Hardwood plywood market leader Columbia Forest Products has signed an agreement with MDF producer CalPlant I to be the exclusive sales agent for all MDF produced at the new manufacturer’s Sacramento Valley-based facility.
CalPlant I will be North America’s first commercial-scale producer of no-added-formaldehyde, rice straw-based MDF, and at design, production capacity of the plant will be approximately 140 million square feet annually. Rice straw is an annually renewable material, and all furnish for the plant will be procured each year from Sacramento Valley rice growers within a 15- to 25-mile radius of the plant site.
“CalPlant I will manufacture high-performance MDF with an extremely consistent pipeline of raw materials,” CalPlant I CEO Jerry Uhlan said. “Like wood, rice straw is a cellulosic material, and our MDF will offer all the same performance characteristics as conventional, wood-based MDF.”
Employing a Generation 9 Siempelkamp continuous press, which is 10 feet wide and 115 feet (35 meters) long, CalPlant I will be staffed by 90 full-time employees with 400 part-time jobs created during the annual straw-collection period. The mill will be able to produce MDF thicknesses of 2.0 mm to 30 mm.
Columbia Forest Products was an early investor in the CalPlant I project and has been an important partner throughout its development.
Columbia Forest Products is North America’s leading manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer products.
