certain to decline worldwide, there will always be applications where nothing else quite fits the bill.
Jomar SA of Perafita, Matosinhos, near Porto in northern Portugal, has been making plywood since its foundation in 1934. The company went into particleboard production in 1958 and has continued to invest in both products over the years.
In 1996, the company was divided into two operational divisions or business areas UNIP for particleboard and UNIF for veneer and plywood production. This was done in order to enable the company to pursue the respective markets more closely and to make the management of the business simpler.
Also in 1996, UNIF was certified under the European Norm (EN) standard NP 29002.
In 1999, Jomar invested a total of e40m (US$36m) in both its particleboard/SuperPan line (WBPI April/May, p44) and in improvements to its plywood manufacturing, as well as doubling the output of its co-generation unit to 16MW.
The plywood investment involved e5m (US$4.5m) of the total and included improvements in optimisation of rotary peeling and veneer handling and a new Raute press. The old calibrating line was also replaced with Kvaerner (now part of Valmet) equipment. The objective was to double capacity of plywood production using a higher proportion of domestic logs.
The original plywood line at Matosinhos was installed in 1969, following the purchase of that 40ha site to facilitate expansion of the company in both main products. Initially, it had two Ritter peeling machines, which were later augmented by the addition of a Raute and an Angelo Cremona machine, three dryers and a 20-daylight Siempelkamp press.
Seeking to secure supplies of tropical logs for its veneer and plywood production, the company purchased, in 1959, forest concessions in the far north of what is now Angola, at Cabinda on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Then, in 1961, it built the first of two plywood and veneer mills in Angola in the capital city of Luanda, also on the Atlantic coast. Here it produced plywood, sliced veneer and blockboard.
In 1970, Jomar built a second mill, in Cabinda, to produce rotary peeled veneer. Logs were also exported to Portugal from the company's concessions in Angola.
However, after Angola gained independence in 1976, both factories were nationalised, although the Cabinda mill was in fact destroyed in the war. The Luanda mill continued in production but Jomar's interests have changed.
"Now our strategy is mainly to work with native wood such as eucalyptus and pine," explained Mr Rui Pinto, who is responsible for international sales and marketing of Jomar's plywood and veneer production. "Eucalyptus is very strong and fibrous but is difficult to peel because it has a density of about 750kg/m3, which also makes drying difficult it tends to split and distort and has to be both peeled and dried slowly," he said. "We have invested a lot of money in working with eucalyptus and in sanding it and adapting phenol faced boards to using this species."
The first peeling line at Matosinhos has an RFR (Ritter) peeler which handles logs up to 2.65m in length. The second line, also RFR, is more suited to tropical logs with large diameters and shorter lengths.
In the adjacent hall is a Colombo & Cremona peeler and a Raute peeler, both used for small diameter logs now the main source of veneer for the factory.
"There has been a lot of investment in these two machines," confirmed Mr Pinto "We modified and rebuilt the Raute in 1999 and it is mainly used to peel eucalyptus, which has an average diameter of 25-30cm." This formed part of phase one of the investment in veneer based manufacturing.
Logs are steamed before peeling and, in the case of eucalyptus, debarked before steaming. Tropical and pine logs are steamed before debarking. On the Raute lathe, logs are centred manually by skilled operators and peeled to leave a core of 70-80mm. The lathe is equipped with double spindles so that the larger diameter spindle retracts as the log diameter decreases.
A Raute automatic clipper, which is operated by a photosensitive system, clips the veneer ribbon as it exits the peeler.
There are three veneer dryers, modified to process eucalyptus in the second stage of investment in the veneer based business at Jomar. There are two chain belt dryers and one roller dryer.
Four Kuper composers joint the peeled veneer before glue is applied by roller coaters. Phenolic glue is used to produce exterior (WBP) plywood, urea formaldehyde (UF) for interior grades and melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) for decorative exterior panels.
There are three cold pre-presses and three hot presses: a 20-daylight, 15-daylight and in 1999 Jomar purchased a new Raute 24-daylight press, which is used to press plywood panels by day and to apply phenolic film to plywood by night. A phenolic paper application system can be lowered down into the line before this latest press.
Coated plywood requires careful calibration, pointed out Mr Pinto, hence the purchase of the new Kvaerner four-head calibration line in 1999. The faces of the plywood which is to be coated are also filled as necessary before calibration and the filling line incorporates a board turner to enable both faces to be accessed.
Jomar has been part of the large Portuguese Vicaima Group since 1988. Vicaima is owned by the Costa Leite family and Humberto Costa Leite is the managing director of Jomar.
It is a major producer of wooden flush doors and makes sliced veneers, as well as having a sawmill for exotic timbers and producing particleboard-based components.
All slicing for the group is now done by Vicaima and Jomar obtains its supplies from there as well as from outside suppliers. It slices sapele, pine, eucalyptus, oak, cherry and beech.
Sliced veneers are then composed at Jomar for facing particleboard and plywood panels for decorative applications. There is one Ompec and one Rückle guillotine, while jointing is done by Fisher & Rückle and Rückle jointing machines.
Two Kuper stitchers deal with small size veneers and small production batches.
Blockboard is also produced at Jomar using pre-composed cores of the softwood criptomeria, from the Azores, bought in from another group company. Its density is 350-400kg/m3, which makes very lightweight panels. Generally, the blockboard produced is five-ply and it is pressed in the Siempelkamp 15-daylight hot press.
Jomar's veneer based products are called Jomarply for interior decorative panels, Jomarblock for the blockboard, Jomarform for formwork and Jomardek for plywood decking.
Some panel manufacturing companies have learnt the hard way that ongoing investment in production facilities is essential to the survival of a competitive business. Those who failed to upgrade particleboard lines, for instance, have often fallen victim to those firms which invested to reduce production costs.
Jomar has a long history of investment since it started up as João Marques Pinto & Ca Lda in 1934. That investment has been ongoing since Vicaima took control in 1988 and seems set to continue.
With SuperPan the particleboard with MDF faces produced in one continuous process a high quality particleboard produced on the same line and a range of veneer based products, Jomar has been loyal to its core products, developed a revolutionary new product (SuperPan) and in the process has been loyal to its established customer base.
Types Average-quality plywood with show veneer High-quality concrete pouring plate in plywood A number of varieties of plywood exist for different applications. Softwood plywood is usually made either of Douglas fir or spruce, pine, and fir (collectively known as spruce-pine-fir), and is typically used for construction and industrial purposes.[2]
Hardwood plywood is used for some demanding end uses. Birch plywood is characterised by its excellent strength, stiffness and resistance to creep. It has a high planar shear strength and impact resistance, which make it especially suitable for heavy-duty floor and wall structures. Oriented plywood construction has a high wheel-carrying capacity. Birch plywood has excellent surface hardness, and damage- and wear-resistance. [3]
Decorative plywood is usually faced with hardwood, including red oak, birch, maple, lauan (Philippine mahogany) and a large number of other hardwoods.
Plywood for indoor use generally uses the less expensive urea-formaldehyde glue which has limited water resistance, while outdoor and marine-grade plywood are designed to withstand rot, and use a water resistant phenol-formaldehyde glue to prevent delamination and to retain strength in high humidity.
The most common varieties of softwood plywood come in three, five or seven plies with a metric dimension of 1.2 m × 2.4 m or the slightly larger imperial dimension of 4 feet × 8 feet. Plies vary in thickness from 1/10" through 1/6" depending on the panel thickness. Roofing can use the thinner 5/8-inch plywood. Subfloors are at least 3/4-inch thick, the thickness depending on the distance between floor joists. Plywood for flooring applications is often tongue and grooved. The mating edge will have a "groove" notched into it to fit with the adjacent "tongue" that protrudes from the next board. This prevents one board from moving up or down relative to its neighbour, so providing a solid feeling floor when the joints do not lie over joists. Tongue & groove flooring plywood is typically 1" in thickness.
High-strength plywood, known as aircraft plywood, is made from mahogany and/or birch, and uses adhesives with increased resistance to heat and humidity. It was used for several World War II fighter aircraft, including the British-built Mosquito bomber which was nicknamed the wooden wonder.
Certain plywoods do not have alternating plies. These are designed for a specific purpose. One such plywood is known as "Bendy Board". This is very flexible and is designed for making curved parts. In the UK this is known as "Hatters Ply" as it was used to make gents stovepipe hats in Victorian times. However these may not be termed plywood in some countries because the basic description of plywood is layers of veneered wood laid on top of each other with the grain of each layer perpendicular to the grain of the next.
Marine plywood is specially treated to resist rotting in a high-moisture environment. Marine plywood is frequently used in the construction of docks and boats. It is much more expensive than standard plywood: the cost for a typical 4-foot by 8-foot 1/2-inch thick board is roughly $75 to $100 US or around $2.5 per square foot, which is about three times as expensive as standard plywood.
Marine plywood can be graded as being compliant with BS 1088, which is a British Standard for marine plywood. There are few international standards for grading marine plywood and most of the standards are voluntary. Some marine plywood has a Lloyd's of London stamp that certifies it to be BS 1088 compliant. Some plywood is also labeled based on the wood used to manufacture it. Examples of this are Okoume or Meranti
Other types of plywoods include fire-retardant, moisture-resistant, sign-grade, pressure-treated, and of course the hardwood and softwood plywoods. Each of these products is designed to fill a need in industry.
The adhesives used in plywood have become a point of concern. Both urea formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde are
carcinogenic in very high concentrations. As a result, many manufacturers are turning to low formaldehyde-emitting glue systems, denoted by an "E" rating ("E0" possessing the lowest formaldehyde emissions). Plywood produced to "E0" has effectively zero formaldehyde emissions[4].
In addition to the glues being brought to the forefront, the wood resources themselves are becoming the focus of manufacturers, due in part to energy conservation, as well as concern for our natural resources. There are several certifications available to manufacturers who participate in these programs. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and Greenguard are all certification programs that ensure that production and construction practices are sustainable. Many of these programs offer tax benefits to both the manufacturer and the end user
Plywood is used in many applications that need high-quality, high-strength sheet material. Quality in this context means resistance to cracking, breaking, shrinkage, twisting and warping.
Exterior glued plywood is suitable for outdoor use, but because moisture affects on the strength of wood, optimal performance is achieved in end uses where woods moisture content remains relatively low. On the other hand subzero conditions don't affect on plywood's dimensional or strength properties which opens some special application possibilities.
Plywood is also used as an engineering material for stressed-skin applications. It has been used for marine and aviation applications since WWII. Most notable is the British De Havilland Mosquito bomber, which was primarily made out of wood. Plywood is currently successfully used in stressed-skin applications.[citation needed]. The American designers Charles and Ray Eames are famous for their plywood-based furniture, while Phil Bolger is famous for designing a wide range of boats built primarily of plywood.
Softwood plywood applications Typical end uses of spruce plywood are:
- Floors, walls and roofs in house constructions
- Wind bracing panels
- Vehicle internal body work
- Packages and boxes
- Hoarding
- Fencing
- Concrete shuttering panels
- Ready to paint surface for constructions
- Panels in concrete formwork systems
- Floors, walls and roofs in transport vehicles
- Container floors,
- Floors subjected to heavy wear in various buildings and factories,
- Scaffolding materials
- Wind turbine blades
- Isolation boxes for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers
- Die cutting boards
- Supporting structure of parquet
- Playground equipment
- Furniture
- Sign and fences for demanding outdoor advertising
- Musical instruments
- Sports equipment
- Common Plywood
- Concrete Panel
- Floor Base
- Structure Panel
- Container Flooring
- Lamin Board
- Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)