A veneer mill with a production capacity of 10 million m2 has been opened by UPM-Kymmene in Russia.
The Chudovo facility in the province of Novgorod, built in co-operation with Russian wood processing and procurement company ZAO Novgorodlesprom, will export mainly to the European and North American markets for use in furniture and interior design.
Kari Makkonen, president of UPM-Kymmene’s wood products industry, said: “We have two veneer mills in Finland whose capacity is being stretched to the limit. We decided to build a veneer mill in Russia, which has a good supply of birch raw material, and where we already have extensive experience in plywood manufacture.”
Mahogany Oy, the company responsible for product marketing and sales, said the mill would enable expansion into the growing furniture markets in eastern Europe and the Far East. Furniture factories being constructed in Russia would also need veneer.
The mill is on the same site as UPM-Kymmene’s plywood mill, Chudovo-RWS, which produces 60,000m3 of birch plywood a year. UPM-Kymmene is also building a whitewood sawmill with a capacity of 200,00m3 in Pestovo, within the same province.
