CHESTER, S.C. – Roseburg Forest Products, a manufacturer of particleboard, plywood, LVL, and thermally-fused laminates, will build a $200 million structural wood plant in Chester, South Carolina, creating 148 jobs.
In what it says is the most technologically advanced facility of its kind in the world, Roseburg will make structural beams for residential and commercial construction. The plant will feature a continuous press to manufacture LVL products at a fast rate. It will be Roseburg's second engineered wood facility.
Roseburg says much of its customer base is east of the Mississippi, and expanding East is a logical step.
“This is an exciting strategic growth opportunity in a business that has done well for us,” Grady Mulbery, Roseburg president and CEO said in a statement. “With the continued increase in housing starts in the southeastern U.S., we see ongoing demand growth for engineered wood products in the region and elsewhere."
South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt says Roseburg is taking a chance on moving to South Carolina - where most of the forests are owned by private companies. Roseburg relies on 630,000 acres of timberland in Oregon and California to supply its own raw materials in 11 other wood-products plants.
“This was a risk factor for them coming here,” Hitt says.
South Carolina will provide several incentives including a lower fee-in-lieu-of system for county taxes, job training grants, and grants to help the company buy land and develop jobs.
Roseburg said the plant will make them the largest US manufacturer of engineered wood products serving independent distributors.
Founded in 1936, Roseburg Forest Products is a privately owned company and one of North America’s leading producers of particleboard, medium density fiberboard and thermally fused laminates. Roseburg also manufactures softwood and hardwood plywood, lumber, LVL and I-joists. The company owns and sustainably manages 630,000 acres of timberland in Oregon and Northern California. Roseburg products are shipped throughout North America and the Pacific Rim.
Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.