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Latvijas Finieris Opens Renovated Factory in Estonia

07. november, 2012

Riga 7th of November 2012

On 8 November 2012, Latvijas Finieris will open a renovated birch veneer factory in Kohila, Estonia, which will be operated by Kohila Vineer, an Estonian subsidiary of Latvijas Finieris established in 2011. Total invest-ments to ensure factory operations will reach 20 million EUR in three year period, facilitating conversion of Baltic birch resources into valuable products and strengthening competitiveness in the demanding world market.

Factory inauguration ceremony will take place in the presence of honoured guests – Mr Andris Bērziņš, The President of the Republic of Latvia, and Mr Juhan Parts, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia.

The factory was renovated according to the latest technology standards with a view to generate valuable products, save wood and energy resources and ensure work efficiency in line with the best world practice. Finnish company Raute, the global leader in birch plywood production equipment, was involved in project implementation works.

Capacity of the renovated factory is 70 thousand cubic metres of birch veneer per annum and according to plans the employment will gradually reach 70 people. Such factory scale allows it to reach excellent productivity rate – output of one employee in production can exceed 200 thousand EUR per annum.

Tallinn and Riga played a key historic role in developing veneer production industry in the Baltics by establishing the first veneer factories in Europe in 1870-1880. Today there are about 400 thousand forest owners in the Baltics, including roughly 97 thousand in Estonia, 145 thousand in Latvia and 155 thousand in Lithuania.

Assessing the availability of Baltic wood resources, birch takes a stable position among the top three wood species. Thanks to its unique properties, Baltic birch is processed into veneer & plywood products, providing almost unlimited application opportunities in the technical product segment, able to withstand high load – including automotive sector, shipbuilding, producing construction equipment etc.

Uldis Biķis, CEO of Latvijas Finieris: „Developing a common understanding in the Baltic forest sector is beneficial for everybody – starting from forest owners to suppliers of ready-made products. Only a balanced distribution of benefits in the whole value chain can ensure sustainable development for all participants of the forest sector.

State and municipalities can play an essential role in supporting innovative, economic and environment friendly technologies, at the same time defining priorities in land utilisation. Maximising the gain from every hectare of forest land and adding value to each cubic metre of wood means processing of available resources into valuable products, creating workplaces in the region, paying taxes and maintaining positive export balance.”