Austrian company Kronospan is ready to invest in the construction of a chipboard and OSB mill to have a capacity of 340 000 cubic meters in the Perm region. The construction is estimated to cost 500 mln Euro. This is the second large-scale project the Austrians say will be implemented in Russia. The first one was in construction of a plant Kirov region estimated 600 mln Euro. According to experts, if all the projects announced by the Austrians are carried through, they will be among the five leaders of the Russian industry.

The Austrian Krono group came to Russia a few years ago, when it built two wood board plants - in Sharia (Kostroma region) and Egorievsk (Moscow region). As it became known last spring, Kronospan is planning to build a new wood processing factory in the Kirov region. The cost of the Kirov region mill is estimated at 600 mln Euro, it is to have the capacity to produce about 300-400 thousand cubic meters of OSB.

Also last spring, Kronospan offered the Perm region to build a wood processing plant there. The future plant is projected to have a total capacity of 340 000 cubic meters of finished products, of which 170 000 cubic meters will be chipboards and 170 000 cubic meters – OSB. The overall investments in the new plant may reach about 500 mln Euro. However, the company has not yet selected a site for the future plant as about 1 mln cubic meters of softwood raw-material annually required is not available in the region. The problem with resources is currently being thrashed out; resins required for the production of boards will be supplied by the local “Metafrax”.

Analysts note that in addition to investments in wood processing, the Austrian holding will have to spend heavily on construction of harvesting facilities. Experts agree however that the new board plants will not experience any difficulties with sales – even the most pessimistic forecasts show that during the next few years, the OSB and chipboard market will grow by at least 20% annually.

Business Support Bureau "Runa" www.runa.info