As many as 60 people are out of work after a recent fire destroyed a veneer mill near Creswell, Oregon.
No one was injured at the Bald Knob Veneer Company. Workers say that sparks from welding igniting a pile of wood shavings was the probable cause.
The mill supplies veneer to a plywood plant in Springfield. Production has been halted.

Siempelkamp recently celebrated its 125th anniversary in the Rhineland with some 350 customers from 30 countries.
 “Direct contact with our customers, some of whom have been dedicated to us for many years, is very important to us and the success of the company,” said Dr-Ing Hans W Fechner, managing director of G Siempelkamp GmbH & Co KG, Krefeld.
“The congratulations from all over the world and the contacts made during this event are a great joy and reassurance for us.
“With more than 2,400 employees, an unparalleled investment programme for our Krefeld location, as well as our good position in all relevant markets, our future is based on a solid foundation,” said Dr Fechner.

German wood based products manufacturer Pfleiderer has ambitious objectives for the business year 2008, which it plans to achieve through a price increase. A rise of 5-7% was mentioned by Hans Overdiek of Pfleiderer’s executive committee on the occasion of the recent Investors’ Conference.
Problems are foreseen for the second half of the year, especially in the rising glue prices. These costs can no longer be compensated by sinking wood prices, he said.
In order to achieve this year’s goals a suggestion was to relocate a stagnant Pfleiderer plant from Baie, Quebec, to the US and thus profit from the exchange rate.

Dieffenbacher has been awarded an order for the engineering, supply and installation of a new CPS continuous press line by the Italian particleboard producer Gruppo Mauro Saviola (see p46).
The 2.4m wide and 40.5m long press line will replace an existing multi-opening press operating in the SIA plant in Viadana.
Delivery will start end-08 and, after completion, the total capacity of the Viadana plant will rise to 550-600,000m3/year.

Sonae Novoboard in South Africa is implementing an IMEAS calibrating and sanding line at its White River factory in South Africa.
The line is made up of two machines totalling eight heads and with a maximum working width of 2,900mm.
The first four calibrating units have 500mm steel rolls, followed by four finishing shoe units.

TimberTest laboratories has released a new generation of its Model 4000 gas analysis machine for testing to EN717-2. One reason for the development of the new design was the high energy use of the machines now on the market. TimberTest says it has first-hand experience of the high power use of laboratory equipment and so designed this one to be low energy-use.

Lower-cost Chinese-built batch panel lines are continuing to invade the Latin American panel industry.
A fourth Brazilian plywood producer is reported to be planning the switch to MDF production, this time in the hardwood plywood heartland of northern Brazil.
Florapac MDF Ltda, based in Paragominas, Pará, is said to be preparing a site for a new 140,000m3/year fibreboard line from Shanghai Wood Based Panel Machinery Co Ltd (SWPM). The line is due for completion in 2009.
Already, SWPM has sold similar MDF lines to three plywood firms in southern and south western Brazil, two of which should be operating later this year/early next.
Companies with 180,000m3/year SWPM lines being built in Santa Catarina state are at Guararapes Paneis Ltda in Caçador and Indústria Sudati de Compensados Ltda in Otacilio Costa.
The third project, by Maseal Industria de Compensados Ltda of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul state, is said to be under review.

Dieffenbacher’s 100
Continuous press maker Dieffenbacher of Germany has sold its 100th CPS press since production began in 1990. The customer is the Weihua Group in China. The 38m-long unit, with a capacity of 250,000m3, will go to Fengkai City in Guangdong province.

ZOW Shanghai
ZOW in Shanghai, the business event for the furniture and interior design industries, takes place from September 11-15, 2008. For the first time it will be at the JSWB Global Home Furnishings Center. This schedules the supplier show parallel to the International Sourcing Fair and Furniture China. www.zow-shanghai.cn

China conference
The 5th China International Wood and Wood Products Trade Conference will be held November 13-15, 2008 in Guangzhou, China. It will focus on the international purchase and supply of wood material and wood products. www.mujiaohui.com

Certified
Queensland-based
timber processor Boral Plywood is the most recent Queensland
timber processor to receive certification under the Australian Forestry Certification Scheme’s Chain of Custody standard.

TTF make a stand
The UK’s Timber Trade Federation (TTF) members have voted unanimously to make environmental due diligence a condition of membership, thus “sending a clear signal that its members are committed to tackling environmental issues”.

Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, said to be Bursa Malaysia’s largest listed timber company by market capitalisation, has announced a foray into the fast growing Chinese market for downstream plywood products.
Ta Ann will set up a plywood mill in Yang Zhou, a major timber processing centre in Jiangsu Province, to be built and operated by a new subsidiary incorporated in China under the name of Ta Ann Eco-Timber Industries Pty Ltd with registered capital of US$20m.
Ta Ann Eco-Timber says it will be focusing on making and selling eco-friendly plywood products and that the manufacturing base will be used to penetrate the Chinese market for value added eco-plywood such as container flooring.

European OSB production is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 10% between 2008-12, according to a new report.
‘OSB and OSL in the Pacific Rim and Europe 2008-12’, published by Australian market research/forecasting company BIS Shrapnel, says output in Europe will reach 5.8 million m3 by 2012.
Its projections show annual growth of 33% in Russia, 9% in Romania, 9% in Latvia, 4% in the Czech Republic and 1% for France, Poland and Bulgaria. Production is forecast to remain static in the other producing nations, subject to capacity expansion.
BIS Shrapnel senior manager, Bernie Neufeld, believes the market will become less concentrated in the next five years, with three new companies starting production – DOK Kalevala, a UPM/Speza joint venture in Russia and Alprom in Romania.

Florida’s Port Manatee has seen a dramatic decline in plywood traffic, from more than 239,000 tons of plywood in 2005 to just over 75,000 tons in 2007 and, so far this year, 7,000 tons, reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Southwest Florida’s housing explosion pushed plywood demand to record levels from 2000, until 2005 when the US housing market started to tumble.
However, helped by the hurricanes of 2003-5, which increased demand for building materials, the port continued to handle up to 600,000 tons of forest products.
A port spokesman said recent price increases for plywood indicated that demand was improving.

Georgia-Pacific (GP) permanently cut 67 jobs from its Peterman, Alabama plywood mill, leaving about 300 workers at the facility.
A spokesperson for Atlanta, Georgia-based GP said the company had retooled how it runs the non-union facility. In March, the mill employed 380 workers.
Koch Industries, based in Wichita KS, acquired GP in 2005 for US$21bn in cash, assumed its debt and has trimmed the workforce at all of its area facilities.
GP indefinitely mothballed the Talladega, Alabama, plywood mill and another in Louisiana in May, blaming poor markets.

Flakeboard has commenced start-up of its thermally-fused melamine press, supplied by Siempelkamp, at its particleboard plant in Bennettsville, South Carolina.
This new installation equips the particleboard and MDF site with a 5x20ft short-cycle press capable of running 180 cycles/hour in multi-length dimensions of four and five foot widths.
Building value-added in this location provides the region with access to Flakeboard’s range of TFM designs including speciality melamine panels such as Wear Resistant Melamine (WRM), and fire-rated and moisture resistant products.
Flakeboard is due to install a further melamine press from Siempelkamp, slated for Albany, Oregon in 2009.

Ainsworth Lumber Co Ltd has received the backing it needs from financial creditors and shareholders to carry out a recapitalisation programme that will see it reduce its debt burden and enhance liquidity.
Ainsworth is to transfer C$823.5m (US$810m) in unsecured notes for equity while generating C$150m in new unsecured notes as part of a drive to help it adapt to the challenging OSB market driven by the weak US housing sector.
Around 92% of shareholders have entered an agreement to proceed with the recapitalisation exceeding the two-thirds needed, with all the company’s creditors agreeing to the plan.

Altripan’s 40th
Antwerp-based Altripan NV has celebrated its 40th anniversary. Founded in 1968 as a small family company importing panels, it has since developed into a leading European plywood importer.

Expovetas 2008
The Expovetas 2008 fair for suppliers and manufacturers in the woodworking, supply, furniture, construction and decoration sectors will be held November 5-7, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. www.vetas.com

TTF’s top man
Kevin Hayes, UK managing director of Latvian sawmilling company Nelss, has been elected the UK Timber Trade Federation’s new
president.

ZOW’s lost man
Carlo Giobbi has been relieved from his post as managing director of Survey Marketing + Consulting Srl, Milan. Peter H Meyer, founder of Survey and the ZOW shows, is taking responsibility for management.

Q-Mark scheme
A Q-Mark scheme covering CE marking on Chinese plywood has been unveiled by UK-based BM Trada Certification at the 2008 China International Wood Based Panels and Furniture Exhibition. It is intended to give buyers confidence that the plywood they purchase is fit-for-purpose.

Double chips
Global trade in wood chips has more than doubled in the past 20 years, reaching 30 million tons in 2007, reports Wood Resource Quarterly.

The eighth edition of the Spanish ZOW trade fair is to be moved to Zaragoza from June 2-5, 2009 in the Feria de Zaragoza.
Organiser Survey GmbH has taken this decision as it will have the opportunity to extend ZOW into product groups like interior design accessories and semi-finished products such as doors, windows and flooring, as well as semi-finished wood products – which it considers of vital importance for its growth in the Spanish market.
The ZOW Spain show has increased its sales turnover by 14.8% for this year’s event in Madrid, but Survey has complained that host IFEMA Madrid has not let it bring in enough wood-related and interior design products “due to the fact that this would enter into competition with IFEMA’s own products”.

The Belgian laminate flooring manufacturer Unilin Flooring, part of the Mohawk Group, is planning to build a laminate flooring works in Russia.
In the first stage, the company intends to install a short-cycle press and a profiling line. Parallel to this, a treater may also be set up, but a decision on this has not yet been made.
An investment in the company’s own MDF/HDF plant is not envisaged for this initial investment phase.
At least during the starting period, HDF supplies for the laminate flooring works are to be guaranteed either through purchases from Russian
suppliers, or through imports.

A bold consolidation plan aimed at integrating the Brazilian plants of leading panel makers Masisa do Brasil Ltda and Tafisa Brasil SA has unexpectedly collapsed, weeks after the deal was made.
Back in January, Sonae Indústria announced that top South American panel maker Masisa SA had bought a 37% stake in its Brazilian Tafisa MDF, MDP (medium density particleboard) and laminated flooring operation at Piên for US$70m (WBPI, issue 1, 2008, p12).
Less than six months on, Sonae and Masisa say the deal is off. Sonae referred to the partners’ inability to reach “a satisfactory agreement” over detailed aspects and “essential conditions” of the proposed merger.
A clause in the January agreement allowed Masisa later to sell its new Tafisa Brasil holding to its partner Sonae. As a result of the deal’s collapse, Masisa is
exercising its right to sell out, leaving Sonae with 100%
control of Tafisa Brasil.

Greenply Industries Ltd plans to invest 3.7 billion rupees (US$90m) over the next two years in MDF and laminate production in northern India.
Greenply, which reported revenues of US$125.6m for 2007/2008, controls a quarter of India’s organised plywood market and a sixth of the laminate market.
The company said it expected annual revenue of US$83.4m from the MDF plant in Uttarakhand state – scheduled to go on-line in March 2010 – and US$55.6m from the laminates plant in Himachal Pradesh state, expected to start up in October 2009.

Flakeboard Co has been granted millions of dollars in aid by the New Brunswick government to install a new dry resin system which will boost efficiency at its MDF and particleboard mill in St Stephen.
The C$6.7m (US$6.6m) term loan was announced on June 27 by Premier Shawn Graham.
Kelly Shotbolt, president and ceo of Flakeboard, said at a joint news conference: “The company has developed leading-edge technology that will have an important impact on our costs, quality and productivity”.
Flakeboard manufactures a variety of particleboard, MDF and Fibrex high density thin fibreboard, using lumber industry by-products and low-quality or under-utilised wood species. The company currently employs 275 people in its St Stephen facility.

DSM Melamine bv, and its affiliated companies DSM Melamine Americas Inc and PT DSM Kaltim Melamine, have announced a global price increase for all of grades of melamine which they sell, with immediate effect for spot markets, or as contracts allow.
The global price increase will be US$300-400/tonne converted to the appropriate currency.
The ongoing very significant changes in global supply/demand dynamics of the melamine market, including its upstream markets, provide the primary foundation for this price increase, says DSM.

Klaus-Dieter Mayer
Klaus-Dieter Mayer, Interprint managing director, has retired at 65, having been largely responsible for the expansion of the group. He was managing director from 1990 to 2006 and its advisor since 2007.

Alpi certification
Italian timber company Alpi Group has secured Forest Stewardship Council certification for its use of poplar in the production of veneers. The certificate, say Alpi, will give peace of mind to its customers, with a recognised certification trademark.

New president
Owners of MDF and particleboard manufacturer SierraPine Ltd – Joe Gonyea III and Mark Emmerson – announced that Wade Gregory is to replace Bill Black as company president.

PSI approved
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced that PSI – Engineered Wood Products Division, located in Eugene, Oregon was approved as a third-party certifier (TPC) for its Wood Composite Formaldehyde Certification and Training Programme.

Business software
Optware Solutions, Beaverton, Oregon has been awarded the contract to supply Georgia-Pacific with business optimisation software for GP’s Southern plywood business, consisting of 21 plants.

Andy Moore
German I-joist and insulation producer Steico AG has appointed Puhoswood managing director Andy Moore to head its UK operation.

China’s State Forestry Administration has recently published 2007 production data for lumber and wood based panels. Panel production continued to well outpace lumber output, just as it has since 2000.
The annual combined output of plywood, blockboard, fibreboard (largely MDF and HDF) and particleboard jumped to 84.5 million m3, a 17% increase over 2006.
New production records were set for plywood, blockboard and fibreboard.
Since the beginning of the decade the output of wood based panels has quadrupled.

Kronospan plans to build an MDF production line at its plant in Novovolynsk, Western Ukraine, according to The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
A summary EBRD report said the proposed project had passed its final review and was pending board approval. EBRD will finance the project through a e28.5m loan.
The MDF plant, which includes a lacquering line, would cost e47m and be the first in the Ukraine.

Australian timber giant Gunns has applied to build a rotary veneer mill at its sawmill site in Western Junction, Tasmania.
The company has not revealed the size of its proposed investment but it is anticipated to run into millions of dollars. The plant is anticipated to have an annual production of 67,500m2.
Last year Gunns closed its sliced veneer mill in Boyer because of a shortage of high quality logs following harvesting restrictions in Tasmania’s old-growth tropical forest.
Terry Edwards of the Forest Industry Association of Tasmania said that Gunns’ new venture, which will be able to use lower grade raw material, tied in with the industry’s strategic aim to “add value to the lower quality product now available to the industry”.

The prospect of nine North American OSB makers going on trial in an anti-trust lawsuit seems to be receding after details emerged of settlements being reached with most of the companies, reports Random Lengths.
The nine companies have denied that they engaged in price-fixing and colluded in taking downtime.
Settlements have already been reached with six defendants: JM Huber, Georgia-Pacific, Ainsworth, Tolko, Potlach and Norbord.
Random Lengths also says that court documents indicate settlements being reached with Grant Forest Products and Weyerhaeuser, with speculation that the remaining defendant, Louisiana-Pacific, will also reach a settlement soon.

The prospect of nine North American OSB makers going on trial in an anti-trust lawsuit seems to be receding after details emerged of settlements being reached with most of the companies, reports Random Lengths.
The nine companies have denied that they engaged in price-fixing and colluded in taking downtime.
Settlements have already been reached with six defendants: JM Huber, Georgia-Pacific, Ainsworth, Tolko, Potlach and Norbord.
Random Lengths also says that court documents indicate settlements being reached with Grant Forest Products and Weyerhaeuser, with speculation that the remaining defendant, Louisiana-Pacific, will also reach a settlement soon.

A&S Energie plc, a 50/50 cooperative of Aspiravi plc and panel maker Spano plc, is to erect a biomass power station near the Belgian Spano site. It is anticipated that the plant will process 170,000 tons/year of non-recyclable wood residues.
The plant will be located on 4.5ha near the Spano factory on the Roeselare-Leie canal in Oostrozebeke, Belgium. The investment will be e90m and is expected to create 24 new jobs when the plant becomes operable, scheduled for summer 2010.
The installation will have an electrical power of 24.6MW and is expected to produce 175GWh of clean energy, net, per year. This is equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 50,000 families.

US furniture makers are concerned that changes to California’s rules on formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels, to be phased in from next January, will create chaos among their suppliers.
The new law will require paperwork to be kept throughout the supply chain – from manufacturers of hardwood plywood, particleboard and MDF, to distributors, to manufacturers
globally, to retailers in California.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will enforce the law and approved third-party certifiers will be required to verify that composite panel makers are complying with the standard.
State officials will audit the paperwork and possible fines range from US$1,000 to US$10,000 per day per violation.
Some furniture makers believe the lack of certified testers could create chaos in the industry, while others argue the rules could overwhelm the supply chain in Southeast Asia, possibly leading to a restriction in the supply of composite panels.

Louisiana-Pacific (LP) has officially opened its new laminated strand lumber (LSL) facility in Maine. The factory, which has an annual capacity of seven million ft3 is LP’s first LSL production unit.
The Houlton site originally opened in 1982 as an OSB mill. Its expansion and conversion to an LSL mill represents an investment of more than US$140m.

The Dieffenbacher Group is expanding its position in energy and environmental engineering with a general licence for the Swiss Combi EcoDry process (from W Kunz dryTec AG).
The indirectly-heated drying process, with a closed steam circuit and integrated post-combustion, is characterised by high levels of environmental friendliness and emissions says Schenkmann-Piel-Engineering (SPE), the Dieffenbacher subsidiary handling the project.

BASF has increased prices – or will as contracts allow – in Europe, Africa and Western Asia for polymer dispersions and additives by e80-100 per metric ton and for polymer powders by e160 per metric ton.
The price adjustment is necessary, says BASF, due to continuous energy and raw material cost increases which are negatively impacting production and logistic costs.

Canfor Corporation’s North Central Plywoods mill in Prince George, BC, was destroyed by fire in May and industry watchers believe market conditions, combined with the impact of the pine beetle in the BC Interior, make a rebuild unlikely.
More than 200 workers at the mill lost their jobs as a result of the fire, though the withdrawal of 185 million ft2 of plywood production from a struggling market was probably a relief to some of Canfor’s competitors, according to Canadian media reports.
Canfor estimates losses from the fire at C$80m (US$79m) and rebuilding the mill could be hard to justify, with the continuing poor market and the mountain pine beetle aftermath threatening its future timber supply.
Canfor has told the workers affected that it could take up to 18 months to replace the mill if it does rebuild.

Pordenone Fiere has decided to launch a rival exhibition to ZOW, following the decision by ZOW’s brand owner to transfer the event to Verona with effect from October 2009.
The Pordenone trade fair company will host the International Show of Semi-finished Goods, Components and Accessories for the Furniture Industry (SICAM) on October 14-17, 2009.
The show will occur just one week before the ZOW event in Verona (October 21-24, 2009).
ZOW organiser Survey said its contract with Pordenone Fiere had been due to expire after this year’s event.
“This step marks the logical consequence of the dynamic growth of the Italian ZOW show during the last eight years, which has been increasingly bursting the capacities of the present venue,” it said, adding that the Verona venue offered nearly unlimited space for the ZOW concept, plus good transport connections.
Pordenone Fiere described the launch of SICAM as a “major and unexpected development” which would provide continuity and be completely unaltered in terms of format and
content.
It is billing the event as the “premier Italian event for the leading international suppliers in the furniture industry”.

Italian woodworking technology has come to the end of a three-year “positive cycle” during the first quarter, according to Acimall, the Italian woodworking and machinery manufacturers’ association.
A survey by Acimall found that orders shrunk by 5.8% year-on-year during the first quarter, with stagnation in the European market and the downturn in the US economy hitting sales.

Wood plastic composites (WPC) are made from plastic and, normally, a fine wood flour. Sometimes wood fibres are used, as are non-wood plants like hemp, flax, jute, Kenaf and rice husk. The flour is typically between 250 and 420µm in diameter and can be hardwood or softwood species. The wood normally makes up 50-70% by weight of a WPC. The flour is significantly cheaper than the plastic so there is a temptation to maximise the flour in the final product. The problem is that high wood loadings reduce dimensional stability and long term durability; particularly important to WPC because they are sold as low maintenance and long-term weather resistant.

Founded in 1862 as a steel producer, today’s Sandvik AB still produces highly specialised steels for a wide variety of global markets. Göran Fredrik Göransson, founder of Högbo Stål & Jernwerks AB, known as Sandvik AB since 1972, was the first person to successfully implement Englishman Sir Henry Bessemer’s famous method for steel production on an industrial scale. He modified the original, unsuccessful, Bessemer Converter design and it then became the basis for modern steel manufacture for many years to come. Mr Göransson produced his first steel by this process 150 years ago – on July 18th 1858 to be precise.

Forest Products Society members gathered in late June in St Louis, Missouri, US, for their 62nd annual meeting where chairman Steve Winistorfer presided over a large number of interesting presentations, as Bill Keil reports. A total of 111 speakers presented the latest in forest products and forestry research, with another 92 presenting posters at this year’s FPS meeting. First place Wood Award was presented to Joseph E Jakes, USDA Forest Service et al, for characterisation of modified wood cells using nano-indentation.

The 21st edition of Milan’s biennial Xylexpo exhibition, known as Xylexpo New, saw a record number of exhibitors but fewer visitors than the 2006 event, perhaps reflecting today’s cautious mood in the woodworking industries. Visitor numbers, admits the organiser of this year’s Xylexpo New, were 12.1% down on 2006 at 81,980. Many exhibition organisers tend to try and ‘massage’ such statistics to make things look better and credit is due to ACIMALL for its honesty. The problem was that the obvious quietness of the event left some of the record 853 exhibitors (284 from 38 countries) wondering if they should have gone to the expense of being there.

Vits, manufacturer of impregnation lines, is celebrating its 80th birthday in 2008.
Vits delivers impregnation and lacquering plants for decorative, overlay and Kraft papers:
• for direct lamination of
particleboard and MDF
• for flooring products
• for production of finish foils
• for production of HPL/CPL
• for shuttering films
Vits says it is the only supplier with its own laboratory facilities where new products or raw materials can be tested. It says customised consulting and R&D support helps customers to successfully develop new machine concepts.
One of these is the Vits ARP (Abrasive Resistant Paper) Coater which will be presented at IWF.
Also the Vits Highline – the only impregnation line of its type in the world which, it says, with genuine line speeds of up to 100m/minute and with an intelligent production control system – is opening up a new era in the future of melamine surfacing, says the company.
Hall B5-1, Booth 6838

Siempelkamp will again be represented at the IWF 2008 show with its subsidiaries Büttner, Siempelkamp Handling Systems (SHS), Siempelkamp Energy Systems (SES) as well as PAL. The highlight of this exhibition is the presentation of Siempelkamp’s Generation 8 ContiRoll Press. The company says this continuous press has secured its position as a market leader in the industry over the past 24 years.

Modul Systeme is an independent engineering firm, providing technical services and equipment (new and secondhand) for the particleboard and fibreboard (MDF) industry and for lamination lines for wood based panels. Over the years, Modul Systeme says it has actively supported and promoted the use of alternative raw materials, such as straw and bagasse. Another focus is the modernisation of existing plants to increase capacity and quality, regardless of age and type of the installation.

Imal will exhibit its OSB Blender (IPO). It says this not only saves resin and space, but also increases blending efficiency while decreasing cleaning time.
Another new product that entirely removes doffing rolls from the process, thereby eliminating material degradation, is Imal’s bin outfeed system for existing and new bins. Other new products include the on-line microwave moisture meter (UM900); surface density analyzer for forming machines (FDM100), which regulates the vertical positioning of the scalper to obtain constant layer weight; Press Security Device (PSD), which identifies mat impurities and also density profile; surface quality controller (SDG) to detect surface defects; ‘007’ Bond Classifier, which determines panel bond and detects blows, blisters and delamination and offers a measurement similar to that of an internal bond. The measurement is displayed with a colour depth of 256 colours and board quality is also indicated during production. As well as various X-ray density gauges for mats and panels, Imal will also show its established products.
Building B1-1, Booth 4658

Kings Mountain International, although fairly new to the market, says it has made a major impact on the decorative laminate industry. It manufactures new press plates used in the laminating industry, as well as refurbishing, reglossing, reconditioning and cleaning. This includes low pressure, high pressure, hardboard and technical laminates for the panel industry. The company supplies both chemically etched and mechanically processed textures, mirrors, mattes, and its new ‘Syncro Registration’ process where the plate texture meets the decor design.

Imeas is a global manufacturer of wide belt sanders and grinding machines. 2006 marked the 40th anniversary of the company, with over 2,000 machines operating worldwide. Imeas sanding and grinding machines are used to achieve precise surface finish and thickness for a wide variety of products such as plywood, composite wood panels, LVL, metal sheets or coils, decorative laminates, flooring and solid surface type products, says the company.
Imeas specialises in extra-wide machines – 10ft (3.2m) and cross-belt sanding for wood products and non-directional mirror finish for speciality steel products.
Building A3-1, Booth 3226

Besides the numerous advantages of the Hymmen Thermo-Laminating Lines, the new generation Hymmen Lamiwrap FLK also offers the option of
in-line edge-wrapping, says Hymmen.
Specific advantages claimed by Hymmen include: UF-surface lamination for a hard and scratch-resistant surface; filled edge duroplastic/sandable; no glue joint between surface and edge profile; the same decor on surface and edges.
Building B2-1, Booth 5263

Italian company Pal says it is a world leader in machines for the treatment and processing of fresh and recycled wood in the production of particleboard, MDF and OSB; for the production of pellets; and for biomass preparation for energy plants. It has more than 3,600 machines working worldwide.
The recent changes in the company structure and the enhanced synergy with its partner Imal have breathed new life into the company, further strengthening its position in the market, says Pal.
The R&D team has been developing innovative systems to improve efficiency and cut production costs. During the last year, many patent applications were presented concerning wood cleaning and processing systems.
Pal says the wide range of machines, and the strong synergy with IMAL and other Italian companies in this field, enables it to tailor its solutions to its clients’ needs.
Customer-oriented after-sales service is another key attribute, says Pal.
Building B1-1, Booth 4553

Sandvik Hindrichs-Auffermann will exhibit its brand new textures. One is a very unique tactile surface which imitates a realistic waxed wooden surface, with a smooth and soft touch. The company will also show the surface “sparkling stone”, which it says is a realistic ideal granite. A visit to the booth will give more impressions of the upcoming trends and inspire you for new cooperating developments with Sandvik Hindrichs-Auffermann, it says.
Building A1-1, Booth 1521

Panel beam saw manufacturer Giben has subsidiary companies in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Denmark and Spain. It says ICON2, included in its Professional Line, is a compact angular sizing system. Thanks to its 50m2 (standard version) footprint, it can be installed anywhere, ensuring high performance and occupying the least space. ICON2 is for those who have more than one single-line panel saw, or who need to optimise their sizing department, do not want to rotate the strips any more and have small space but demand the highest automation.

Fezer produces a complete line of equipment for rotary and sliced veneer production and this year says it is going to present the following
innovations:
• Vertical Slicer directly coupled to a Press Dryer
• Upgrade on Vertical and Half-Round Slicers with several new features and innovations
• Peeling line for small logs with capacity to peel up to 12 logs/minute
• Cross-feed splicer with various options for automation
• Lumber slicer for thick veneer production
• Complete line of veneer dryers
• Knife grinders
• Drum chippers
Building B5-1, Booth 6617

Dieffenbacher says it is a leading global supplier of complete production systems for wood based panels such as particleboard, MDF, HDF, OSB, LVL as well as doorskins. Fibreboards are becoming more and more important worldwide, adding new products such as THDF and insulating fibreboards. LSL is an innovative product for North America and other markets and here, Dieffenbacher supplies new forming and continuous pressing concepts. Dieffenbacher will be presenting its proven concepts, as well as its novelties, from August 20-23, 2008 at the IWF in Atlanta, US.

Flamex says its Spark Detection and Extinguishing System is a cost-effective solution for the prevention of bag house fires and explosions. Sparks generated from production machinery are rapidly detected and suppressed in ductwork before entering the dust collector. Currently in its fifth generation of development, the Flamex system has, it says, been continually improved to incorporate the latest advances in technology.

A major UK cabinet door producer, BLP, has set up a factory in China to produce the same high-end furniture components that it makes in the UK, but at lower cost. WBPI visited the company’s factory in Suzhou, near Shanghai. It has become increasingly common in recent years for European and North American furniture manufacturers to move their production base to China in order to save on production costs, largely through cheaper labour rates. The furniture which most people probably associate with the ‘Made in China’ label is likely to come flat-packed in cardboard boxes for self-assembly and to be at the lower, economy, end of the furniture market, where ‘quality’ comes second.

The company formerly known as Hebei Yingang Man Made Board Co Ltd is now known as China National Salt Industry Yingang Artificial Slab Ltd but there is much more than a change of name to report about this fast-growing enterprise. Hebei Salt Company and Zhending County Changshan Plastic Products factory formed a joint venture to develop the panel manufacturing interests of Hebei Yingang Man Made Board Co Ltd and today the company occupies a 65.8 acre site with factories covering 77,929m2 and representing RMB820m (US$120m) in fixed assets. The company employs 680 staff at Zhengding in Hebei province.

Established in 1982, the Zhejiang Luyuan Group has a total of 11 production lines around China and a combined capacity of around one million cubic metres. We visit the company’s most recently completed project, in Yangdong. Zhejiang Luyuan Group built its first panel production line in 1984, in Suichang, Zhejiang province in the east of China. It was a wet-process hardboard line with a capacity of 10,000m3 /year. In 1995 the company moved into dry-process fibreboard, or MDF, buying its first, seven-opening, press line from Shanghai Wood Based Panel Machinery Co Ltd (SWPM). This line had an annual capacity of 30,000m3 and replaced that original hardboard line. Fast forward to 2003 and we find the group building its first, imported, continuous press line from Siempelkamp of Germany.

Li Ren Wood Group has a relatively long history in wood based panels and owns several companies trading under different names. In the first of his reports for Part ll of our Focus, Mike Botting visits its latest factory, Senlan Wood Co in Fujian province.Li Ren was originally a wet process fibreboard producer with a capacity of 10,000m3/year at its factory in Lishui, Zhejiang province. In 1994 the company switched to MDF production with a 30,000m3/year Chinese-made line, also at Lishui. This was achieved by modifying the original wet process line. In 1995, another MDF line was installed at that site, again with a capacity of 30,000m3 and utilising Chinese-manufactured equipment.

CMC Texpan’s name is synonymous with forming machines, but its engineering expertise means it can offer a lot more to the industry as well.Carpenterie Metalliche di Colzate, meaning the Colzate Steelwork Company, may not seem a familiar name until one looks at the initials: CMC. Today, those initials, when combined with the name Texpan, would be very familiar to anyone involved in composite wood panel manufacture. Formed in 1962 by the father of the current president of CMC Texpan, Dario Zoppetti, CMC fabricated metal structural elements for the textile industry, which at that time was very important to Colzate.

Globus, based in Galliate, has enjoyed a good market in the last two years, with a number of projects around the world employing its wood preparation and handling equipment. Fabio Paron founded his company, Globus, in 1981 based on his machinery experience and a background in research and development, as well as in machinery design. The company manufactures and sells chain and vibrating conveyor systems, drum chippers, knife ring flakers, hammer mills and double stream mills, as well as the cam classifier launched at the Ligna exhibition in Germany last year. Globus also makes other products for the wood based panel and biomass energy sectors.

Part of the Mauro Saviola Group, Sadepan Chimica produces resins for the panel industry as well as other fields and, like the rest of the group, is keen to emphasise its ‘green’ credentials.Sadepan Chimica, with factories in Viadana, Castelseprio and Truccazzano in Italy, and Genk in Belgium, makes a range of products including formaldehyde, liquid and powder urea resins for panel production, melamine and urea resins for the impregnation of decorative papers and phenolic resins for Kraft papers. Trade names are Sadeform, Sadeform UFC, Sadecol Resins, Sadecol Glues, Sadecol MUF (melamine urea formaldehyde), Sadecol P, Sadefen and Papersad.

With a group capacity of 1.7 million m3 of particleboard and MDF, all produced from post-consumer wood waste, the Mauro Saviola Group has strong ‘green’ credentials in which it is continuing to invest. The group has been making particleboard since 1963, starting in Viadana, and there is nothing unusual in that. What is unusual is that, in 1997, the company made a life-changing decision in how it sourced its main raw material.

The sanding and grinding of various materials has been the speciality of Imeas Spa since it was established in 1966 and it has always used that wide-ranging experience to inform its product design for the panel industry

Pagnoni was founded even before the state of Italy and, at the age of 160 this year, can celebrate the fact that it is still finding new products for new markets, based on its long experience in the panel industry. The original Fratelli Pagnoni company was founded in Monza in 1848 by the two brothers Stefano and Martino Pagnoni. That is a long time ago, but when you consider that the original family business was founded in flour milling in the 1700s you begin to realise the truly long history behind today’s family business, Pagnoni Impianti.

With the cost of resins and glues rising almost constantly, Imal sees a bright future for its new MDF resination system, as well as its wide range of other products. From its factory in San Damaso near Modena – the home of Ferrari and Maserati motor cars – Imal has been designing and manufacturing a variety of technical equipment for the panel manufacturing industry since 1970.

Wood preparation specialist Pal srl of Ponte di Piave, Treviso, will celebrate 30 years in business this November and continues to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) to ensure it continues to prosper for a lot longer yet. Founded in 1978, Pal srl has established itself as a major supplier of equipment to clean and prepare wood raw material for the panel industry, as well as adding other product areas to its portfolio.

Regionally and globally, 2007 proved to be one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic, of recent years, says John Wadsworth, introducing our survey of 2007 in the ‘rest of the world’, outside Europe and North America

The TAPPI Decorative & Industrial Laminates (DIL) Symposium (August 18-20, 2008, Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia) is now just two weeks away so hurry if you wish to participate: www.tappi.org/08DIL. Organisers say the symposium is an opportunity for laminate product suppliers, equipment providers and laminates consultants to focus on future trends.

Six French plywood manufacturers have been fined a total of e8m for engaging in a price-fixing cartel which lasted 17 years. UPM escaped a fine after it blew the whistle on the cartel, described by the French competition authority Conseil de la Concurrence as “very serious” and damaging to the economy. Almost 70% of exotic plywood sales in France are thought to have been affected by the price-fixing.

“We have reached a decision which is historic,” said Ladislaus Döry, president of the European Panel Federation (EPF) at its annual meeting in Vienna, Austria in June.“We are going to set up an EPF Standard for very low [formaldehyde] emission boards. This is mainly intended to satisfy the requirements of the furniture industry for all particleboard and MDF products. This has been a much-sought-after new standard.”
There was no detailed information on the new standard available at the time of going to press as the almost unanimous approval of the EPF members was only given during their meeting on June 10. However, Mr Döry was confident of its future.“In a short time, a large number of major panel producers in Europe will produce only to this standard, which sets a new quality, and therefore new costs, which will have to be negotiated between suppliers and customers to share the burden involved in this decision,” said the president.

China – the largest plywood manufacturer and exporter in the world – is, like other wood product industries in China and elsewhere, experiencing difficult global markets. At the recent 2008 China Plywood International Trade Fair, held in Pizhou City, Jiangsu province, Chinese manufacturers were very concerned about future development.An issue identified by the Pizhou plywood industry at the fair is that the US and Europe are no longer the largest markets for plywood exports from Pizhou plywood manufacturers. More and more importers from Middle Eastern countries have become interested in purchasing plywood from China.