U.S.– Today, Arauco North America announced plans to build a new particleboard mill located in Grayling, Michigan, to produce 424 million ft2 (750,000m3)/year of panels, along with full lamination capabilities to support the Prism TFL decorative surfacing program.

This USD 325 million investment will be the single largest continuous particleboard press in North America, and one of the highest capacity presses in the world. Ground-breaking is estimated for late 2016, with the rollout of the first panel during the latter part of 2018.

This investment will generate approximately 250 direct permanent jobs, and is expected to yield important economic and community development benefits to the Crawford County region. The addition of panel capacity to this geographical area will improve customer access to a stable, cost-efficient supply of high quality particleboard and decorative panel products. The location of this plant will also complement the supply of MDF from their neighboring mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Kelly Shotbolt CEO of Arauco North America remarked, “There is no better way to signal the commitment we have to the renewal and modernization of the North American composite panel industry. Our objective with this investment is to improve the logistics of our entire manufacturing footprint, and support the growth of our customers in the Mid-Western Region”

Arauco North America offers access to a wide range of sustainable forest products including moldings, plywood, lumber, pulp, particleboard, MDF and thermally fused laminate panels produced in nine mills in North America, and 29 mills in South America.

This project is subject to approval of incentives and permits by both state and local agencies as well as final approval by the Arauco Board of Directors.