ATLANTA – Arauco announced it will close its particleboard line in Moncure, North Carolina, effective April 2020. 

Arauco said the decision, announced Jan. 30, was based on an assessment over several years that the older manufacturing platform was less competitive in a challenging marketplace compared to the company’s other advanced, high-capacity particleboard platforms.

The company said the MDF line at Moncure will be integrated with a moulding line to create an advanced MDF millwork operation that will drive efficiencies and support the company’s commitment to provide customers with value-added products.

“The decision to close a line is difficult and we are working diligently to provide options for impacted personnel, including the new positions created at the millwork facility,” said Pablo Franzini, president of Arauco North America. “We will continue to serve particleboard customers with our other platforms. Additionally, the new investment will strengthen our millwork footprint to better serve our customers.”

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.