Uniboard™ invests in MDF capacity expansion through innovative process improvement at its Mont-Laurier plant

LAVAL, QC, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Uniboard is proud to announce an investment of over $7 million at its Mont-Laurier MDF plant. 

The investment will increase the productivity of the plant through the use of a revolutionary new wood fibre mat-preheating technology. This process innovation is a first for North America and will allow Uniboard to better service our customer base in Canada and the United States. This cutting edge process technology will continue to position the Mont-Laurier MDF/HDF plant as a North American leader, renowned for its range of industry leading products such as its Excel+®, Excel, and NU Green®/PMDI-NAF and HDF panel products. It will further strengthen Uniboard's overall network of particleboard, MDF and thermally fused laminate facilities which are located in Sayabec, Val-d'Or, Laval and Mont-Laurier, Quebec. Uniboard employs a highly skilled workforce of 91 at its Mont-Laurier site and over 800 people within the entire corporation.

Since its original start-up as Panfibre® in 1987, optimization and product development have been the driving forces of Mont-Laurier MDF's successes. Mont-Laurier's capacity has been expanded in multiple steps over the years. Uniboard's MDF products are the industry reference in terms of quality, machinability and performance in various applications. 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. Kaycan Ltd. and its  group of companies offers a full range of products for both the exterior and interior of the home, including vinyl, aluminum and engineered wood siding products, PVC windows & patio doors, particleboard, MDF, thermally fused laminate and laminate flooring.

James N. Hogg, President and CEO of Uniboard Canada Inc., stated, "Operational Excellence is the foundation of our strategy and process technology innovation is one of the key pillars. The announcement of the new preheater today takes us another step forward and allows Uniboard to better service our customers in the North American composite and value-added panel industries. Over recent years, Uniboard has invested heavily into product development, launching new colour collections including WoodPrint Technologyâ, North America's first registered embossed thermally fused laminate panels as well as expanding our successful NU Green range of low and no-formaldehyde products. The announcement in Mont-Laurier today is in line with previous announcements of major investments improving productivity at Uniboard's mills in Sayabec and Val-d'Or, totaling some $90 million of growth investments over the next two (2) years. We greatly appreciate the strong commitment of the owners, the engagement of our employees and the community as well as the financial support of federal government agencies, Natural Resources Canada (NRC) through its Investments in the Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, all of which have facilitated Uniboard to move forward with this project while securing quality employment in Quebec's Laurentians 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 windows, aluminium rainware and 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, www.kpproducts.com and www.uniboard.com.

SOURCE UNIBOARD CANADA INC.