ATLANTA – Arauco has announced it will be closing its medium density fiberboard (MDF) production facility in Eugene, Oregon, as of May 1, 2020.

Arauco said the decision, announced Feb. 11, was based on an assessment over several years that the older manufacturing platform was less competitive compared to the company’s other more advanced MDF platforms. Arauco said it will continue to support customers from its other facilities.

“Decisions regarding plant closures are difficult,” said Pablo Franzini, president of Arauco North America. “We are working diligently to provide options for Eugene employees to help them through a difficult transition. We are committed to meeting our customers’ needs from our other facilities.”

News of the closure follows on the heels of last month's announcement that the company would shut down the particleboard line at the Moncure, North Carolina, facility.

Arauco is a global manufacturer of forest products, including composite panels, premium plywood, millwork, lumber and wood pulp. The company made news last year with the acquisition of MDF moulding and millwork producer Prime-Line Inc., the ending of particleboard production at its St. Stephen, New Brunswick facility, which also produces MDF panels, and the opening of a $450 million particleboard operation in Grayling, Michigan, featuring North America’s largest-capacity, continuous single-line particleboard press, two thermally fused laminate (TFL) lines and a large stocking warehouse for just-in-time delivery. In February 2019, Arauco also closed on a deal to purchase two Masisa mills in Mexico.