Latvijas Finieris Group opened a new veneer production facility “Kuldīgas fabrika” in Kuldīga, Latvia. Equipped with world-class technology, the facility maximises the veneer yield from every birch log. Approximately Euro 16 million have been invested in the production building, machinery, technology, and site improvement.
Due to the ability to peel small-sized timber, Latvijas Finieris is now purchasing additional birch logs in newly adopted – C – quality grade. Peeling smaller diameter and lower quality birch logs at current logging rates in Latvia means that an additional 300,000 m3 of birch wood per year can be diverted to plywood production.
Artis Podnieks, Director of Birch Industrial Timber Supply Service at AS Latvijas Finieris: “The use of thinner trees in production is an opportunity for forest owners and managers to redirect more birch wood to the production of plywood products. We consider it possible to produce up to 60% of veneer logs from good birch stands. We are confident that obtaining veneer logs during thinning will already be possible, thereby increasing the value of forest stands. We believe that together we can manage our forests even better and more productively.”
A unique hybrid peeling machine has been built for the Kuldīga production facility, combining two technologies traditionally used in veneer peeling – with shaft and shaft-less – enabling the peeling of veneer logs down to a core as small as 25 mm.
Māris Bumbieris, Director of the AS Latvijas Finieris Equipment Factory: “This project was a new kind of challenge for the Latvijas Finieris Equipment Factory. We not only designed and manufactured veneer log feeding and wood by-product lines but also, in cooperation with the supplier, manufactured several nodes for the new hybrid peeling machine line. A compact veneer log hydrothermal treatment chamber has also been installed at “Kuldīgas fabrika”, where logs are thermally prepared for peeling using the steam method. Such a system is nothing new to the company, as a similar one operates at the Likmere veneer factory in Lithuania, but this technology is the first of its kind for us in Latvia. Recirculation ensures significantly lower water consumption, so only a small part of the water used in the treatment process will end up in the pre-treatment facilities and the centralised wastewater collection system.”
A sustainable approach was also implemented in the construction process of the plant building, using glued wooden structures that accumulate CO2. To improve energy efficiency, solar panels have been installed on the building's roof.
