Hasslacher Norica Timber is investing Euro 30 million in the expansion of the Preding site, Austria. With the planned investment volume, the sawmill in Preding will be modernised; the cutting capacity will be expanded to 600,000 cubic metres of round timber, as the company says in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
The necessary drying capacity will be expanded through drying chambers from Wiesenau, which were purchased last year. As next step, the construction of a heating plant is planned, which will deliver 7 MW in additional energy.
In 2019, the extension of the round timber, sawmill and another sawn timber sorting plant will follow. The investments of around Euro 30 million should be completed by beginning of 2020.
“In the meantime, the Hasslacher Group has progressed from a net sawn timber producer to a net sawn timber consumer, which made the expansion a necessity,” says Christoph Kulterer, CEO of the Hasslacher Group. “Preding is an ideal site, because the further processing capacities are already there and the infrastructure is right. In future, the saw mill will also process strong timber, so we will be able to take on the entire round timber accruing in the region. Additionally, Slovenia has established itself as reliable supplier for round timber and we will receive about half of our timber from there.”
The Hasslacher Preding timber industry operates a sawmill with a cut of about 250,000 cubic metres in Preding, produces 115,000 cubic metres of structural finger jointed solid timber, 90,000 cubic metres of surfaced timber, 70.000 t pellets as well as more than 1,3 million pieces of special pallets and packaging solutions. With this, the company secures about 220 jobs on site and indirectly creates additional value added for regional suppliers.
