Another sawmill just around the corner

"We are just about to announce our third sawmill project", reveals Gerald Schweighofer, owner of Holzindustrie Schweighofer. The decision to build has been made a long time ago. "In Eastern Europe making such a decision is very complex thing – that is, until you have checked location, environment, etc. to the last detail," says a man who now has over 20 years of experience in that region. But he is quite certain about two things: "Construction will start in the First Quarter of 2013 and Russia is ruled out as a location."

High-performance technology

Also, the technology has already been decided upon: The new sawmill will employ the same machinery that has already been running at his two operations in Sebes/RO since 2004 and Radauti/RO since 2008. In 2012, both mills together produced 2.7 million cubic meters of lumber. "For that we operated only two Springer log yards, only two Linck saw lines and only four Springer lumber grading units," says Schweighofer, pointing out the sophisticated technology. What’s more, 2012 was the first year in which all the lumber was sold kiln-dried.
€ 60 million were invested in the Romanian locations this year. Among other things this money was spent on a pelletizing plant good for 120,000 tons per year in Radauti. "This will increase our production capacity of briquettes and pellets to 280,000 tons a year", says Schweighofer. "Of course, Italy and Austria are our main markets for that. But Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, too, are becoming more and more interesting for us." In Radauti, Schweighofer also installed two Urbas boilers. They provide a MAN-turbine with a capacity of 10 megawatts.

Hallein started in January

In his plant in Hallein/AT, Schweighofer invested another € 60 million. However, the launch of the new pulp production there was delayed due to a construction defect ("the damage and the delayed start-up will be covered by the insurance"). Since Mid-January Schweighofer Fiber have been offering their own pulp on the market. "The unique reorganization has turned out successful, that is for sure," says Schweighofer. Yet he is not so pleased about the current pulp price.
"We have also decided to extend our board production massively. For € 17 million a completely new production line will be set up with a capacity of 60,000 m3 – the current annual production was 70,000 m³. Once parts of the old lines have been shut down, the new facility will produce 110,000 m³ of three-layer boards and 20,000 m³ of core boards. As for production and distribution of the core board, Schweighofer will walk new ways – for instance, with the possibility of printing directly onto the boards. Some European manufacturers of core boards have closed down, leaving market opportunities for Schweighofer’s products. His further processing lines require 150,000 m³ of sawn timber per year. Which means that Holzindustrie Schweighofer would even have to buy extra lumber.

100,000 cubic metres for DIY

In Siret/RO the company starts investing in an existing single-layer board production for the DIY-market. For example, the finger-jointing unit there will be totally renewed. Once restructuring is completed, it will have a capacity of 100,000 m3 per year. "We will sell this product worldwide – including the US. Because”, Gerald Schweighofer adds confidently, "with the high quality we can provide we will keep low-priced products from Indonesia and China at a distance."