Thor GROUP is to launch a woodworking mill in Sharya (Kostroma region) by mid-2010. The mill will produce laminated veneer lumber, rounded logs and jointing elements for housing construction.

The project is realized in three stages. The first has already been carried out: the sawmilling department has been launched. Presently the mill saws roundwood from Kostroma and Kirov regions for molding products, manufacturing of garden parquet boards has started recently. The products will be shipped to Moscow region for further treatment in drying and thermal kilns. Expected capacity is to reach 170 cubic meters of products monthly. Thor Group expects that increasing company’s capacities will allow meeting in full the growing demand for environmentally friendly and durable thermally modified wood.

Later on, the mill will also produce house kits from laminated veneer lumber and rounded logs. For this purpose, the company has purchased Germany-made Hundegger K2 machinery kit which will allow produce 150 house kits from solid wood and LVL annually. Presently, the mill runs through commissioning and testing, in April 2010 manufacturing of LVL and rounded logs will start here. This product is also in high demand, as a number of Moscow region construction companies have already shown their interest in Thor’s products as well as Ufa region companies building low-storey affordable housing via social programmes of the regional government.

The third stage would be the launch of Italy-made drying department in mid-2010. Molding department to produce European-standard lining, boards and other molding products will be established on the base of already acquired drying and planing machines.

Reference:
THOR Group is the group of high-specialized companies that includes American and Russian management companies, servicing and marketing structures, real estate fund, developer companies, woodworking companies etc. The group offers professional help on international stock markets as well as in developer, industrial and trade segments for individual and corporate clients in the US, Europe, developing countries and CIS. Thor group was founded in 1994 in New York where it is still based. Moscow affiliate of the company was opened in 2002. 

Business Support Bureau "Runa"  www.runa.info based on lesprom.ru

For more information about Russian timber industry, please see MOST  (Market Overview. Statistics. Trends) - regularly updated digest of the situation in the Russian timber industry! New edition (Winter 2010) issued in March 2010!