FINLAND – Raute Corporation has received orders worth approximately EUR 55 million from LLC Plitwood from Russia.

The scope of orders includes all machinery and equipment for the production process of an entire plywood mill and also services related to the installation, commissioning and production start-up of the mill. The machinery and equipment will be delivered to a green field plywood mill to be set up in the Vologda area. The city of Vologda is situated 650 kilometers east of St. Petersburg.

The annual capacity of the new mill will be approximately 180 000 cubic meters birch plywood.  The ordered machinery and equipment will be delivered during the end of the year 2021 and beginning of the year 2022. The production in the plywood mill will start during the year 2022. The equipment will be engineered and produced in Raute’s units in Nastola, Shanghai and Kajaani, and also in the company’s partnership network. This order is one of the biggest single orders ever in Raute’s history.

LLC Plitwood is a company established in 2017 for this project. Its principal owners are AO CHFMK (Cherepovets Plywood-Furniture Plant) and LLC VLP (Group of Companies “Vologodskiye lesopromyshlenniki” – Vologda forest industry enterprises). Even though the company is new, it has more than 60 years’ strong experience in wood processing and plywood industry in its background.

“Raute’s experience in resource-efficient technology, delivery capability and the company’s local presence and service network in the Russian market had an influence when selecting the supplier. The scope of the order serves as a proof of Raute’s leading know how on the plywood production process”, explained Raute in a press release. Adding, “The orders now received have no impact on Raute’s outlook for 2020 but improve and strengthen outlook for 2021.”