Dieffenbacher offers various solutions for using alternative raw materials in panel production to help overcome the shortage of wood in some regions of Africa. These include rice, sorghum and wheat straw, which would otherwise be largely burned in the fields.

Wooden Panels

Dieffenbacher to build wooden panel plants for Ghamoud and Nile Wood in North Africa

Dieffenbacher to build wooden panel plants for Ghamoud and Nile Wood in North Africa

Image: Construction site at Bigstar in El Tarf, Algeria / Dieffenbacher

Dieffenbacher to build wooden panel plants for Algerian company Ghamoud and Egypt-based Egypt Kuwait Holding subsidiary Nile Wood.

Ghamoud ordered a complete particleboard plant from Dieffenbacher in October 2019. The project is being executed together with Dieffenbacher’s Chinese subsidiary Shanghai Wood-based Panel Machinery (SWPM).

The order from Nile Wood dates from 2018, and the complete MDF plant will be supplied by Dieffenbacher’s headquarters in Eppingen. Seventy percent of the raw material that Nile Wood will use for the new line will come from locally grown forestry plantations.

Dieffenbacher offers various solutions for using alternative raw materials in panel production to help overcome the shortage of wood in some regions of Africa. These include rice, sorghum and wheat straw, which would otherwise be largely burned in the fields. As a result, the processing of these materials into panels contributes to environmental and climate protection. Jute and cotton stalks, palm fronds, bamboo and bagasse, a waste product of sugar cane, are other common substitutes for which Dieffenbacher provides its customers with plant concepts. In addition, the company develops customized solutions for other fast-growing woods and annual plants.

Dieffenbacher continues assembly work in El Tarf, Algeria, at the first continuous wood-based panel plant in North Africa. This MDF plant was ordered by Bigstar subsidiary Panneaux d’Algérie. The first board will be produced in August 2020.

The complete plant project includes all subsections, ranging from the wood yard through the CPS+ continuous press to the short-cycle laminating line for coating finished boards. Designed for smaller capacities, the plant concept will take advantage of the flexibility of the CPS+ system.

Image: Installation of the CPS+ at Bigstar in El Tarf, Algeria / Dieffenbacher

Dieffenbacher’s press can be an entry-level system for newcomers to the wood-based panel market and an economical alternative for easily replacing older single- or multi-opening presses in existing small-capacity plants.