Weyerhaeuser‘s US$29m Medite MDF line at Clonmel, Ireland was completed on time, on budget and is now in full production.
The continuous press line, scheduled to produce 250,000m2 a year, replaces a multi-daylight Washington Ironworks line installed when the Medite plant began production in 1982.
The new line has a Dieffenbacher CPS press with a Metso forming line, an Imal blending system, Steinemann sanders and Kontra panel sizing machinery and is similar to the other continuous press line in operation since 1994.
As with the previous line, it is intended to operate on a continuous 24-hour basis, seven days a week, and together the two lines have the potential to provide 400,000m2 of Medite MDF annually.
To house the new line and ancillary systems, 40,000ft2 of additional factory space has been provided.
Rory Kirwan, vice-president of Weyerhaeuser Europe Composite Panel Business, said: “This is a major stride forward in the production of the Medite brand, which has always been strongly distinguished by its quality.”
Geoff Rhodes, marketing and sales director of Weyerhaeuser Europe, said MDF was finding increasingly wide application in the growing number of industries and added: ” With rising demand for good quality MDF, this new line has come at just the right time.”
