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TA K I N G
STOCK
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334-834-1170 Fax 334-834-4525
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Publisher David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Editor-In-Chief Rich Donnell Senior Editor Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor David Abbott Senior Associate Editor Jessica Johnson Contributing Editor Fred Kurpiel
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Publisher/Editor Emeritus David (DK) Knight
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Production Manager/Art Director Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator Patti Campbell Circulation Director Rhonda Thomas Online Content & Marketing Manager Jacqlyn Kirkland
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Advertising Sales Manager David H. Ramsey • (334) 834-1170
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES SOUTHERN U.S. Kathy Sternenberg • (251) 928-4962 ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Classified Advertising Bridget DeVane • (334) 669-7837 • 1-800-669-5613 bdevane7@hotmail.com MIDWEST USA, EASTERN CANADA John Simmons Mar-Tech Communications 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 (905) 666-0258 Fax: (905) 666-0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com WESTERN USA, WESTERN CANADA Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Ave, Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604-910-1826 Fax: (604) 264-1397 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook (604) 619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com INTERNATIONAL Murray Brett 58 Aldea de las Cuevas Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 +34 96 640 4048 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net
PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACKS ometimes the mention of a Start LSL, which eyed residential conwood products plant rings as struction applications such as headers true as an old ballpark. Houland beams, wall studs, roof beams and ton, as in Houlton, Maine, is rafters, truss chords, rim boards and one example. stair stringers. “LSL builds on LP’s You might say Louisiana-Pacific has strength in strand technology with an been playing at the same Houlton site, engineered, environmentally friendly alnear New Limerick in Aroostook Counternative to traditional lumber,” an LP ty, for 40 years. And you might add that executive said at the grand opening. LP has played three distinct styles of Houlton produced OSB and LSL at ball during that period. various times for the next 14 years, until The first was oriented strandboard, or a $150 million conversion and startup rather waferwood as LP called it, when of the facility as recently as this May toLP started up the ward the production Houlton plant in of exterior siding, 1982. That was when known as LP SmartLP chief Harry Merlo Side. The product inand his supporting cludes applications in cast went on a wafersoffit, flooring, lap wood (or waferboard) siding and trim. It’s building binge, startstill strand-based and ing up LP’s first plant still built with a lot of in Hayward, Wis. in aspen. 1980, followed by Now if these develHoulton in 1982, an- Flakes used in early LP waferwood opments had occurred, other line at Hayward say, over the past 10 in 1982, at Corrigan, Texas in 1983 and years, there might be some discussion as another five plants by the end of 1984. to whether LP really knows what brand In a 1984 article in Panel World, an of ball it wants to play at Houlton. But LP executive put together some cost we’re talking 40 years, and if anything it comparisons and said of LP and its shows tremendous resolve on LP’s part waferwood: “This gives us an average to stay on the leading edge of engineered true cost comparison of $149/M for wood products and their applications. southern pine plywood vs. $110/M for It’s amazing, really, when you think waferwood. Since the average mill sales of this long-lasting relationship between return today is virtually the same for company and town. Obviously they both products, you can draw your own keep having fun at the old ballpark. PW conclusion as to which panel product is the one with the ‘real’ future.” Over time, with implementation of new strand sizes, the three-layer structure and orientation of flakes, waferwood evolved into oriented strandboard. That’s what Houlton, relying mostly on aspen raw material, continued to produce for its first 26 years, until LP spent more than $140 million to expand the operation to include the production of Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL). RICH DONNELL Still leaning heavily on the aspen reEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ph: 334-834-1170 source, the new line started up in 2008 Fax: 334-834-4525 and the new product was called Solide-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com
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(Founded as P l y w o o d & P a n e l in 1960—Our 515th consecutive issue) VOLUME 63 NO. 4
26
JULY 2022
Visit our web site: www.panelworldmag.com
36
PELICE PART II
Delving Into Presentations
FIRE PREVENTION Bring On The Rain
UPDATE Boise Purchases Coastal
SUPPLY LINES John King USA
PANELWORKS Classified Advertising
WHAT’S NEW Multi-Point Diverter
CLIPPINGS CPA Meeting
EVENTS Full Speed Ahead
PROJECTS Corrigan Construction
GEO DIRECTORY Veneer/Panel Suppliers
AD LINK Our Advertisers
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44 48 51
COVER: Following a major fire, Alabama-based Scotch Plywood never looked back as it rebuilt its veneer operation in Waynesboro, Miss. Story begins on PAGE 16. (Dan Shell photo)
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Panel World (ISSN 1048-826X) is published bimonthly by Plywood & Panel World, Inc., P.O. Box 2268, Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 (334) 834-1170, Fax (334) 834-4525. Subscription Information— PW is sent free to owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors and foremen at veneer operations, plywood plants, composite products plants, structural and decorative panel mills, engineered wood products plants and allied exportimport businesses throughout the world. All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $50 annually; $60 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries—TOLL-FREE 800-6695613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.panelworldmag.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe or renew via the web. All advertisements for Panel World magazine are accepted and published by Plywood & Panel World, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Plywood & Panel World, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Plywood & Panel World, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Panel World. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Printed in USA. Member, Verified Audit Circulation Managed By Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc.
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UPDATE BOISE ACQUIRES COASTAL PLYWOOD Boise Cascade Co. has reached an agreement to acquire Coastal Plywood Co., including plywood mills and complexes in Havana, Fla. and Chapman, Ala., from Coastal Forest Resources Co. for $512 million, subject to certain closing adjustments. The combined facilities employ 750. “This acquisition incrementally expands our veneer capacity in support of our customers,” says Nate Jorgensen, CEO, Boise Cascade. “Near term, it provides us the ability to optimize our existing engineered wood products (EWP) asset base. Longer term, we are excited to fully integrate this strategic venture and we intend to invest $50 million into our Southeast operations over a three-year period to further our EWP production capacity.” Travis Bryant, CEO of Coastal Forest Resources Co., states, “Coastal has a long history of manufacturing quality products and a strong reputation in the markets we serve. This transaction represents an opportunity for our talented Drying line at Coastal Plywood in Havana, Fla. and dedicated employees to join a dynamic organization, offering them a secure future with great opportunities ahead.” “These are well-invested and managed plants that fit nicely into our existing footprint of integrated facilities in the Southeast,” adds Mike Brown, executive vice president, Boise Cascade. The scope of the transaction does not include Coastal’s parent company or timberlands assets. It does include the sawmill at Chapman. Closing of the acquisition is expected in the third quarter of 2022. In its May 2022 Investor Presentation, Boise reported eight plywood/veneer manufacturing facilities, five EWP facilities and two lumber facilities in addition to multiple building distribution locations. Boise reported it was the second leading plywood and EWP producer in North America.
BRAZIL PLYWOOD CASE IS SETTLED A U.S. District Judge issued a permanent injunction that orders PFSTECO, a certification, inspection and testing agency, to revoke all of the PS 1 certificates and grade stamps that PFS-TECO has issued to plywood mills in Southern Brazil by emailing a notice of PS 1 certificate revocation to each Brazilian licensee and to remove all revoked PS 1 certificates from the PSF-TECO web site. Judge Roy Altman in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida also barred PFS-TECO from issuing any PS 1 certificate or grade stamp to any plywood mill in Brazil until the permanent injunction is lifted, and that PSF-TECO can not move to lift the injunction until it has performed adequate testing of the tree species to be utilized in the region of Brazil for the manufacture of PS 1 structural plywood and put in place laboratory, inspection and testing regimes to make certain that any plywood mills licensed by PFS-TECO
to produce PS 1 plywood have demonstrated manufacturing compliance with regard to PS 1. The U.S. Structural Plywood Integrity Coalition (which was suing PFS) and PFS-TECO filed a joint motion for the entry of the permanent injunction and final judgment, and the injunction ruling stated PSF-TECO has consented to the judgment. Representing nine family-owned U.S. plywood manufacturers, the Coalition had sued PFS to stop the importation and sale of what it alleged as substandard structural plywood from Brazil and alleged false advertising, loss of revenue and negligence related to the structural plywood failing to meet U.S standards and consequently being unsafe. The Coalition said largescale plantations in Southern Brazil that were once rainforests were planted in loblolly pine, slash pine, and other North American species used in manufacturing across the Southern U.S. When these species are planted in Brazil’s temperate climate and fullyear growing season, the tree’s fiber no
longer behaves like those grown in their natural regions. The resulting wood fiber from these harvests has very little stiffness or strength when used in plywood panels, according to the Coalition. The plywood in question reportedly has been produced by more than 30 plants in Southern Brazil. Building codes require that structural grade plywood panels incorporated into roofs, floors and walls of residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. are PS 1 certified for structural integrity. The Coalition said that although the Brazilian plywood was stamped PS 1 by PFS-TECO, it experienced massive failure rates during testing by the American Plywood Assn. and other testing laboratories. The Coalition reported that in 2021 alone, Brazilian plywood accounted for 11% of all U.S. supply with nearly 1.2 billion SF sold. A PFS-TECO statement following the permanent injunction announcement stated that the judge issued a permanent injunction under which PFS TECO
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“exits the certification market for PS 1 rated plywood in Southern Brazil. The case was settled before the jury trial took place and/or the Court has made any determination on the case’s merits. Therefore, the federal district court has not made any determination concerning the accuracy of the plaintiff’s allegations concerning the ‘strength’ of the Brazilian plywood bearing the PFSTECO stamps or what ‘wholesalers and retailers’ must or should do regarding existing stocks of the labeled product. Indeed, the injunction does not prohibit, limit, or restrain the sale and/or use of the products labeled with the PFSTECO mark on or before May 31, 2022. The Injunction entered by the Court addresses only the future actions of PFS-TECO.” A Coalition company stated wholesalers and retailers need to know these products are now considered off-grade and should either eradicate the PS 1 stamp on the plywood before resale or destroy the plywood.
PSF-TECO said it continues to stand behind the work it did in Brazil for the last 20 plus years and denies any wrongdoing or fault. Another order in the permanent injunction said PFS-TECO shall urge the PS 1 Standing Committee to create an organization or committee that would be empowered to conduct unannounced field examinations at any of its agency’s licensee plants or to facilitate and conduct surveillance check inspections in U.S. ports, storage facilities, distribution yards and retail establishments. “Based upon the evidence in this case, this Court expressly finds the creation of such an oversight accrediting agency is necessary.” In addition to PFS-TECO, the original lawsuit also alleged similar accusations against Timber Products Inspection. TP and the Coalition apparently settled the litigation late last year, with TP now ceasing PS 1 certification activities in Brazil. TP stated it would not comment on the settlement.
RULING STALLS OREGON COUNTIES Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a 2019 jury decision that had awarded 15 Oregon counties $1.1 billion over how the State had managed forestlands in those counties that had been legally transferred to the State in 1941. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that no contract was breached by the State, as had been alleged by the counties. Led by Linn County, the class action suit against the state of Oregon and State Forestry Dept. had alleged that the 1941 law required the State to not only return to the counties a specified portion of the revenues derived from management of those forestlands, but that the State had a contractual obligation under the law to manage the forestlands in a manner so as to “secure the greatest permanent value of such lands” as cited in the 1941 law. The counties said the State had breached this contractual obligation by failing to manage the
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UPDATE
forestlands for maximum value. However, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the provision or phrase was not a term in a statutory contract between the State and the counties, and consequently reversed the lower court and jury decision. The 1941 Act had authorized the State to acquire by purchase, donation or exchange any “public, quasi-public or private owner” land that was “chiefly valuable for the production of forest crops, watershed protection and development, erosion control, grazing, recreation or forest administrative purposes.” The Court of Appeals noted the Act provided a distribution formula for all revenues derived from these lands. In its decision, the Court of Appeals noted that over the ensuing decades, 15 Oregon counties conveyed hundreds of thousands of acres of land to the State pursuant to the Act, which then became state forests. Then in 1998, the State proclaimed the Greatest Permanent Value rule with regard to these
lands, defined as “healthy, productive, and sustainable forest ecosystems that over time and across the landscape provide a full range of social, economic, and environmental benefits to the people of Oregon,” and which directed the State forester to actively manage them in a sound environmental manner to provide sustainable timber harvest and revenues to the State, but not exclusive of other forest resources and environmental goals. The Linn County lawsuit accused the State of a breach of contract for implementing management plans in reliance upon the GPV Rule that failed to maximize the potential revenue from the lands. Before the Court of Appeals, the state argued that a statutory provision is not contractual unless the legislature clearly expresses its intent to make it so. The Court of Appeals, citing previous cases on State legislative language and intent, agreed that the language and the legislation in this question did not constitute a
statutory contract. It’s expected the counties will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
WAWA OSB HAS NEW LIFE
A Québec-based forestry family is investing $180 million to restart the OSB plant at Wawa, Ontario and plans to hire 140 people to staff it. The Cossette family, which has operated Montrealheadquartered Forex since 1957, announced its investment the same day the provincial government said it was investing a grant of up to $15 million in the project. Yolaine Rousseau, the company’s executive vice-president, comments, “I would like to reiterate our commitment to working with the various stakeholders, including the First Nations in the territory. Our team is proud and grateful to the government of Ontario for recognizing the impor-
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tance of this project to the province, and we will continue our discussions with the government of Canada to obtain their support as well.” The Wawa plant was built in the mid1990s and operated as Jager Strandboard, before it was sold to MacMillan Bloedel and then Weyerhaeuser, which closed the plant in 2007. Weyerhaeuser sold the facility to Rentech in 2013, which converted to it to a pellet mill but never really got it going and closed it in 2017 as Rentech went bankrupt. Forex said the investments will help the company modernize the plant. Forex operates an OSB plant in Amos, Quebec as well as lumber and veneer facilities in Quebec. The province said its funding is conditional on Wawa OSB completing project milestones, finalizing a funding contract between it and the province, and establishing relationships with local Indigenous and municipal communities, as well as local Sustainable Forest Licence holders.
WEYCO PARTNERS IN CARBON PROJECT Occidental’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) and Weyerhaeuser Co. announced an agreement for the evaluation and potential development of a carbon capture and sequestration project in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The lease agreement provides OLCV with exclusive rights to develop and operate a carbon sequestration hub on more than 30,000 acres of subsurface pore space controlled by Weyerhaeuser. OLCV will use the land to permanently sequester industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) in underground geologic formations not associated with oil and gas production, while Weyerhaeuser continues to manage the above-ground acreage as a working forest. The lease agreement, with the potential to expand acreage, is a pivotal step in OLCV subsidiary 1PointFive’s vision to develop a series of carbon
capture and sequestration hubs within the U.S. 1PointFive plans to build, acquire and operate multiple sequestration hubs on the Gulf Coast and across the U.S., some of which are expected to be anchored by Direct Air Capture (DAC) facilities, to offer storage capacity to point-source emitters, such as manufacturing sites and power plants, with a capacity to sequester up to hundreds of millions of metric tons of anthropogenic CO2. The lease agreement marks Weyerhaeuser’s first step in building its CCS business across its land base in the Gulf Coast. Weyerhaeuser has identified multiple locations for potential CCS projects across a portion of its 7 million acre footprint in the U.S. South using proprietary geological data covering its lands. The expansion into CCS is part of Weyerhaeuser’s previously announced plan to grow its recently formed Natural Climate Solutions business, including through CCS, forest carbon off-
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sets, renewable energy development, mitigation solutions and conservation.
AGENCY SPARKS 4FRI ONCE AGAIN In March, the Forest Service released its latest Arizona Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) preferred plan within the draft environmental impact statement as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Called the Rim County Project, the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino and Tonto national forests will implement a suite of restoration activities on 991,000 acres over 20 years, including a combination of mechanical thinning and prescribed burning. “Restoration treatments will move the project area toward the desired conditions and initiate the reestablishment of fire-adapted, resilient, diverse and sustainable forested ecosystems,” the agency says, adding that its pre-
ferred plan “provides the project area with the greatest protection from the undesirable effects of fire by treating the greatest extent of the project area with a combination of mechanical and prescribed fire treatments.” The plan will also improve overall watershed condition. The agency says the preferred plan “increases forest products supplies to the greatest extent, and will contribute to improve the financial viability of locating forest products industries, including logging firms, sawmills and biomass facilities in northern Arizona.” The plan calls for the implementation of 12 “in-woods processing sites,” though it doesn’t define the makeup of such sites. Due to increasingly catastrophic fires on Arizona’s national forests and a general deteriorating condition of those forests, the Forest Service created 4FRI in order to treat more than 2 million acres across four Arizona national forests. In 2012 the agency con-
tracted with a company to mechanically thin 300,000 acres over 10 years, but the project fell extremely short of the stated objectives and a major reason was due to the limited capacity for biomass disposal. The Forest Service then sought out proposals to restore and utilize more than 500,000 acres over a 20-year contract. Two of the proposals that came in included a sawmill and an oriented strandboard mill, but the Forest Service cancelled the process last September, fearing it would be too risky financially for any one company and possibly for the agency itself. Both of the proposals included Novo Power, a 27 MW biomass power plant in Snowflake, Ariz., as part of the equation for biomass disposal and utilization. “The landscape scale NEPA really is a powerful tool if you have use for the biomass,” says Brad Worsley, president of Novo Power and co-chairman of the 4FRI stakeholder group.
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SCOTCH MAKES COMMITMENT IN REBUILDING WAYNESBORO VENEER PLANT Facility is rebuilt, back up and running only 14 months after devastating January 2021 fire. BY DAN SHELL
WAYNESBORO, Miss. xecutives and key individuals with Scotch Plywood made a commitment to rebuild before the ashes had cooled following a January 6, 2021 fire here at a key veneer production facility. Thanks to a monumental effort by all involved, from Scotch Plywood owners and management and employees, vendors and log suppliers, the veneer plant was peeling
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From left, Scotch Plywood’s Charles Bradford, Keith Beightol and Buddy Douglas
logs again in March 2022. That the project was pulled off so successfully and smoothly under tough operating conditions is a testament to the Scotch plywood organization: The icing on the cake is the new facility here has hit the ground running and recently set plant production records for shift and day, along with improved veneer quality. Scotch Plywood does most of its peeling at Waynesboro. The facility produces anywhere from two-thirds to three-quarters of Scotch Plywood’s overall green veneer requirements. Scotch’s Beatrice, Ala. veneer plant has a lathe and one dryer, and the Fulton plywood plant has two dryers plus
layup, pressing and finishing. Keeping all the moving parts in place for such an organization and process were critical. “It was real important to keep all the landowners, suppliers and employees working with us,” says Charles Bradford, Scotch Plywood VP of Procurement. “We tried to keep everyone busy and working, including the loggers.” Letting the Beatrice plant pick up the slack in veneer production was key to maintaining the Waynesboro plant’s operational infrastructure. Employees were bussed from Waynesboro to the Beatrice plant and back every day as the facility ran almost around the clock to keep veneer moving.
Altec lathe system has put up impressive numbers since startup.
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Clipper is a rebuilt Raute unit with USNR scanning and controls.
New veneer diverter project was already on the drawing board before the fire.
Logs also had to be transported from Waynesboro to the Beatrice plant for peeling, up to 150-200 extra loads a week. Where feasible, loggers would haul directly to the Beatrice plant, but most logs were hauled as usual to the Waynesboro log yard, then transported the 115 mi. journey to Beatrice. The charter bus rides and 12 hour days were critical to keeping employees on the job. Waynesboro Plant Manager Buddy Douglas says even though they
were nice charter busses, the employees were sure happy to see the bus rides end as the new plant came on line.
PROJECT Looking back at the ashes more than 14 months ago following the fire, officials took stock: Downstream from the vats was a total loss that included lathe and infeed, clipper and stacker and related equipment. The log yard and boiler were
in good shape and still operable. The mill had been operating an older Premier lathe that was a bit dated but had an upgraded electronics package and ran well. To replace the mill, Scotch started from the ground up, having to take up the concrete that had been scorched and damaged and starting over with bare ground. Within a few days, Mid-South Engineering had been brought in to help with mill design. Key vendors included Southern Industrial for concrete work, PanelWorld • JULY 2022 • 17
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Two Raute stackers handle veneer sheets.
Project included new knife grinder.
Incoming logs are spread and inspected.
New veneer plant recently set shift and daily production records.
RK Wallace Construction handled the building work and A&B Electric Co. did the electrical. Deep South Machine Works performed equipment installation. After doing research and especially after a visit to see a similar system run at Coastal Plywood in Havana, Fla., Scotch officials decided to go with an Altec lathe and charger system that includes step feeder, x-y charger, all-electric lathe and controls and related components, plus tray drives and controls. The all-electric charger system uses servo-electric roller screws for all functions, and the electric backup rolls are controlled by Allen Bradley servo drives and motors that Altec officials say allow tighter tolerances on peel thickness as well as improved quality. The Altec lathe carriage is also all servo-electric roller screw actuated and features Altec’s advanced control logic. Trays utilize ABB Reliance motors and Allen-Bradley drives and controls. Before the fire occurred there was already a plan in place to add a veneer diverter and strip trays behind the clipper. The old plant had a notray shotgun design, with 70 ft. from lathe to clipper. The new plant was extended, and now has three 97 ft. trays feeding the clipper and two overhead sheet trays and three 45 ft. strip trays downstream of the clipper. The clipper is a Raute unit that’s been refurbished by USNR, which provided scanning and controls for the clipper and diverter. Veneer sheets flow to two single-bin Raute stackers, and strips flow to a green chain. Douglas notes that the lathe has
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SCOTCH HOSTS GRAND OPENING Scotch Plywood Co., Inc. held a Grand Opening appreciation luncheon May 25 at its rebuilt veneer operation in Waynesboro, Miss. Management, employees, timberland owners, logging contractors, local business operators, community residents and other friends of the company were on hand. VP of Scotch Plywood Gray Skipper, holding the microphone, spoke to the media about the benefits of the new facility for the community and area business operations. Standing next to Skipper, left to right, are co-owner Montgomery Woods and VP Procurement Charles Bradford. (Photos courtesy of Scotch Plywood)
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Production is hauled to Scotch facilities at either Beatrice or Fulton, Ala.
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performed extremely well: The new facility recently set plant production records for shift and day within three months of startup.
RESOURCES The Scotch Companies management group employs 28 foresters and technicians and oversees 24 logging crews and manages several wood dealerships. A big part of the Waynesboro recovery project and rebuild success was keeping the log supply chain up and running and maintaining long-term procurement relationships. Hall Timberlands President and CEO David Hall says Scotch’s response to the fire confirmed what he already knew about the family-owned Scotch Companies’ dedication and commitment. Working with Scotch since 1976, Hall calls the relationship “seamless” and says he was kept in the loop as Scotch managed the operational aspects and kept timber flowing to the Beatrice mill.
NEW MILL
Cone Machinery two-sided timbers machine
For now plant operators are focused on the future and getting better as the recent production records attest, the hallmark of a good mill construction and startup project. “The owners and upper management let us go buy what we needed to get the mill back up quickly and making it ready to run,” Douglas, says. While leadership came up with a solid plan and project, it was Scotch Companies’ employees and suppliers who worked together to make the new plant a reality. “Our greatest investment is in our people,” Douglas says. “They’re the ones who make it happen.” PW
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PELICE 2022 SUBJECT MATTER RANGED FROM LEGAL TO GLOBAL PART TWO: This article provides quick recaps of some of the presentations from the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) held March 31 to April 1 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, and hosted by Panel World magazine. Owners, executives, plant managers, project managers, engineers, human resource and other personnel from wood products producer companies took in these presentations while also combing the aisles of the Grand Ballroom North where 100 exhibitors set up shop. The May issue of Panel World included summaries from the presentations of eight keynote speakers. The September issue will include Part Three and wrap up PELICE coverage. BY RICH DONNELL
pon the encouragement of several producers, PELICE featured a session entitled, “What Is Keeping Your Legal Team Up At Night?” Bradley law firm Partner Charles Stewart pieced together and moderated the session, which featured three speakers from Bradley who, respectively, delivered presentations on drug testing laws, wood dust standards, and exterior wall sheathing options and codes. Associate Sarahanne Vaughan spoke on drug testing from the perspective of employer interest—maintaining a workplace free of illegal drugs; employee interest—potential invasion of privacy; and common interests—a safe workplace. She addressed the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on employee drug testing and noted that testing for illegal drugs (under the Controlled Substance Act) does not violate ADA since illegal drugs users are not necessarily
Bradley attorney Charles Stewart, seated, leads session on legal issues. Standing next to him is attorney John Hargrove. Inset, attorney Sarahanne Vaughan
U
Bradley attorney David Pugh addresses the delicate issue of fiberboard sheathing.
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considered disabled. Employers are required to be consistent in their testing such as testing all applicants in the same job category. However, she noted employers should take precautions with regard to employee drug prescriptions and have an interactive process with the employee. Post-injury drug testing is appropriate where drugs were the potential cause of an on-the-job accident, though employers should make employees aware of this policy. Vaughan said there’s no comprehensive federal drug testing law, which leaves the door open for state regulations and variations. She cited several common state law restrictions such as limiting testing to reasonable suspicion or probable cause, random testing under certain circumstances, and spe- Dieffenbacher’s Cole Martin brings a global cific methods for handling specimens perspective. and test results. Though the legal status of marijuana tance, thermal sensitivity and cost. continues to evolve, it continues to be ilPugh focused on cellulosic fiberboard, legal under federal law, and employers in reading the North American Fiberboard most states, regardless of state marijuana Assn. definition of it, including the possilaws, can test for it under their company ble addition of other materials during drug testing policies and treat it as an ilmanufacture to improve certain properlegal substance. However, prescription ties. marijuana law continues to develop with All sheathing options come with legal regard to employer rights and employee considerations, and one of the most improtection. portant questions is does the building Summarizing, Vaughan said, employ“code” apply. Then there’s contract laners should research their state drug testguage, warranty claims, Home Owner ing laws, keep ADA in mind, institute Assn. (HOA) requirements and subdividrug tests equally among employees, and sion covenants, and potentially false adlook into comprehensive model Drugvertising, deceptive trade practices, and Free Workplace programs that may help product disparagement. create workable policies. Prior to PELICE, several panel indusJohn Hargrove, Partner with Bradley, try experts had authored an article in spoke on wood dust dangers, standards Panel World denouncing paperboard and best practices. He said OSHA may wall sheathing with allegations of failinvestigate upon worker complaint, an ures during major storms in Texas, not accident or injury, or it could be a schedmeasuring up to strength properties in uled or random call; and OSHA citations laboratory testing, and basically managand financial penalties have a broad ing to slip through weaknesses in the range, and perhaps worst of all puts your code evaluation and approval process. company on their radar. There is a legal process to challenge GLOBAL TRENDS OSHA rulings, but in the meanwhile reDieffenbacher’s Capital Equipment mediation measures at your operation & Modernization Sales Manager, Cole can include ventilation, regular cleanup, Martin, and Director Modernization respirators, personal hygiene, equipment North America, Colin Folco, spoke maintenance, inspections, enhanced comabout the influence of global compamunications, training and, very impornies, technologies and markets on North tantly, documentation. America during a session on Global David Pugh, Partner at Bradley, Technologies & Trends. delved into exterior sheathing options, They noted several cultural differranging from diagonal tongue & groove, ences that can impact traditional North to plywood, OSB, fiberboard and foam America operations, ranging from emboard. He touched on performance variployee compensation to vacation allocaables, include nailing/fastening, insulations to regulatory requirements to tion, structural strength, moisture resis-
housekeeping. They pointed to an influx of European influence from the likes of Kronospan, Swiss Krono and Egger, as well as Arauco from South America, and they expect a continued influx. Why are manufacturers coming to America? They mentioned the relative stability of the market, market size and continued growth projections. There’s also a growing emphasis on sustainability in North America that emphasizes environment (air management), health and safety, economics and environmentally friendly products, such as the use of recycled wood as a source of fiber. Products traditionally manufactured abroad are now finding manufacture in North America, including wood fiber insulation, such as GO Lab’s TimberHP product and facility expected to begin production next year in Madison, Wis. The company relocated a Dieffenbacher wood fiber insulation board plant from Germany and Dieffenbacher has continued to provide support and enhancement services. Raw material developments in the Middle East could come to North America, they said, citing the use of date palm tree waste and the new Al Talah Board DesertBoard production facililty supplied by Dieffenbacher. “Let’s make OSB from palm trees!” they stated. “North America does have palm trees.” Developments in China are being watched closely as well, such as fine surface OSB, hardwood flooring from OSB, straw board particleboard, with production generally involving smaller equipment (4 ft. lines) at less cost and with less capacity. Trevor Wendt, market area vice president of Raute North America, spoke on the company’s Rx-Series of technologies, which are geared to match the needs of a production facility. R3 is based on affordability, lowerlevel production, simplified installation and startup and generally a lower level of automation. R5 is a mid level budget, generally upgradeable, with middle to high production capacity and low to medium automation. And R7 offers maximum production capacity, all encompassing automation and machine vision, fully upgradeable and including data analyzing software for optimization. For example, Raute’s veneer plugging lines, drying lines and panel repairing lines are offered in all three R levels. A production facility can mix and match PanelWorld • JULY 2022 • 27
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these technologies along its mill flow. Wendt noted that Raute continues to invest substantially in research & development, supporting production facilities in Nastola, Finland; Shanghai, China; and Vancouver, Can.; and machine vision development in Kajaani, Finland and Pullman, Wash. Bijan Sham, president of Cogent Industrial Technologies, addressed the complexity of delivering capital projects, noting that 70% of them fail, while the ones that succeed combined a stellar project execution team and project management team. He addressed the steps of project execution, always with an eye on the outcome of delivering a safe, reliable and data-driven plant to drive the highest efficiency from assets, people and pro- Rob Freres spoke on his company’s Mass Plywood cesses. Panel. He also broke down project manageportive, given that forests remove and ment into multiple phases and responsistore CO2, and forest products store bilities, and kidded, “What could possibly CO2. Also, wood in construction rego wrong?” He focused on the big picture places carbon-unfriendly materials. phases of project management: initiation, More specifically, Baldwin said, veplanning, executing, monitoring/controlneer-based products are even more “enling the execution and closing. He cited vironmentally virtuous.” The veneer prothe project filer server and project issue cess is comparatively yield efficient and tracker as necessary tools throughout the generates less wood fiber waste than project. many other conversion options, he said, Circling back, Shams said the main and veneer-based products use less wood causes of capital project failures are poor fiber for a given structural application project execution and poor project manthan comparable lumber-based counteragement. Key reasons for execution failparts. ure include the wrong technology selecOregon State University Dept. of tion (which can cause headaches for Wood Science & Engineering profesyears), neglecting safety and hiring the sors Fred Kamke and Arijit Sinha spoke wrong team. on the expanding role of plywood and Key reasons for project management veneer-based products in construction. failure include poor contracts, lack of They noted that global mass timber planning, poor monitoring and controls panel growth is beating projections, and poor issue management and coordilooking at 6 million m3 in 2022, and that nation, all of this leading to delays and there’s rapid acceptance of veneeroverbudgeting. based MTP. They cited multiple advantages of veneer-based MTP such as the VENEER-BASED layup is optimized for engineered enduse and material availability; and when Plywood and Veneer-Based Techcomparing to similar thickness CLT nologies: Innovation, Change, and the panels, there’s higher strength, higher Carbon Connection was the title of a compression, more predictability, highsession moderated by plywood industry er capacity, overall greater versatility veteran Dick Baldwin. and a favorable carbon narrative. Baldwin started it off by addressing They also pointed to alternative vesoftwood veneer’s carbon connection. neer species and the opportunity to deHe noted that 20 years ago forest sign mixed-species layups to optimize preservation was deemed good and forproperties, costs and availability. And est management was bad, while the inthey spoke on veneer modification to dustry’s factual response went unheedprovide upgrade of low quality veneer ed. Today, Baldwin said, global warmor inferior species, and improvements in ing is the Mega environmental issue, water resistance and other properties, CO2 emissions are generally accepted through chemical, thermal and thermoas the principal cause, and thus a manhydro-mechanical treatments. aged forest and forest products are sup-
Clayton Paratore, technical sales engineer with USNR, delivered a presentation on the history and evolution of veneer lathes as prepared by VP Alan Knokey. After delving into the beginnings of lathes, particulary in the early 20th century, the presentation referred to 1950-1975 as the age of prosperity, during which Coe Manufacturing shipped more than 300 lathes worldwide. 1975-1990 became the beginning of automation as traditional peeler logs on the West Coast became scarce thanks to developments with the Northern Spotted Owl. Meanwhile OSB came on and halved traditional consumption of plywood. The advancement of electronics in this timeframe created PLCs, linear transducers, and proportional valve control, evolving into full servo-controlled, and Coe came out with the scanning and repositioning lathe charger, digital carriage drive, back up rolls, roller bars and electronic pitch rails. The presentation referred to 19902022 as the modern era, adapting to very small block and core diameters, salvaging commercial grade veneer from low density and defective species, high speed production of small diameter blocks, and related improvements such as the multiple point diverter system. “The good” coming out of the modern era is that veneer can be peeled effectively from 0-1500 FPM, can scan and clip at a constant rate of 600 FPM, good veneer can be separated from trash with MPDS technology at 650 FPM, commercial quality sheet veneer can be stacked at 800 FPM and random at 400 FPM. What about the bad? Lathe knives are the number one problem, becoming dull prior to four hours of operation, difficulties in positioning knife location, knife grind is not necessarily uniform, not enough minutes of production time in a shift. The path forward is creating more time per day by automating knife changes, changing the knife when it becomes dull, and locating the knife accurately at every knife change; also automating the clipper infeed conveyor and enhancing clipping strategy toward no fishtails and saving only 12 in. random. Rob Freres, president of Freres Engineered Wood in Oregon, spoke on his company’s 100-year history and evolution into innovative wood products including more recently Mass Plywood Panel (MPP). Today the company operates a pair of veneer manufacturing
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plants, a veneer drying facility, a stud mill, cogeneration plant, a trucking division and the new MPP facility Freres said the company has invested $200 million in technology in the past 16 years. He recalled the early conversations on cross-laminated timber. “We immediately thought plywood is already cross-laminated,” Freres said. “The next thought was, ‘Trus Joist proved superior performance using less wood fiber compared to full sawn lumber.’” After further research, Rob and his cousins Tyler and Kyle believed a mass plywood panel could meet or exceed the performance of CLT with a fraction of the wood fiber; plywood is dried to the requirements of CLT without the extra lumber drying cost; there is less recovery downfall in the manufacture of MPP vs. CLT; MPP is not limited in thickness to odd numbered 1 3⁄8 in. lumber sizes; and the Freres company has been stress grading veneer for engineered wood products since 1990. They viewed scarfing 4x8 ft. panels as handling a lot fewer pieces than dimension lumber used in CLT and they would have the in-house quality control by using their own veneer and plywood and LVL lamellas.
Freres reviewed the process of equipment supplier and technology selections, hiring a construction contractor, MPP testing, and plant site selection, which turned out to be a former sawmill site they owned halfway between their Lyons, Ore. veneer mills and their Mill City, Ore. plywood plant. Since the plant has become operable, overcoming the challenge of perfecting the scarf joint, and through the testing process with Oregon State University and APA, Freres comments, “We know the MPP plant has great versatility in the types and sizes of products that can be produced. Much greater than CLT. I like to say our customers are only limited by their imagination as to the products we can produce for them.” Tom Evans, former chief of operations at Coastal Forest Resources, spoke on the integration of technological advancements and more specifically on measuring acoustic velocity of a random sampling of SYP logs at Coastal plywood mills in Havana, Fla. and Chapman, Ala. and the resulting comparisons between log quality and physiology. The identification of the key metrics can relate to the veneer quality of SYP peeled on a rotary lathe, and the identification of the differ-
ences in inbound material could help Coastal decide where to spend resources, whether on lathe technology or targeting older growth timber. Protocol called for a minimum of 500 stems at each location, sampling every fifth stem, DBH measurement and boring to count rings from center to the inner bark, while noting any visible defects. Based on this testing, it was recommended that Havana incorporate Rings Per Inch more into the decision-making process regarding procurement, educating foresters about its importance, making sure they have the proper tools, and making RPI a part of any cruise or tract appraisal; while Chapman should accelerate the process of moving to 100% shorts to gain greater quality without sustaining greater log cost, and meanwhile initiate ActivPlant and camera systems to lock down control regarding block conditioning and other metrics; and install new core drive technology. Evans also noted that additional testing and data were needed to corroborate findings. As Chapman implemented some of these measures, it increased average acoustic velocity by 400 ft./sec., and increased on grade percentage 4% along with other operation enhancements
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that contributed to more than a $5 million annual impact.
RESINS & WAXES The Resins, Waxes, Coatings session drew considerable interest and included four presentations, led off by Jesse Paris, R&D Group Loader over Bio Materials, Willamette Valley Co., speaking on value-added wax for enhanced panel performance and specifically on the company’s patent pending engineered wax emulsion. The new product is said to reduce wax application, including a 20% paraffin replacement with renewable material; in co-application with p/MDI reduces pMDI by more than 10%; offers reduced wax volatility and reduces fugitive pMDI vapor; and lessens WVCO’s Jesse Paris reveals a new product. maintenance through reduced atomizer and blender buildup and potential reduc13% without increasing press temperation in press-release. tures). It also reduces mill downfall. Jeffrey Otjen, technical services project “Removing excess water from the glue manager, Georgia-Pacific Chemicals, increases adhesive tackiness,” Otjen said. spoke on that company’s next generation “The prepressed panels consolidate better resin technology, RESI-BOOST Gen2. It and longer, allowing stronger glue bonds reduces spread levels by up to 13% and to form throughout processing.” reduces hot press time by up to 20% in Senior scientists Robert Miller and Bill some layup configurations (typically 8Arndell with GP Chemicals spoke on new
high solids urea-formaldehyde scavengers that significantly improve internal bond while reducing resin application and cycle times. This technology with a combined nonvolatile content of approximately 95% eliminates a significant amount of process water. In customer trials IB was improved and MOR remained unchanged; cycle times were cut up to 8%; resin usage was cut up to 3-5%; emissions ranged to a 0.13 ppm drop; density ranged from unchanged to an increase; face and core moisture showed a decrease. A second new product, called Tacky Scavenger, in lab and field trials, showed a significant increase in mat consolidation on the line, improved belt transfers without dusting, reduction of downgrade due to mat fractures, no change in emissions compared to standard urea solution, no former/blender buildup, no sticking to belts or platens. Brian Delbrueck, head of business development with Arxada NA, spoke on the susceptibility of exposed engineered wood products, such as mass timber, to weathering and other factors during the construction process, leading to problems such as mold. He summarized the company’s Lo-
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tusPro water repellent product that uses diatomaceous earth to provide extreme water repellency. The product is said to dry faster and offer better water absorption and UV resistance, along with low VOC. Arxada’s technology creates a “superhydrophobic” surface, causing the repellence of water, which the company called The Lotus Effect. Water droplets stay in bead form rather than flattening out into the surface. It is said to provide a cleaner looking surface due to picking up less dirt. Delbrueck said the product offers easy application with reduced impacts on operations, including one coat application, immediate water mixture cleanup, quick drying, followed by material storage and handling with uncoated stickers and dry to the touch before paper wrapping.
FIRE PREVENTION Some familiar faces and companies spoke during the session on fire prevention, including Dane Floyd, principal at Veneer Services, Inc. Floyd’s topic, “The Time Bomb, Dust Safety in Wood Plants,” passionately touched on the re-
Flamex’s Ed Pridgen has a new way to put out fires.
cent deaths of three workers at a wood components manufacturing plant in Quebec. Floyd reviewed NFPA (National Fire Protection Assn.) codes and standards, and OSHA standards and proceeded to show photos of various plants which were obviously not in accordance. Floyd addressed how to control dust, as with enclosed “dust tight” bins and conveyors; negative pressure on leaky ma-
chines; spark detection and deluge; explosion panels, flameless vents, anti-blowback devices; isolation of conveyors. He specifically pointed to his company’s SMART conveyor material handling product, referring to reduced power requirements, enclosed dust tightness construction, and other characteristics in compliance with NFPA for dust hazard safety. Ed Pridgen, vice president at Flamex
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Participants are abuzz during a break in PELICE 2022.
Inc., revealed the new Minimax MXOne firefighting turbine, which emphasizes innovative fire protection using water mist from a safe distance. The devices allows greater operating area, more effective cooling, more resource efficiency, and extinguishes more rapidly. The spray mode can be adapted to the fire load. Offering 360° rotation and quick rise and tilt positioning, it features a dis-
charge rate of up to 246 ft. and is operable with seawater and foam additives. It’s low operating pressure means it can be connected to the local mains water supply. It’s available as a stationary and mobile version and can accommodate a range of control mechanisms, including by smartphone. Jeff Nichols, managing partner at Industrial Fire Prevention, speaking on behalf of Fagus GreCon, noted wood
and wood products still account for a significant share of dust-related industrial fires and explosions. He addressed GreCon’s range of spark extinguishing, fire protection and spark detection products, including the new DLD 1/9 spark detector. He also spoke on the company’s extinguishment systems with atomized water droplet technology for larger spacing, better cooling and less usage. Jason Krbec, sales engineering manager at CV Technology, spoke on advances in water mist fire suppression and more specifically quick suppression systems, which are complete systems to combat fire locally around pieces of equipment, relying on fast detection and fast response action item. He said quick suppression is ideal for areas with hot bearings, motors, sparking equipment and heat generation, and he explained the company’s all encompassing Conveyorguard solution including spark and flame detection and water mist suppression complemented by temperature sensing cables. Speaking in partnership with FireFly, Krbec reviewed the fire and explosion protection device locations throughout PW the process flow.
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FIRE
PREVENTION EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted these editorial profiles and images to complement their advertisements placed elsewhere in this issue. Please refer to those advertisements for web site and contact information. All statements and claims are attributable to the companies.
CLARKE’S Clarke’s PyroGuard spark detection and extinguishment systems provide the utmost protection and reliability for the safety of plant personnel and protection of facility assets. The system is used to identify and extinguish sparks before they have a chance to enter sensitive dust collection equipment or material storage bins. Clarke’s also manufactures a complete line of HiSpeed abort gates to supplement the PyroGuard system. When applied properly, the PyroGuard system and related devices can virtually eliminate the possibility of harm to plant personnel, and can minimize the extent of damage caused by a fire or an explosion. Other products which Clarke’s manufactures include Pneu-Aire primary and secondary filter systems, machined rotary feeders and airlocks, material handling and backward incline fans, Flo-Matic storage and metering bins, rotary screens and classifiers. Clarke’s Industries PyroGuard spark detection and extinguishment
ELECTRONIC WOOD SYSTEMS Electronic Wood Systems (EWS), known as a supplier of a wide range of measuring and inspection systems for process and quality control in the panel industry, is developing its second pillar of the business very satisfactorily, the spark detection and extinguishing systems. These systems detect sparks and glowing particles inside pneumatic conveying systems, blow pipes and chutes before they reach flammable areas such as dust filters, silos or bins. Dust fires, explosions and production shutdowns can be avoided. Sparks are detected by ultra sensitive infrared spark detectors. To this end, EWS offers two types of detectors optimally suited to the application conditions—one developed for closed ducts and another one specialized for the presence of extraneous light; there is no need for an expensive one-fits-all device. Extinguishment is carried out by a modular extinguishing device which creates a dense water pattern in a split second. The applied higher-efficient extinguishing nozzle is also a result of EWS’ long-term experience and continuous R&D in this field. It allows significant reduction of water consumption by approx- EWS spark detector installed at a high temperature transport imately 30% with the same effectiveness as conventional noz- duct of a particleboard dryer. zles. Consequently, the adverse effect of the extinguishing water on the production process is considerably reduced. The control cabinet has selective operator blocks for each zone, making it very user-friendly. The redundant setup and self-testing assure high reliability of the system. Beyond technology, individually suited maintenance management concepts are developed including on-site service and spare part packages with a main focus on preventive maintenance considering local conditions and performance of the production line. This helps the customer to decrease downtime with consequently higher equipment effectiveness. The EWS spark detection and extinguishing system is certified by Factory Mutual (FM). As SicoScan in cooperation with Siempelkamp, the systems are available deeply integrated in new production lines. For both new facilities and upgrade of existing lines EWS provides individually engineered solutions. EWS is your experienced and innovative technology and service partner ready for the future in engineered panel production.
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FIRE
FAGUS GRECON
PREVENTION
Processing wood products can create ignition sources that can be quickly transported through conveying systems and can ignite product and waste dust causing fires and explosions. Common causes of fires are heat, sparks, embers and hot particles. One of the most efficient measures to prevent fire or dust explosion is the early identification of the ignition source. Sparks and embers are often the source of larger fire and explosion events. Preventive fire and explosion protection is an important measure, not only to protect production, but also the company and the people working within. Fagus GreCon’s new DLD 1/9 spark detector offers additional protection to industries with new intelligent detection technology (IDT). IDT not only identifies hazardous moving ignition sources before a fire breaks out, but the DLD 1/9 detector is also able to differentiate between dangerous sparks or harmless incidence of extraneous light due to leaky/damaged pipes or an opening of an inspection flap. The system provides excellent preventive protection, as it does not wait for an actual fire or explosion to erupt. The system prevents the development of a GreCon’s new DLD 1/9 intelligent spark fire or explosion by the early detection and elimination of the ignition source. detector With a GreCon system it is possible to detect and eliminate ignition sources before a fire or a dust explosion occurs. IR detectors monitor the conveying paths and activate high-speed water extinguishing within milliseconds. The diversion or shut-off of product flow is also an option if extinguishing with water is not possible for the application. Since 1911, Fagus-GreCon has created innovative technology to maximize production. Our goal is to assist our customers by providing technologically advanced equipment to ensure safer facilities, optimized production, and verifiable product quality.
MINIMAX (FLAMEX) It is hard to believe, but it was only a good 20 years ago that water mist was rediscovered as a highly effective extinguishing method. Even then, it was clear that the reduced use of water, with savings of up to 95%, offered clear advantages—first, in terms of stockpiling, but above all, the reduced water damage that can occur during fire extinguishing. Today, the MXOne high-performance firefighting turbine represents a new generation of stationary firefighting. It extinguishes using water mist, is continuously adjustable up to a full jet, and thanks to the integrated fan, it can also be used for smoke extraction. The MXOne is used in stationary installations on factory premises or in high halls in the timber, recycling or chemical industries, at airports or in substations. Here, it can be integrated into existing fire protection systems and carry out the extinguishing attack automatically via suitable MXOne high-performance water mist firefighting detectors. Mounted on a trailer, the extinguishing turbine is mobile and turbine can be used by plant fire brigades to provide firefighting support at any desired location. The operation can also be controlled by remote control from a safe distance. Due to the properties of water mist, effective firefighting can be achieved with a minimum amount of water. In the event of a fire, water mist absorbs large amounts of energy, cools particularly effectively and reaches concealed fire sources, e.g. in wood piles, better than classic extinguishing monitors. When fighting fires using water mist, water is atomized under high pressure to create tiny water droplets and thus a larger reaction surface for absorbing heat. As the water evaporates, its volume is increased many times over, displacing the oxygen at the source of the fire, and the resulting smothering effect immediately fights the fire. The cooling effect of the water mist also protects people and property from the effects of heat. The water consumption during the extinguishing attack as well as the damage caused by the extinguishing water are very low. The water mist binds smoke gases, pollutants and odors and can quickly exert its effect over large areas such as external stockpiles without thrusting burning goods further afield by means of its focused jet-like classic extinguishing monitors. Minimax is a single-source provider of fire protection for the wood industry. Whether presses, conveyor belts, silos or fuel oil areas, Minimax has the appropriate holistic solution. A wide range of products with flame, spark, heat and gas detectors or thermographic cameras and all conceivable extinguishing agents is available to create the proper protection concept for every risk.
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W H AT ’ S
NEW
MULTI-POINT DIVERTER
between the belts to clear a plug-up should one occur. The pickup section can also open automatically to safely avoid plug-ups or other potential problems that are detected by the Altec clipper scanner. Two mills have ordered Altec diverters, and both will be fully operational by end of 2022. Visit alteconline.com.
WOOD PROTECTION
Altec has introduced a multi-point diverter that is a state-of-the-art design and incorporates the latest electric servo technology for exceedingly fast and accurate diverting of full sheets, half sheets, random-length strips, fishtails, and trash down to 3" in length. The ability to efficiently remove trash at the diverter increases the capacity of strip trays and dramatically improves the presentation of the strip on the pull chain, resulting in increased recovery and production. The Altec multi-point diverter uses an extremely efficient vacuum fan design that requires only 4 HP per divert section. Each section uses two, 2 HP fans and the vacuum in each section is adjustable independently. The specialized internal plenum design results in a very consistent vacuum across all belts. This unique design results in very stable and consistent transport of all sizes and thicknesses of veneer, including fishtails, without the possibility of plug-ups. The openings in the suction boxes are kept clear by the belts themselves for consistent performance over time. The belts are made of a lightweight, three-layer composite, composed of low friction, polyester fabric bottom layer, a reinforced polyurethane core, and a high grip, abrasion-resistant silicone top coating. The belts are extremely strong and long-lasting with very little stretch. The belts also include a v-guide to maintain proper tracking and alignment with the vacuum section. Each diverter belt has a separate pneumatic belt tensioning cylinder for consistent belt tension on all belts regardless of age, reducing the possibility of over-tensioning and increasing life. A separately driven conveyor (pickup section) reliably transports the veneer from the clipper onto the diverter belts. The pickup section hinges with a pneumatic cylinder to open the pinch point
Archroma introduces Siligen MIH liq, an eco-advanced wood protection technology developed together with the University of Goettingen, Germany. Siligen MIH liq is an eco-advanced wood modification treatment to create more stable and durable solid woods, veneers and wood-based composites for applications such as windows, facade claddings, outdoor furniture, terrace decking, in-ground platforms, parquet flooring and marine applications. It is applied by impregnation and subsequent drying.
Siligen MIH liq impregnated wood can be dried and the molecules fixated at < 80°C with equipment already available at most production facilities applying conventional biocides. The energy consumption is thus similar to most aqueous biocidal wood preservative treatments. Wood treated with Siligen MIH liq shows excellent protection against decay fungi. Prof. Holger Militz, Head of the Dept. of Wood Biology and Wood Products at the University of Göttingen, Germany, comments, “Our research has been focusing for many years on the development of new wood protection systems. With Siligen MIH we explored a system where the wood is protected against fungi and termites without the need of complicated treatment technology. Existing vacuum and pressure plants and normal wood dryers are sufficient to use this new technology.” Archroma is a global provider of specialty chemicals serving the branded
and performance textiles, packaging and paper, and coatings, adhesives and sealants markets. Headquartered in Pratteln, Switzerland, Archroma operates with 2,800 employees located in 31 countries and with 25 production sites. Visit archroma.com.
FORESTRY DOZER
Tigercat Industries has developed a forestry dozer. The new TCi 920 will be making the rounds at several U.S. forestry industry trade shows this year. The dozer will be branded under the new TCi badge, as Tigercat Industries continues to design machines for applications beyond forest harvesting systems. All products falling under the TCi brand are, and will continue to be designed, manufactured and supported by Tigercat Industries. Seeking to overcome shortcomings that harvesting professionals have experienced when applying standard-build, mass production dozers to forestry operations, the new 920 is designed specifically for use in logging applications. The 920 is powered by the Tigercat FPT N45 Tier 4f engine rated at 101 kw (135 HP). It is equipped with a 190 mm (7.5") pitch heavy duty undercarriage, a responsive and efficient closed loop track drive system, strong, impact-resistant belly pans, and durable structural components throughout. The 920 provides the power, durability and versatility for deck clearing, road building and cleanup activities on logging sites. The carefully designed forestry cab offers the operator clear sightlines augmented by the sloped front hood and rear-mounted exhaust. The cab is quiet and comfortable with a heated and cooled air ride seat, ergonomic armrest mounted joysticks, and a large touchscreen machine control system interface. Visit tigercat.com.
New products and technologies published here are submitted by the manufacturer and supplier companies or representatives thereof, and all statements and claims are attributable to the submitting parties.
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ADVERTORIAL
From Wood, For Wood: Improving Performance And Sustainability Of Wax Emulsions
U
sing advanced chemistries and technologies, Walker’s Emulsions division creates innovative and sustainable wax, oil, bio-based and asphalt emulsions used across a variety of industries in both the Canadian and U.S markets. For close to 50 years, Walker has been developing and producing wax emulsions to enable the composite wood industry to meet dimensional stability standards. Walker’s team of chemists have developed a more sustainable wax emulsion product to provide excellent water resistance to engineered wood panels. Wax is an additive used in the production of wood composites to provide short-term resistance to water absorption and dimensional stability. While molten wax can be sprayed directly onto the wood fiber, chips or strands, the application of an emulsion is beneficial as it improves wax distribution and results in reduced wax usage. Wax emulsions require an emulsifier, which provides the product with stability during shipment, storage, pumping and application. However, the emulsifier can counteract some of the water resistance capability of wax and there is thus a tradeoff between stability and performance. Typically, the enhanced distribution efficiency of the wax outweighs the effect of the emulsifier. The emulsions team is working to create innovative sustainable solutions through chemistry and technology, developing the next genera-
tion of its Norwax® product line based on lignin, a natural component of plants and trees. By using lignin, the tradeoff between product stability and water resistance is reduced or even eliminated. Lignin is a critical component of all living plants and trees. It provides the compressive strength and stiffness needed to defy gravity, is hydrophobic (or water repellent), and its presence facilitates directional transport of water through capillaries from root to leaf. Lignin is produced commercially in North America as a byproduct from the Kraft pulping process. This high purity lignin is extracted from black liquor, and is substantially different from the lignosulfonates that were used extensively in wax emulsions (brown wax emulsions) in the past. Ash and sugar content of Kraft lignin are low, which significantly lowers susceptibility towards bacterial growth. More importantly, Kraft lignin contains a “molecular switch” that is leveraged in the design of
our products to maximize mechanical stability as well as performance. The chemical functionality present in Kraft lignin can switch the macromolecule between an amphiphilic and hydrophobic state at high temperatures in the press. This transforms it from an emulsifier for wax to an extender of wax. In its amphiphilic state Kraft lignin is an excellent stabilizer for wax emulsions, and provides superior mechanical stability, good resistance to salinity and low foaming tendency. Once switched to its hydrophobic state, Kraft lignin extends the performance of the wax and contributes to water resistance. Walker continuously strives to reduce the environmental impact of its products, while providing the quality and performance that customers expect. Lignin stabilized wax emulsions are the next step towards building a sustainable future, together. For more information or to partner with us, visit www.walker emulsions.com
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PROJECTS
TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Martco (RoyOMartin) hopes to have its new OSB plant in Corrigan, Texas running in the second quarter of 2023. Corrigan II is under construction adjacent Martco’s Corrigan I OSB facility that started up in 2018. Here are a few photos provided by Martco on June 6.
Press pit: All concrete is poured and press installation will start soon.
Warehouse expansion
Completion of site work for heat and energy, and blenders
Aerial of the full Corrigan II site
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PROJECTS ARAUCO NA EXPANDS TFL OPERATIONS
Arauco Prism TFL
Arauco announced that it will invest $20 million to expand its thermally fused lamination (TFL) operations at its state-of-the-art particleboard mill in Grayling, Mich. The new lamination line will be Arauco’s third TFL line at Grayling and will increase the mill’s lamination capacity more than 50% in support of the Prism TFL decorative surface product offering.
The new line is expected to be commissioned and operational in late 2023. “We are excited to continue investing in Crawford County and our Grayling operations. This investment further highlights our commitment to better serve the needs of our North American customers through value-add products,” comments Pablo Franzini, president of Arauco North America
SOPREMA ORDERS SECOND PLANT
SOPREMA orders second wood fiber insulation board plant.
The SOPREMA Group ordered a second Siempelkamp plant for the production of its Pavatex wood-fiber insulation. The plant will be installed in Chavelot, France, near the current site in Golbey. SOPREMA decided on a scope of supply for the new plant that is almost identical to that of the first Siempelkamp plant in Golbey. The current production line, which operates completely in the dry process, includes a ContiTherm calibration press. After screening, the wood chips are thermally and mechanically defibered and dried in the 120 m long flash dryer supplied by Siempelkamp subsidiary Buttner. The fibers are glued only after drying. The assembly start of the new plant is scheduled for the last quarter of 2023. Its production spectrum is designed for 55,000 t of insulation boards per year.
KIM TIN PURCHASES ANDRITZ REFINER Andritz has received an order from Kim Tin MDF Chon Thanh Corp. to supply a chip washing and pressurized refining system for its new MDF production line in Minh Thanh Commune, Binh Phuoc province, Vietnam. Startup is planned for the third quarter of 2023. 42 • JULY 2022 • PanelWorld
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PROJECTS
The new pressurized refining system will feature a design capacity of 48 bdmt/h and process rubberwood chips for producing various types of MDF products. Hoang Van Thuy, Project Leader and Head of Technology at Kim Tin MDF Chon Thanh Corp., comments: “Excellent fiber properties are absolutely essential for top-quality MDF products. Andritz’s well-proven refining technology not only ensures excellent fiber quality, but also top performance, high reliability and easy maintenance. Based on the numerous top references available—especially in the Asian market—we decided to partner with Andritz Panelboard.”
MEKONG WOOD ORDERS MDF PLANT Vietnam’s Mekong Wood MDF Joint Stock Company placed an order for a complete MDF plant with Siempelkamp. The board will comprise local raw materials acacia and eucalyptus. Mekong Wood MDF, based in Phu Tho, decided to cooperate with Siempelkamp due to the excellent reputation of its new German partner in the Southeast Asian market. Siempelkamp has recently proven its expertise with the successful startup of the first plant in Vietnam which also processes acacia wood—a challenging raw material in the production process. Siempelkamp is provide the planning of the complete plant and the supply of the entire process technology to the supervision of the installation and the startup. The heart of the new factory will be a forming and press line with ContiRoll continuous press in the 8 ft. x 47.1 m format with NEO press infeed. This special infeed geometry is designed to process acacia; the extended, highly flexible infeed heating plate facilitates deaeration of the mat and prevents blowouts and steel belt damage even at high production speeds. Plant availability, capacity and operational reliability can be significantly increased with this plant design. The plant will be designed for an annual production capacity of over 400,000 m 3. The thickness range for these boards is focused on 15 to 17 mm, with a possible spectrum of 3.5 to 32 mm.
ORMA, PAVATEX GO WITH PROD-IQ The Turkish wood-based panel producer, Orma, has commissioned the 40th Siempelkamp Prod-IQ.quality MES system and Pavatex, a Swiss manufacturer of insulation board, has ordered No. 41. With the Prod-IQÒ MES system, Siempelkamp provides plant operators with a digital system that draws valuable resources from system data. More productivity, higher plant speed, as well as a reduction of rejects and preventive maintenance are some of the advantages that Prod-IQÒ can offer wood-based panel producers. Orma’a order has been successfully commissioned at the Isparta particleboard plant. Pavatex is also integrating the system into a new plant in France. Neslihan Demirel, Orma General Manager and owner, comments, “We chose Siempelkamp’s Prod-IQ.quality because it is an excellent tool for achieving the highest level of operational excellence. Our primary concern here is that the system be intelligent and, at the same time, user-friendly.” PanelWorld • JULY 2022 • 43
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S U P P LY
LINES
‘STRONGEST LINK TO SUCCESS’
John King UK has relocated John King Chains USA Inc. to Birmingham (Trussville), Ala. The need for increased manufacturing space was required and Birmingham was considered to have a major advantage as an industrial center of the Southern U.S. with improved logistics and access to high quality subcontractors and experienced labor. John King USA has been importing UK made chains into the U.S. since the 1960s, but has been manufacturing chains and sprockets for multiple industries domestically for approaching two decades. To lead the charge the management has transferred Frans John King Chains USA Inc. has moved operations to Birmingham, Ala. Pienaar, formally gen-
eral manager of the South Africa division. Pienaar has worked in the industry for more than 20 years and is a chain engineer with huge experience and capability. Oliver Wadsworth, USA Sales Director, comments, “Our principal industry focus is lumber/paper, cement and bakery. The new location and investment in new CNC machinery, robotic welding and increased stock levels of common chain types allow us to react quickly to meet the ever-increasing demand of our USA customers. Our technical group knowledge and know-how has really boosted our reputation of not just being a chain supplier but a material handling solution provider. We are really excited about the future.” Contact Ollie Wadsworth, sales director North America, John King USA Inc., 1910 Woodlands Drive, Trussville, AL 35173; e-mail: owjohnkingchains.com; visit johnkingchains.com.
RAUTE APPOINTS PRESIDENT/CEO Raute Corp.’s Board of Directors has appointed Mika Saariaho as the new President and CEO. He will join Raute from Metso Outotec Corp. where he holds the position of Senior Vice President. He will take over the position as Raute President and CEO by late November. Saariaho succeeds Tapani Kiiski who left his position by mutual agreement. Kiiski had been Raute President and CEO since 2004. “After such a long history with the company, leaving this position is naturally bittersweet. The years have been filled with many challenges and successes,” Kiiski comments. Saariaho has more than 20 years of experience and a solid track record in international business, especially in technology companies. Prior to the formation of Metso Outotec, he worked in various leadership roles at Metso and Outotec and previously worked for the World Steel Assn., Outokumpu and McKinsey. He was born in 1973 and is a Doctor of Science (Technology). “We believe that Raute will be welcoming an excellent new President and CEO in Mika Saariaho. Mika’s extensive experience and competence provide him with an excellent foundation from which to take on this new position and to lead Raute along a profitable path,” says Raute Chair of the Board of Directors Laura Raitio. “This position is a challenge that I am happy to take on. Raute has a long and distinguished history, a strong position as a technology supplier and a stable and long-standing owner base,” Saariaho comments. Chief Operating Officer (COO) Petri Strengell is acting as interim President and CEO until Saariaho takes over the position. Thereafter, Strengell will continue in his role as COO and member of the company’s Executive Board.
BERNDORF NAMES NEW LEADERSHIP John King Chains USA Inc. in Birmingham, Ala.: Left to right, Brandon Ringstaff, warehouse associate; Frans Piennar, general manager; Ollie Wadsworth, sales director; Gary Booth, production coordinator; Marc Hatcher, welder and robot operator
Berndorf Band Group has named Alexander Leutner and Gernot Binder, both from the company’s own ranks, as coCEO’s to lead the international supplier of steel belts and steel belt systems. They succeed the long-standing Managing Director Herbert Schweiger. Leutner joined the company based in Lower Austria in 2014
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S U P P LY
LINES where he worked as executive vice president of the International Commercial Div. until the end of 2021. Binder joined Berndorf in 1996 as service and training manager. After two multi-year terms in the management of Berndorf’s overseas companies in the U.S. he returned to Austria in 2014 and headed Berndorf Band Engineering GmbH as president until the end of 2021. The company is also restructuring to be able to react to future challenges. For example, the Berndorf Band Group has implemented its own Product Management Team at headquarters in Lower Austria and has introduced a new Business Development Dept. to further develop steel belt systems.
BAKELITE SYNTHETICS COMPLETES PURCHASE Bakelite Synthetics has completed the previously announced acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s chemicals business (Georgia-Pacific Chemicals). With this
acquisition, and after more than 100 years of development through legacy companies as a global phenolics leader, Bakelite Synthetics adds to its strong portfolio of products, brand and customers, as well as building on its growth strategy of delivering innovative solutions to customers in a sustainable manner. Georgia-Pacific Chemicals brings with it complementary resin and formaldehyde technology and end markets in the building materials, transportation, industrial, chemical intermediate and specialty resins space. This acquisition includes 11 chemical facilities employing approximately 600 in the U.S. and South America. “We are excited about the opportunities that will result from the combined strengths of the two companies,” says JP Aucoin, CEO of Bakelite Synthetics. “This acquisition enables us to deliver greater value to our customers through a broader product offering and expanded geographic reach. It also enables us to
deliver on significant organic growth with the strong tailwinds in U.S. residential construction. Lastly, we look forward to welcoming Georgia-Pacific Chemicals’ associates to Bakelite Synthetics as we bring both organizations together with a rich history of customized product development and customer service.” The company’s new headquarters will be based in Atlanta, Ga., and the combined company will consist of 1,500 associates and 21 manufacturing sites operating in 10 countries. Visit bakelite.com.
COMING IN SEPTEMBER
—LAMINATION— VENEER • PLYWOOD • COMPOSITES • ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS • LAMINATES
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CLIPPINGS CPA RECOGNIZES EXCELLENT WORK
Composite Panel Assn. recognized its 2021 Safety Award recipients during the Chairman’s Dinner at the annual spring meeting in Dana Point, Calif. Awards were given to participating
manufacturing plants with exemplary safety records, including acknowledgments for long-term, annual, safety improvement, and safety achievement. For each award, plants were categorized by low worker-hours (Class I) and high worker-hours (Class II). The awards for the best long-term
safety record over the past three years were given to WestPine MDF, Quesnel, British Columbia (Class I); and Arauco North America, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (Class II). The annual safety awards for having the lowest incident rate in their class for 2021 were awarded to West FraserWestPine MDF, Quesnel, BC, for Class I plants, and Arauco North America, St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Albany, Ore., for Class II plants. Two plants recognized for safety improvement were Florida Plywoods, Greenville, Fla. (Class I), and Collins Products (Particleboard), Klamath Falls, Ore. (Class II). Four plants were recognized for achieving an incident rate of less than 50% of the industry average over the past three years. Class I plants included Arauco North America, Malvern, Ark., and Roseburg, Eldorado, Ark. Class II plants included Arauco North America, St. Stephen, New Brunswick, and Maibec, East River, Nova Scotia. CPA awarded Weyerhaeuser’s Columbia Falls, Mont. plant with the 2021 Safety Innovation Award. The award recognizes a mill that has instituted a new policy, process or technology that has made it a safer place to work. The Weyerhaeuser plant’s implementation of a “Stairway to Safety” significantly reduced the potential for a fall hazard. The stairway to safety is an engineered solution to mitigate a fall hazard that was present when employees needed to access the inside of a loaded box car in order to secure units for shipment. Before the stairway to safety was
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implemented, loading box cars had two potential fall hazards: one to the employee inside the box car and one to the employee on the dock, due to a 24 in. gap between the dock edge to the rail car. The stairway to safety was a collaborative effort between the mill personnel and fall protection industry experts. They were able to design and implement a ladder system that not only virtually eliminates the two fall hazards but is designed to be mobile and compact when not in use. The first stairway to safety has been so successful the mill is working to build secondary systems. CPA recognized Will Warberg, formerly of Plum Creek MDF and Weyerhaeuser MDF, as the 2021 Brock R. Landry Industry Leadership Award recipient. The Landry Award is given annually to an industry leader in recognition of his or her outstanding contributions to the composite panel industry. Former CPA chairman and colleague James Hogg of Uniboard presented the award and commended Warberg on his numerous contributions to the industry and longstanding commitment to the association over the span of his 30-year marketing and sales career until he retired in 2018. Warberg served on the CPA Executive Committee and Board of Directors for many years which also included a term as CPA chairman in 2007. Under his leadership as chairman, several notable initiatives were introduced that are still making an impact today. He was also one of the founding members of the Environmental and Public Affairs (EPAC) Committee in 2005 where he remained vice chairman until his retirement from the industry.
CLIPPINGS
high quality timberland REITs resulting in PotlatchDeltic owning approximately 2.2 million acres of diversified timberlands including 626,000 acres in Idaho and more than 1.5 million acres in the U.S. South. PotlatchDeltic also remains the timber REIT with the most leverage to lumber prices, including 1.1 billion BF of lumber capacity. The transaction also combines two successful and complementary real estate businesses. Eric Cremers, President and CEO of PotlatchDeltic, says, “With CatchMark we gain significant scale in three states and diversify our timberland holdings into some of the strongest markets in the U.S. South. In addition, the location of CatchMark’s land near large population centers provides attractive rural real estate sales opportunities.” The combination will result in geographic diversity and scale, increasing PotlatchDeltic’s U.S. South ownership to more than 1.5 million acres of timberland in six states. The transaction adds 350,000 acres of superior site
POTLATCHDELTIC BUILDS ON REIT PotlatchDeltic Corp. and CatchMark Timber Trust have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction. The acquisition by PotlatchDeltic will strengthen and diversify a leading integrated timber REIT and continue to enhance shareholder value. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma market capitalization of more than $4 billion and total enterprise value of more than $5 billion, including $557 million in net debt. The combination brings together two
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CLIPPINGS
index timberlands in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. The Board of Directors of the combined company will consist of nine Directors from PotlatchDeltic and one Director from CatchMark. The corporate headquarters will be maintained in Spokane, Wash. A regional office will be maintained in Atlanta, Ga. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
EGGER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS TFL In a value engineering (VE) study conducted by EGGER Wood Products, in partnership with case goods and cabinets manufacturers Nexis3 and Thompson Millwork, it was revealed that thermally fused laminate (TFL) offers greater material and labor cost savings when compared to alternative woodbased decorative surface materials. The study was conducted using real world and speculative projects to compare the
cost of EGGER’s Eurodekor TFL Particleboard to high pressure laminates (HPL) and wood veneers. “Our experience has shown that using a combination of TFL and laminates versus plywood and wood veneers for cabinet, furniture and interior design projects can save architects, designers and fabricators valuable time, money and resources,” says Lisa Thornton, Head of Marketing for EGGER North America. The VE study confirmed that when it comes to wood-based decorative surfaces, material cost and labor hour estimates clearly show TFL as the best option for optimizing budgets without compromising design, quality and performance. Cost efficiencies are gained using TFL for low- to mid-traffic areas and vertical applications, with laminates for high-traffic, horizontal and curved/postformed applications. This combination of TFL and laminates is far more affordable than wood veneers, according to the study. Both TFL and laminates
are high quality, versatile, fade- and scratch-resistant and easy to clean. These two decorative surface materials are also highly durable when used in the appropriate setting. Nexis3, a custom architectural millwork firm, helped to transition the former Chase Tower in downtown Rochester, NY into The Metropolitan, a high-end, loft-style apartment complex for professionals. Each of the project’s 65 units required a kitchen with an island and cabinets and a bath and laundry room with closet cabinetry. By incorporating Eurodekor TFL, Nexis3 delivered a finished project that met the developer’s luxury design, quality and performance requirements, but at a significantly lower cost. The Metropolitan project featured four wood grain reproductions from EGGER. This included two Feelwood decors, which deliver deep embossedin-register (EIR) textures for the look and feel of real wood. Compared to only HPL or ➤ 53
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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS
DIRECTORY EUROPE
ASIA ■ India
NORTH AMERICA ■ Canada
■ Italy
■ British Columbia
6670 - 144th Street, Surrey, BC V3W 5R5 Plant: (604) 572-8968 Fax: (604) 572-6608
Producers of high quality fine face veneers. Specializing in species indigenous to the West Coast. We manufacture Music grade solids and veneers. We also offer custom slicing, cut-to-size and log breakdown. Fir • Hemlock • Spruce • Pacific Maple (Figured and Plain) • Alder Western Red Cedar
■ Malaysia
■ Poland
■ Ontario
Manufacturer In Malaysia CARB P2 / EPA Certified Fancy plywood/MDF/ Particle Board/ Blockboard Layon Veneer, Veneer Parquet, etc.
A FULL SERVICE PLYWOOD & VENEER COMPANY WE OFFER: Short turnaround time, In-house veneer mill—ROTARY, FLAT CUT, RIFT and QUARTERS, Custom pressing capabilities, Architectural specified plywood jobs, Huge veneer and core inventory, Over 100 natural species and engineer veneers in stock, All sizes and thicknesses–6'x4' to 5'x12', Internal logistics for fast on-time deliveries
Lot 488, Jalan Jati Kiri, Kg. Perepat 42200 Kapar, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Tel: +603 3259 1988 • Fax: +603 3259 1886 E-mail: bungaraya@bungarayapanel.com Website: www.bungarayapanel.com
AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA 113 Years Experience
■ Switzerland
Reserve your space today. Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613
In Wood
SPECIALISTS IN AUSTRALIAN & PACIFIC VENEERS FSC & PEFC ECO-CERT
Veneers from around the world Over 150 species in stock Reconstituted veneer/spliced faces/rotary veneers Website: www.briggs.com.au Email: admin@briggs.com.au Tel: +61 2 9732-7888
Contact us: Birchland Plywood-Veneer Ltd. TeL: 705-842-2430 • Fax: 705-842-2496 Visit www.birchlandplywood.com to view our “Live Log Program”
www.fsc.org
05/22
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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY ■ United States
■ Ohio
■ Georgia
■ Michigan ■ Pennsylvania ■ Indiana Amos-Hill Associates, Inc.
Quality Veneers Manufacturers of Decorative Hardwood Veneer Domestic and International Markets Species include: Walnut, White Oak, Red Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry and Birch “Quality is the Lifeblood of our Business” 112 Shelby Ave. ◆ P.O. Box 7 Edinburgh, IN 46124 Phone: 812-526-2671 ◆ Fax: 812-526-5865 E-mail: info@amoshill.com Website: www.amoshill.com
■ Mississippi
The mark of responsible forestry FSC Supplier: SCS-COC-002445 * SCS-CW-002445
ESTABLISHED 1972
Proudly serving our clients in the hardwood plywood sheetstock, plywood component, solid wood component, face and core veneer markets for over 40 years. Looking forward to applying our worldwide knowledge and resources to help create the solution you need. inquiry@pittsburghforest.com Office: 724.969.5000 375 Valleybrook Rd, McMurray, PA 15367
LOCATE VENEER & PLYWOOD PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WORLDWIDE. Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613
■ Vermont
NORSTAM VENEERS, INC. Proud to announce we have the “Newest Veneer Mill in the World” MANUFACTURER OF QUALITY HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD VENEERS
Kiln Dried Thick Backing Boards
P.O. BOX 32 HWY. 135 BUS: 812.732.4391 MAUCKPORT, IN 47142 FAX: 812.732.4803 EMAIL: info@norstam.com
05/22
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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Recruiting Services
1615
Executive – Managerial – Technical - Sales
JOHN GANDEE
& ASSOCIATES, INC Contingency or Retained Search
9237
Depending on Circumstances / Needs
“Your Success Is Our Business” Serving the Wood Products and Building Materials Industries For more than 26 years.
512-795-4244
Call or Email me anytime! john@johngandee.com www.johngandee.com 3220
Top Wood Jobs 1009
Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371
3779
Jon Olson
Tel: (800) 985-5191
jon@olsonsearch.com Custom search & recruitment services for the complete range of composite panel and related careers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. www.olsonsearch.com
4231
Austin, Texas
THE Forest Products Group
CLIPPINGS 50 ➤ wood veneers, the cost savings for TFL were substantial, both for materials and labor. The total project cost for the kitchen and bath was approximately 36% higher for HPL and 79% higher for wood veneer, the study showed.
TIMBER GROWTH HOLDING STEADY Amanda Hamsley Lang, COO & VP of Client Services with FORISK Consulting, addressed timber supply and outlook during the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo Held March 29-30 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta. Lang, who was one of the event keynoters, said that FORISK forecasts pine sawtimber inventories to increase through 2027 before declining through 2035 in the South. Deferred harvest during the Great Recession (2007-2009) along with improved genetics and silvicultural practices, which have increased timber growth rates by an average of 1% per acre per year for the past 10 years, lead pine sawtimber inventories to peak in 2027 at a level nearly 75%
higher than in 2007 for the region. Lang added that the supply story varies across the region, with some states projecting continued increases in inventory while other states begin to see contraction much sooner depending on local market dynamics. She added that decreased harvesting activity during the Great Recession resulted in fewer replanted forest acres, leading to a dip in the forest inventory for pulpwood-sized trees. Lang said the average pine growthto-drain ratio for the South in 2020 was 1.31, indicating a general oversupply of pine growth relative to demand in Mississippi, Alabama and northeast Georgia, though with tighter or more balanced markets in north Florida and south Georgia, areas of coastal South Carolina and North Carolina, central Texas and Louisiana. But fast-forwarding five years to 2025, the timber supply becomes more balanced across the region, with an average pine growth-to-drain of 1.04, a period during which 10 sawmills and 11 pellet mills come online in the region.
LP CONVERTS HOULTON MILL
LP Building Solutions announced production of the first APA-approved SmartSide board at its Houlton, Maine facility on April 19. In early 2021 LP announced a phased, multi-year plan to expand siding production capacity, starting with the conversion of LP’s Houlton facility from the manufacture of oriented strandboard (OSB) and laminated strand lumber to SmartSide siding. Once LP Houlton reaches full capacity, Houlton will add 220MMSF of SmartSide operating capacity to LP’s siding business, bringing the company’s total siding operating capacity to 1.9 billion SF. Later this year, LP will initiate the next phase of its siding production capacity expansion plan with the conversion of its Sagola, Mich. facility from the manufacture of OSB to SmartSide. Siding production at LP Sagola is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023. PanelWorld • JULY 2022 • 53
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EVENTS AUGUST
MAY 2023
23-26 • International Woodworking Fair 2022, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.
15-19 • Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover Exhibition Grounds, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 89-32626; visit ligna.de.
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST 2023
11-13 • Composite Panel Assn. Fall meeting, Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, Montreal, QC, Canada. Call 703-724-1128; visit compositepanel.org.
23-25 • Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Music City Center, Nashville, Tenn. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.
12-15 • Lesdrevmash 2022, International Exhibition for Machinery, Equipment and Technology for Logging, Woodworking and Furniture Industries, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia. Visit lesdrevmash-expo.ru/en. 13 • Pennsylvania Forest Products Assn. annual meeting, Wyndham Garden State College, Boalsburg, Pa. Call 717-9010420; visit paforestproducts.org. 28-30 • Timber Processing & Energy Expo, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Ore. Call 334-834-1170; visit timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.
OCTOBER 12-15 • Xylexpo 2020, FieraMilano-Rho Fairgrounds, Milan, Italy. Phone +39-02-89210200; Visit xylexpo.com. 15-18 • APA-Engineered Wood Assn. annual meeting and Engineered Wood Technology Assn. Info Fair, JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort, Aventura, Fla. Call 253-565-6600; visit apawood.org and engineeredwood.org.
MARCH 2023 2-5 • Delhiwood 2023, India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, India. Call+91-80-4250 5000; visit delhi-wood.com. 29-31 • International Wood Products Assn. 67th World of Wood Convention, Hyatt Regency, Savannah, Ga. Call 703820-6696; visit iwpawood.org.
APRIL 2023 11-13 • American Forest Resource Council annual meeting, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash. Call 503-222-9505; visit amforest.org.
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