Tembec invests in a $130-million LVL plant in Canada

Nov 30, 2004. /Lesprom Network/. Tembec confirmed its participation in the construction of a laminated veneer lumber (LVL) plant at Amos in Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Quebec, at a cost of $130 million. The investment will be made through Temlam Inc., a 50-50 joint venture between Tembec and Societe generale de financement du Quebec. A portion of the $56-million investment earmarked by both partners for this project has already been invested in the construction work and in some capital assets. The rest of the financing will be mainly provided through a $30-million loan by Investissement Quebec and a $42-million conventional commercial loan by GE Capital. Tembec made this important announcement in the presence of numerous dignitaries including Michel Audet, Minister of Economic and Regional Development and Research of Quebec, and Pierre Corbeil, Minister for Forests, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec. “Temlam’s development and growth continue,” proudly said Tembec President and CEO Frank A. Dottori. “The project in now in the construction phase and at its peak it will create work for two hundred people. The plant itself should be operational by the fall of 2005. When it is fully operational, it will provide work for 160 people and have an annual production capacity of 4.6 million ft3.” Temlam Inc. already owns and operates a laminated veneer lumber plant at Ville-Marie in the Abitibi-Tйmiscamingue region of Quebec and is the only company to make this type of LVL from aspen and birch in North America. Laminated veneer lumber is light, structurally superior and can reach large dimensions. It is manufactured using the latest technology and is rigorously controlled to conform to all applicable construction codes and standards in Canada and the United States. Temlam Inc. has eight plants in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta and distributes its engineered wood products mainly in Canada and the United States. Temlam currently has an annual sales figure of $147 million and aims to become one of the main suppliers of engineered wood and to increase its share of this growth market. Tembec is a leading integrated forest products company well established in North America and France. With sales of approximately $4 billion and some 11,000 employees, it operates over 50 market pulp, paper and wood product manufacturing units, and produces chemicals from byproducts of its pulping process. Tembec markets its products worldwide and has sales offices in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Korea, Japan and Chile. It also manages 40 million acres of forest land in accordance with sustainable development principles and has committed to obtaining Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all forests under its care by the end of 2005.