The construction of a production plant to manufacture cross-laminated timber panels is expected to create around 100 jobs and boost the innovative capacity of Austria’s Carinthia region. An investment from the ERDF will help the company KLH Massivholz Wiesenau GmbH build the new factory in the structurally weak district of Wolfsberg.
- 06 November 2019
The new plant will be able to produce around 120 000 m3 of cross-laminated timber (CLT) elements. CLT is industrially manufactured as large-scale panels that are used in the construction industry for wall, ceiling or roof elements. Through this project, the company plans to create around 80 new jobs by the end of 2022. It is hoped that the figure will rise to around 100 from around 2025.
Innovative production methods
The investment will allow a number of technical innovations to be introduced to the wood-processing industry that will lead to more efficient use of natural resources, permit the manufacture of larger CLT panels and increase the depth of prefabrication. These advances will give the company a competitive edge in the international marketplace, benefit the environment and support businesses in the local timber supply chain.
The three key innovations being introduced at the new factory are:
The re-introduction of off-cuts into the production process, which will lead to an approximate 4.8 % saving in sawn timber;The implementation of new pressing technologies, which will save around 7.4 % in sawn timber; andThe use of conical sawn timber sheets as raw materials, leading to a sawn timber savings of about 4.3 %.For technical reasons, this project is being carried out in two stages. Stage one is the basic investment, which will see the introduction of the first two innovations. Stage two will implement the third innovation as capacity is increased at the factory.
Low carbon footprint
As well as reducing overall wood requirements by 16.5 %, the new factory’s innovative production methods have a low carbon footprint. This builds on the fact that CLT panels have a positive influence on the building sector’s greenhouse gas emission due to the permanent capture of CO2 in sawn timber used in the manufacturing process.
The company benefiting from the project has an existing sister plant, KLH Massivholz GmbH, based in Teufenbach-Katsch, Styria. The new factory will benefit from the company’s many years of experience in the production and worldwide distribution of CLT products, and from its well-established and protected KLH brand. In contrast to the existing plant, however, the innovative technologies used at the Wolfsberg site go well beyond the state-of-the-art thanks to the innovative CLT production methods.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Construction of a factory to produce laminated timber elements” is EUR 112 303 110, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 6 461 300 through the “Investments in Growth and Employment” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Strengthening regional competitiveness through research, technological development and innovation”.