BRAZIL – Duratex, Brazil’s largest panel manufacturer, reported consolidated sales for the third quarter 2019 (3Q-2019) of BRL 1,308.4 million, a 13.5 percent drop compared to the same period 2018.

POLAND – Pfleiderer Group, a leading European manufacturer of wood panels for furniture, interior design and construction, announced that Zbigniew Prokopowicz, who has been serving as interim CEO since June 1, 2019, has now been duly appointed CEO.

U.S. – Kronospan’s Oxford, Alabama particleboard operation produced its first panel on Wednesday, October 9, 2019.

REGION – Brazilian board manufacturer Eucatex stands out among its peers by registering the best performance figures in the first half of 2019 (1H-2019) according to the Notifix® Index.

ECUADOR – With an investment of more than USD 100 million panel manufacturer Novopan del Ecuador culminated in July the expansion of its production plant in Quito.

Norbord realigns OSB production due to lower demand

U.S. – Since September 5th Norbord has reduced production at Line 1 of its Cordele, Georgia OSB mill.

BELGIUM – The European Wood-based Panel Federation (EPF) with great concern raises the alarm against the current threat to European harmonisation and progress posed by countries seeking to add new national rules on top of existing European regulations.

CHILE – Arauco announced its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020, to achieve it the company aims to capture more greenhouse gas emissions than its emissions at a global level. This makes Arauco the world’s first forestry company to achieve the important goal.

U.K. – Sonae Arauco won the TTJ Award 2019 with 3DF – Three Dimensional Fiberboard. The ceremonial presentation took place on the 13th of September in London. After the AVK Innovation Award and the interzum award “intelligent material & design 2019”, the renowned TTJ Award is the third award for 3DF.

GERMANY – The German Design Council awarded the German Innovation Award 2019 in the “Excellence in Business to Business” category to Pfleiderer’s PrimeBoard product.

BRAZIL – On September 18 Duratex S.A. announced to its shareholders and the general market the closure of the wood panel production unit of Botucatu, whose MDF production line with an annual capacity of 400,000 m³ has been suspended since November 2018.

CHILE – Masisa, a Chilean manufacturer of wooden panels with regional presence reported revenues from consolidated sales for the second quarter of 2019 (2Q-2019) of USD 97.6 million, equivalent to a decrease of USD 51.8 million compared to the second quarter of 2018.