Norbord Intends to Start Refurbishment of The Continuous Press Line at The OSB Plant

The Canadian wood-based panels manufacturer Norbord intends to start refurbishment of the continuous press line at the OSB plant in Huguley-Lanett at the beginning of 2014. The plant was shut down indefinitely in January 2009. This serves as a preparatory measure for the plant's re-commissioning which is to be carried out during the course of the first half of 2015. However, no precise date has yet been fixed for production start; the final decision depends on future trends in the market. According to Norbord CEO Barry Shineton, the refurbishment of the Huguley plant will be a great deal more expensive than that carried out at the end of June at the plant in Jefferson, Texas (USA), which resumed operations at the end of June this year and which is now running at full capacity. The company currently assumes that the investment requirement for the Huguley plant will be of the order of US$45m, while in Jefferson roughly US$16m was invested.