Arauco invests US$325m in new particleboard mill
16 September 2015Arauco North America is to build a new particleboard mill located in Grayling, Michigan, to produce panels up to 750,000m3/year, along with full lamination capabilities to support the Prism TFL decorative surfacing program.
This US$325m investment will be the single largest continuous particleboard press in North America, and one of the highest capacity presses in the world. Rollout of the first panel is expected during the latter part of 2018.
The investment will generate approximately 250 direct permanent jobs, and is expected to yield important economic and community development benefits to the Crawford County region.
The addition of panel capacity to this geographical area will improve customer access to a stable, cost-efficient supply of high quality particleboard and decorative panel products. The location of this plant will also complement the supply of MDF from Arauco's neighbouring mill in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.
Together with the Arauco North American executive management team, Kelly Shotbolt, president remarks: "There is no better way to signal the commitment we have to the renewal and modernisation of the North American composite panel industry."
