Stora Enso is to start building a second cross-laminated timber (CLT) production facility in Austria during the first quarter, costing €23m.
The Finland-based sawmiller already has one CLT plant at Bat St Leonhard in Austria but is investing in a second plant at the Ybbs sawmill to meet growing demand for the product, which is used for wall, floor and roofing elements.
Stora Enso said the investment, coupled with the recently acquired Finnish building element producer Eridomic Oy, provided a strong base for further growth in its building solutions business.
“The European CLT market has been growing by almost 20% per year over the past decade, and we expect the demand for CLT-based solutions to continue increasing rapidly,” said Hannu Kasurinen, executive vice-president of Stora Enso’s wood products division.
“We want to grow with our customers in our established markets – single-family housing in central and western Europe.”
Mr Kasurinen said the company also saw good prospects for CLT-based multi-storey buildings, where wood has traditionally had marginal market share. “A good example of this is the ongoing eight-storey building project in London,” he added.
The 41-apartment building in north London is being supplied with CLT panels from the Bad St Leonhard factory
The new CLT unit will have an annual production capacity of 63,500m³, employing 59 people.
Stora Enso is currently developing a CLT-based building system for urban multi-storey construction using the experience of Eridomic, which has a strong position in special roof elements and large wall elements.
