Focus on particleboard: Part 1 | 23
the sawdust and wood chips produced at the in-house sawmill. In another investment phase, the energy generation and chip drying will be completely renewed in the years 2026/27. Meanwhile, Egger’s investment in the Markt Bibart facility totals €200m and include works in sustainability, upgrading and automation by 2026. A new recycled wood processing facility for chipboard production has started. Austria’s Fundermax has closed one of its PB lines – this change will take effect in the next survey’s main listing. The Pervanovo project in Sweden, which
involves the development work of a new advanced wood-based core HDPB (High Density Particle Board) for a flooring product, appears to be waiting for funding to be secured, so there is no further update on this. The investment is estimated at approximately SEK2.2bn.
A couple of updates cover Turkey, which
after Russia is the second largest PB producer in Europe outside the EU27. Küpeliler Endustri’s new PB plant in
in October, 2024 and the line has now been
added to the main listings. It features a Siempelkamp ContiRoll press (7ft x 23.8m), extendable to 28.8m, with an annual production capacity of about 230,000m3 The factory represents an investment of
.
(EOSB). The huge investment was initiated in April 2023. Küpeliler’s business covers multiple business areas – cement, ready-mixed concrete, chipboard and OSB production, packaging, construction and mining. We've made several changes to the plant listing capacities for Kastamonu Entegre in Turkety after updated information was received from the company, including the closure of the Tarsus plant in Q4, 2024. The closure removes approximately 180,000m³ per year and a MO line originally installed by Pagnoni Impianti. In Russia there are several updates, with Uvadrev-Holding’s particleboard plant at Uva scheduled to start up production in 2025 with a plant from Chinese supplier Yalian. Plans for the plant were first mooted in 2021. The 1,500m3
daily capacity plant is to
feature a 9ft x 32.1m press. The project is a good example of how leading Chinese plant suppliers are picking up business outside of their core Chinese/SE Asia market. This project remains in the list of future capacity and will be added to next year’s main listings.
It’s not the only project that Yalian has fulfilled in Russia. The company has also installed a 9ft x 59.1m press at Kronospan (UltraDecor2) in Kaluga. The very large capacity plant – 3,100m3 next year's main listings.
The main project to mention in North America is the Uniboard plant in Val d’Or. The installation work in several phases has been advancing well with a planned start up in Q4. The mill’s new capacity is projected at 500,000m3
of approximately 180,000m3 facility.
HOW THE LIST WAS COMPILED - will be added to
The WBPI listings published in 2024 were reviewed and modifications made using other published sources and data received directly from the mills. Published information was reviewed for news of mill capacity changes.
annually, an increase on the existing
At US$350m, the investment is a significant modernisation, featuring an advanced Dieffenbacher CPS+ continuous press and EVOjet P glue-saving systems. Dieffenbacher’s Smart Plant Concept
engineering, and sustainability in
particleboard production.
company’s market leadership, operational efficiency, and long-term competitiveness in North America. The company’s US sales team had the opportunity to visit the site recently and see the progress for themselves. Uniboard has also invested $5.5m in an
innovative robotic material handling system at the plant.
More details on this significant project can be found in our Focus on North America report on Pg27.
There is also an update from Swiss Krono which acquired the Klamath Falls particleboard plant of Collins Pine Company in Oregon. The addition of Klamath Falls gives the Group a US particleboard capacity of approximately 250,000m3
. Last year Kronospan acquired Woodgrain’s
Particleboard facility in Island City, Oregon and has signalled its intention to modernise the plant - one to watch for the future. Last year we reported about Roseburg
Forest Products’ exit of the PB business. It closed the Taylorsville PB mill taking out 330,000m3
of capacity, while the
Missoula plant was also closed. The strategic decision was designed to focus resources on other product segments, including MDF, engineered wood, plywood, and lumber. Both mills have been removed from the main listings. Now it seems the sprawling Missoula
site could be transformed into a major film and television production hub, with local media reporting the project could generate 435 full-time jobs. This would certainly be a dramatic change for a site which had produced PB from 1969 to 2024.
The mills’ own reported capacities are used wherever possible but where this information is not available, published sources are used, usually on the basis of 330 operating days per year.
Conversion of ft2 to m3 1,000 ft2 equal to 1.77m3
/year is made with .
With regard to press types, the following abbreviations have been used in the listings:
MO=multi-opening/multi daylight SO=single opening/single daylight C=continuous
Mende=Bison-Mende (Calender) na=not available
The following press makes have been identified and are shown in the listing as:
Bison (pre and post-Metso acquisition) BVH Becker & van Hüllen C Compak Dieff Dieffenbacher Fjellman Küsters (pre and post-Metso acquisition) Mende Bison Mende Metso Motala NKK Pagnoni Raute
Siemp Siempelkamp WIW Washington Iron Works na
Information not available
We remain pleased to accept any and all contributions to this survey. Please send them to Stephen Powney, the group editor of WBPI, at stephen.
powney@btmi.com
We are grateful to the CPA for the use of a small part of its figures.
If you wish to become a member of this organisation and have access to its comprehensive data, go to:
www.CompositePanel.org
We are similarly grateful to the EPF and the same applies. Go to:
www.europanels.org
www.wbpionline.com | October/November 2025 | WBPI
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