Holzindustrie Schweighofer is investing €150m in a state-of-the-art plant in Covasna that will produce glulam and wood pellets, and also provide raw material for export and the company’s recently upgraded laminated wood products mill in Siret and the block board plant in Comanesti.
The site will cover 70ha and employ 650 people and create a further 2,000 related jobs when it opens in 2014. The company said it expects to handle 800,000m3 of logs a year, of which 70% will be processed on site.
Output of glulam products is expected to be 100,000m3. In addition to fuel for the biomass-powered CHP plant, the mill will also produce 100,000 tonnes of wood pellets a year for the European market.
Glulam products will initially be exported to Japan, but the company said it plans eventually to sell into the domestic market. About 80% of the lumber will also be exported, mostly to Japan.
The latest project follows a €65m expansion already under way in Romania and due to be completed in December. In Siret new lines for laminated panels and finger-jointed softwood will increase capacity for panels by up to 20% to 74,000m3.
Much of this is sold into European DIY superstores. Finger-jointed products, particularly mouldings, will increase 30% to 16,500m3. Replacement blockboard lines at Comanesti will boost annual production to 115,000m3.
