Focus on OSB: Rest of the World | 25
Above: The Kronospan OSB project at Rivne
down considerably. Now onto specific projects. Kronospan’s
OSB mill plans at Tortosa, Spain has been added to the list of future capacity, with an expected capacity of 360,000m3
. We’re not
sure on the timetable for this but assume it will be beyond 2024. The project follows the completion of a new 720,000 m3
/year particleboard project
involving Siempelkamp at the same location. Kronospan’s investment commitment to
the Tortosa site is €400m. In the UK, we have reported previously on Kronospan’s plans for an OSB line at Chirk with an annual capacity of 600,000m³. Although some preparatory work has been done on site, there remain no concrete updates on this project.
Planning permission was previously
granted, though environmental permits were still required. This project will be left on our list of future capacity.
Swiss Krono is increasing capacity at
several of its plants in western Europe. It has already boosted capacity at its Heiligengrabe facility and is also doing so at the Sully-sur- Loire plant in France. The company’s CEO Martin Brettenthaler
reported earlier this year that the demand for OSB is strong, especially in France, where there is considerable room for growth in the timber construction industry. He also said Sully is expanding its OSB production capacity. Mr Brettenthaler also said to WBPI in
February that Swiss Krono has plans to invest in OSB capacities in western Europe but these are not advanced enough where it can
publicly talk about them yet. He referenced a potential greenfield plant and also said it could no longer expand OSB capacity in Russia. “Our strategy is with our existing OSB mills and we have started or already completed investments to increase capacities on existing lines,” he said. “We target a capacity of 500,000- 600,000m3
have worked really hard over recent years to get all our mills to this level. When this is concluded the only option would be building new plants.” We have adjusted some of our future capacity planned increases in Table 2 for Swiss Krono plants since last year, including for Sully, to bring it up to these Swiss Krono targets. And we await further indications for the company as to new site investments. We can also report that the Büttner drying
system upgrade at SmartPly in Ireland was completed last year, though it’s not clear what specific extra capacity this has added. Speaking to technology suppliers, there are several further OSB projects being considered in Europe, with supplier negotiations currently taking place on several of these. We will update during the year on these, but we expect details for a couple to be made public in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, turning to main plant supplier
IMAL-PAL Group, the company reports it is working on two new large OSB projects but these are currently at the early quotation/ negotiation stages. IMAL-PAL Group’s blending system for
OSB production is installed in several OSB plants in Europe. After installing the system on the Radauti line in Romania, Egger has now confirmed their plan to install it on their Wismar OSB line in Germany. IMAL-PAL has also reported interested in its belt dryers from OSB producers.
per line as being the optimum. We
EASTERN EUROPE Küpeliler Endüstri AS produced the first board on its new OSB line at Kutahya on December 31, 2022 and in the process became the first company in Turkey to start OSB production on a continuous line. The new Siempelkamp OSB line features
, which is near doubling the current capacity. The Hungarian State is supporting the investment.
a ContiRoll press in the 4ft x 33.8m format, extendable to 48.7m. This project has been added to the main listing. Küpeliler Endüstri AS places the product primarily in the construction industry, for example, in the form of cladding. Swiss Krono’s OSB plant at Vásárosnamény in Hungary is also undergoing expansion plans in a €47m project. The plant is believed to be raising its capacity to approximately 600,000m3
This is significantly higher than production increase we were previously expecting at the plant.
About 30% of the planned excess volume will be sold on the Hungarian market, while 70% will be exported. The company is going to expand its special 28.8-metre OSB production line to 38.7m, with the implementation of wood shredding and drying units, as well as related energy
www.wbpionline.com | April/May 2023 | WBPI
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