Uniboard™ to invest into particleboard capacity expansion and a new thermally fused laminate (TFL) line at its Sayabec plant

LAVAL, QC, July 14, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Uniboard is proud to announce an investment of over $29 million at its Sayabec plant. 

Two (2) major investments being announced today at Sayabec are

• An innovative wood fibre mat-preheating unit to expand capacity in particleboard line 2, as well as
• A new short-cycle thermally fused laminate press adding capacity for high-end surface structures and finishes.

Both investments will allow Uniboard to increase productivity and improve its product offering and service to our customer base in Canada and the United States. The announced investments will be implemented in early 2016. The particleboard investment will continue to position the Uniboard Sayabec facility as one of North America's preferred particleboard producers while the thermally fused laminate investment further confirms Uniboard's leadership and innovation position in the North American laminate arena.  Both investments will strengthen Uniboard's overall network of particleboard, MDF and thermally fused laminate facilities which are located in Sayabec, Val-d'Or, Mont-Laurier and Laval, Quebec. Uniboard employs a skilled workforce of 380 at its Sayabec site and over 800 people within the entire corporation.

Since its original start-up as Panval® in 1982, Uniboard's Sayabec plant has seen a series of investment and expansion steps leading to today's highly integrated mega site with 2 particleboard lines and 4 high speed short-cycle thermally fused laminate (TFL) presses.  In 2012, Uniboard further solidified its position in the industry when it was acquired by the owners of Kaycan Ltd., a leading manufacturer of building products in North America, with its head office located in Montreal, Quebec. The Kaycan group of companies offers a full range of products for both the exterior and interior of the home, including vinyl, aluminium and engineered wood siding products, PVC windows and patio doors, particleboard, MDF, thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring.

James N. Hogg, President and CEO of Uniboard Canada Inc. stated, "Thermally fused laminate (TFL) is seeing a revolution in terms of realism in design and surface structures. Uniboard has been leading this trend, following a major modernization of TFL press 3 at Sayabec in 2012/13 and Uniboard's successful product development, including WoodPrint Technology®, North America's first registered embossed thermally fused laminate panels for the furniture industry in 2013. This new round of investments in Sayabec will allow Uniboard to take the next step forward in terms of product innovation and design. This year, we have already announced major investments plans in our Val-d'Or facility. We greatly appreciate the strong commitment of the owners, the engagement of our employees and the community. We acknowledge also the financial support both provincial and federal government agencies; Investissement Québec (IQ), Natural Resources Canada (NRC) through its Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. Together this allows Uniboard to move forward with these projects while securing and expanding direct and indirect quality employment in Quebec's Bas-St Laurent region".

About Uniboard^™

Uniboard Canada Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer of engineered wood products, with an installed capacity of over 640 million square feet of raw particleboard, high-density and medium-density fiberboard, of which over 50% is converted into value-added thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring products. Uniboard's mills in Val-d'Or, Sayabec, Mont-Laurier and Laval employ over 800 people. Its products are sold to retailers, distributors and finished goods manufacturers, which cater to the kitchen cabinet, furniture, office, home renovation and construction industries, as well as to the floor covering industry. More information is available at: www.uniboard.com.

About the Kaycan group of companies

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Kaycan® is a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of vinyl, aluminium and engineered wood siding and accessories, PVC and aluminium rainware, aluminium coil, particleboard, MDF, thermally fused melamine and laminate flooring, with over 2,000 employees operating 18 manufacturing facilities across North America. The Kaycan group of companies' products are sold throughout the world under the brands of Kaycan®, KP Building Products, KWP, Farley Windows®, Greenview®, Bonneville Solutions® and Uniboard™. More information is available at www.kaycan.com, www.kwpproducts.com, and www.kpproducts.com.

SOURCE UNIBOARD CANADA INC.

James N. Hogg, President and CEO, Uniboard Canada Inc., 1 450 664 6000; Lionel Dubrofsky, Chairman of the Board - Uniboard Canada Inc., President - Kaycan Ltd., 1 514 694 5855, Email: [email protected]