GERMANY – German plant manufacturer Siempelkamp has been commissioned by CalAg LLC of the US to supply a production line for fiberboards made of rice husks. Calplant LCC is investing EUR 315 million in the new production facility in Willows, California.

With this order, Siempelkamp will plan, construct, deliver and commission the entire machine technology for the Willows plant with a contract value of 75 million euros.

The raw material – rice husk – is available in North America in very large quantities, since approximately 10 million tons of rice are grown annually in the USA. This makes the United States, one of the top 20 producers of rice in the world, behind Japan in eleventh place. The main cultivation areas are Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and California. The Californian client CalAg LLC signed the delivery contract on 14th June, shortly after the announcement of this year’s LIGNA 2017 in Hanover, that the required investment volume was successfully achieved by public investor participation. The future production site of CalAg LLC was financed by issuing bonds on the New York Stock Exchange.

The core component of the future production plant for rice husks fiberboards will be a 9th Generation ContiRoll press with its numerous innovations including, for example, the highly efficient drive motor ContiRoll Ecodrive. On the new Siempelkamp plant, CalAg will produce an output of 200,000 m³ of fiber slabs annually after the planned commissioning for 2018.