In the last two years the wood material manufacturer EGGER from St. Johann in Tyrol has implemented an extensive investment program. Main focus points thereby were the development and modernization of existing locations as well as the implementation of new technologies and production processes. „The investments secure our ability to compete and our further corporate development“, explains Ulrich Bühler, Managing Director of Marketing and Sales of the EGGER Group.
Already at the beginning of the year, before the production start of the corporate own sawmill in Brilon in May 2008, EGGER had taken a new wood material plant in Radauti in Romania into operation. A large focus will however also be placed on the modernization of existing plants. Currently the construction or respectively machine installations are underway in the French town of Rion de Landes, where 55 Million Euros will be invested in a new production line for raw chipboards. In the plant taken into operation only last year in the Russian town of Shuya, already now the capacity is being extended with a new contact short cycle press.
An energy and environmental project is currently being implemented at the corporate headquarters in St. Johann in Tyrol. The energy produced in the company's own heating power plant will be fed into the newly constructed community district heating system. This measure will reduce the CO2 emission in the Tyrolean tourist centre by 26,000 tons. The project has been nominated as an Austrian contribution for the „EEP-Award“, the European environmental innovation award.
Already in 2006 a further large investment was taken into operation in Brilon. In the direct print plant a new innovative technology is being used for the optimised, more environmentally friendly production of laminate floorings. With all these investments the corporation underlines its qualification as a leading wood material manufacturer, which successfully operates in the market through innovative products, the continuous improvement of its processes and through international growth.
The investment program as an overview
The investment program of EGGER encompasses nearly all the 16 locations in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Romania. In the following the most important recent projects:
- Sawmill in Brilon (D)
The sawmill has a cutting capacity of around 800,000 solid cubic metres. EGGER invested 75 Million Euros in this project. The sawmill is equipped with a chipping line as well as wood drying and planing capacities. EGGER had decided to construct its own sawmill to secure the raw material supply for the location and to thereby also secure the long-term future of the plant. Through the creation of the first integrated production location of the corporate group it has additionally become possible to utilize extensive synergy effects in production, logistics, administration and purchasing.
- New plant in Radauti (RO)
With the new plant in Romania, the largest single investment in the history of the family owned enterprise was taken into operation in January 2008. In the first expansion stage EGGER invested 210 Million Euros in the 80 hectares large premises where initially up to 400 employees are to be employed. The annual production at the new EGGER location in Romania is designed for more than 600,000 m³ raw chipboard, of which approx. 80 percent will be further processed and come into the market as melamine resin coated boards. EGGER ranks Romania as a receptive distribution market, also for high quality furniture. Export into the neighbouring regions is promoted from the Radauti location, for example into the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey.
- Environmental and energy project in St. Johann (A)
An ambitious energy and environmental project is shortly before completion at the corporate headquarters in St. Johann in Tyrol, with which changes in the wood and business market are simultaneously being counteracted. To be able to process more used wood in future, the corporation is investing in a second chip dryer. A new heating gas generator with 40 megawatts is fuelled with the remaining residual wood materials and serves for the heating of the new drying plant. The also new and state-of-the art exhaust air purifier filters the exhaust air from both the chip dryers. The energy from the exhaust air purifier is decoupled through condensation, transformed to a higher temperature level and transferred to the district heating system in St. Johann that is being newly created. In this way the CO2emission from home fuel combustion can be reduced by about 10,000 tons of CO2. Together with the decrease of emissions in the plant itself, about 26,000 tons less CO2 are dispersed into the atmosphere. This corresponds to the total CO2 emission (not only heating!) of 2,000 families.
And already before the first „delivery“ of heat into the St. Johann district heat system has been performed the environmental concept has already been awarded a prize: As one of four projects in Austria, the environmental project at the EGGER headquarters in St. Johann has already been distinguished on a national level and has been nominated for the European Environmental Innovation Prize (EEP-Award).
- ContiRoll and biomass heating power plant in Rion (FR)
By the third quarter 2008 a new continuous raw chipboard press with the dimensions 2.1 x 42.1 m will be installed in the plant in Rion de Landes in the south-west of France, and which will replace the existing raw chipboard press as well as two multiple presses. Furthermore an additional coating plant will be installed, which will increase the refining and processing capacity of the boards into decor products for the furniture industry and interior decoration area by 30 percent. These investments secure the long-term future of this location with its 400 jobs.
Additionally, the 50 megawatt biomass burner was taken into operation in the middle of 2008. 60,000 tons of residual wood can be utilized as ecological fuel and the performance of 50 megawatts will reduce the natural gas consumption of the plant by 75 percent. A total of about ten million Euros has been invested in the new environmental and energy concept alone.
- Extension of the plant in Shuya (RUS)
The next expansion stage at the EGGER plant in Shuya will be taken into operation at the beginning of August 2008: The new rapid cycle press (it is the second in Shuya) creates an additional capacity of seven Million m2. 4 Million Euros will be invested in the KT 2. On the 81.5 hectares large area to the north-east of Moscow, raw chipboards as well as melamine resin coated chipboards are produced.
Press Release 
