Brazilianwood panel producer Berneck’s plan to launch its second continuous press MDF line late last year has now been postponed until the start of February, the Paraná state family-run firm said.

Colombian panel maker Tablemac is planning to launch commercial production on the country’s first MDF line at Barbosa in Antioquia state in March this year.

Gerhard Dieffenbacher, the former owner and ceo of the Dieffenbacher Group, passed away at the age of 89, on December 22, 2011. In Gerhard Dieffenbacher the company lost not only an esteemed and respected colleague but also a significant contributor to the family owned company.

The industry body that represents the UK sawmilling and wood processing industry has joined the Stop Burning Our Trees (SBOT) campaign, urging the government to cut subsidies for burning UK wood in power stations.

Ted Bauer, one of the leading players in the evolution of the MDF industry worldwide, passed away at home in Medford, Oregon on November 14, 2011 following a long illness.

UPM has teamed up with Danish architects to develop a new plywood house building system.

Latvian birch plywood producer Latvijas Finieris increased turnover and production by 20% and 5% respectively in 2011.The company said its market share of the European birch plywood market remained stable at about 14%. Production totalled 206,000m³.

Browns Bedrooms & Kitchens has switched to Norbord Caberwood MDF for the new production line at its Cramlington, Northumberland line.

Japan’s increased demand for glulam has led to Swedish producer Martinsons reversing a plan to make 15 staff redundant.

Egger Group has posted a 5% growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €127m for the six months ended October 31.

Norbord's Cowie plant in Stirlingshire, UK, is the first site outside of North America to receive Safety Star certification following its recent audit by external auditors looking at its safety systems.

German exports of raw particleboard in the first three quarters of 2011 remained well below the same period 2010 according to the Federal Statistics Office.

It was a momentous start to the new year for leading Latin American panel maker Celulosa Arauco which revealed the purchase of its first mill in the US, but also saw its biggest pine plywood mill destroyed in a devastating forest fire in Chile.

Homatherm, Berga, Germany, has recheduled plans to install plant and machinery at the Saint-Dizier particleboard plant it acquired from Isoroy’s (Sonae Industria, Portugal) in 2010.

The Pfleiderer Group has sustained and in part accelerated the first-semester upturn of its operating business through Q3, 2011 according to preliminary figures.

Kronospan is planning to ship a dismantled Canadian OSB plant to Russia, according to Euwid.

International Plywood, based in Gloucester, UK said it has suspended all future purchases from a Tasmanian timber company under pressure from environmental groups.

More than 255 customers in the fibreboard industry demonstrated their trust in Andritz technologies in 2011.

The International Wood Composites Symposium will present Managing the Woody Biomass Supply Chain – Impact on Your Business at the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue Seattle, Washington, April 11-13, 2012. www.woodsymposium.wsu.edu

GreCon based in Alfeld, Hanover, has recently been awarded the innovation prize at last year’s Woodex exhibition in Moscow for Contilog, its temperature and gas pressure measurement, during hot pressing with wireless sensor technology.

Sonae Industria (UK) Ltd has restarted particleboard production at Knowsley following completion of a £25m initial phase of reconstruction after a serious fire in June.

China’s total forest product exports were valued at US$31.5bn in the first nine months of 2011, according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation’s latest market report.

Kronospan is switching from road to rail to transport logs from Devon to its particleboard plant in Chirk, North Wales. The company has signed a three-year contract for the route with timber-haulage specialists Colas.

Production capacity of a UK plywood replacement panel product business is being doubled to meet increasing demand.

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A new £3m wood recycling facility will turn old pallets, furniture and other waste timber into wood chip raw material for Egger’s particleboard factory in Barony in the north of England.

Raute Corporation has received orders worth over €16m from CMPC Maderas SA in Chile for plywood mill equipment.

Nordlam is to construct a second glulam line at its Magdeburg facility, Germany. The company said that the 60,000m³ line would be operational around the end of 2012. Smaller glulam cross sections will be made by the line.

German wood fibre insulation and I-joist manufacturer Steico has reported reduced profits on the back of increased competition and a poorer economic climate for its products.Profits before interest and tax were €7.2m for the first nine months (2010: €8.1m), while sales increased 13.9% to €110.7m (2010: €97.2m).

A new study on the effects of the mountain pine beetle infestation on the British Columbia (BC) timber industry will be published in early 2012 by Wood Markets Group. Wood Markets has hinted that fewer pine forests could be affected up to 2020 than originally predicted.

Canfor is permanently closing two mills in British Columbia (BC).

APA – The Engineered Wood Association recently appointed Mary Jo Nyblad as chairman of the APA board of trustees. 

BSW Timber has revived its interest in modified wood technology as part of its wide-ranging product development programme.

Iain Mcllwee becomes the new chief executive of the British Woodworking Federation this month taking over from Richard Lambert. Mr Mcllwee was previously head of commercial development at PCG, a professional association for freelance businesses.

In Cologne last year, 52,400 trade visitors from 147 countries came to interzum, the furniture industry and interior finishing event. This was up 13% compared to the previous show in 2009. There were 1,434 exhibitors.

Xylexpo 2012, the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies takes place May 8-12, 2012 in the Milan Exhibition Center Fieramilano-Rho. It is looking to achieve a 15-20% increase in show display space compared with 2010. www.xylexpo.com

The second annual UK Biomass Directory has been released and it indicates that the county is in line to meet its goal of producing 10% of its energy with biomass by 2050.

Dirk Eiynck has been appointed to the newly created position of head of product management and marketing at Vauth-Sagel.

A new wood sound abatement system made of BC Coastal hem-fir and developed by FPInnovations and Western Forest Products is providing municipalities with a natural, sustainable option to reduce traffic noise.

LPK Partner-Tomsk, one of Russia's largest producers of MDF, is investing more than €150m in the construction of a plant for the production of OSB.

Up to seven particleboard and MDF plants are expected to be built in Belarus during the next five years, according to recent statements of Vladimir Semashko, the country’s deputy prime minister.
The construction of new plants is part of the state programme to develop the Belarus woodworking industry until 2016. The volume of investments in the implementation of the programme is estimated at €500m.

NFP Europe Ltd has been appointed UK agent/distributor for Italian laminated wood products manufacturer Tecsol.

South American plywood brand Lumin is now being shipped to Europe with PEFC certification.

The European Poplar Association (Pro-Populus) is planning a new round of activities as part of its remit to promote the use of the species.

MDF Recovery Ltd, Macclesfield, UK reports that its process for recovering wood fibre from MDF has been granted UK patent approval.

Despite shrinking demand, the situation of tungsten prices and availability is still tense, says Eumabois, the European Federation of Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers.

The Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association, based in Reston, Virginia has taken on two new employees to HPVA Laboratories.

The second Latin America Forest Industry Conference (LATINA) will take place on March 26-28, 2012 in São Paolo, Brazil, entitled ‘How can Latin America’s forestry industry continue to innovate and address new challenges?’

Third quarter sales and profits have improved at Homag, the world’s largest woodworking machinery manufacturer.

Italian woodworking machinery manufacturer Biesse has seen its net losses narrow slightly to €5.4m (€6.2m: 2010) for the first nine months of 2011.