LEXINGTON, N.C. — Egger Wood Products will invest $20 million for an additional thermally fused laminate (TFL) production line at the company’s lone U.S. manufacturing facility. The expansion is part of the completion of Phase I work at the site.

Egger, an Austrian-based manufacturer of wood-based materials, opened its Lexington plant last year. The plant is the 20th such facility globally, but the first one in North America.

Since September of 2020, the 1-million square-foot facility has been producing particleboard and thermally fused laminate (TFL) for use in interior-design applications. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2022, the third lamination line will represent a 50% increase in TFL production capacity, up to 150-million square feet per year, and will result in shorter lead times for customers.

“This facility was created with the intention of adding a third and fourth lamination line as market demand increased,” said Carsten Ritterbach, plant manager for commercial services. “In light of the supply chain disruptions experienced around the world this year, increasing production capacity is one of the best ways we can serve our customers in the United States and Canada.”

Installation of the new lamination line will begin in June of 2022, with completion by the end of the year. This investment will create 20 new jobs. That is in addition to the more than 450 jobs already created —exceeding the original projection of 400 jobs in Phase I. In total, the 15-year, three-phase project is expected to create an estimated 770 jobs, with a total investment of $700 million.

Egger was founded in 1961 in St. Johann in Tyrol, Austria. The Egger Group is a more than $3.5 billion privately held, family-owned company that employs more than 10,400 associates. EGGER is a global leader in the manufacturing of wood-based materials for the furniture and interior design, flooring, and building products industries. The company’s extensive, value-added product range includes thermally fused laminate (TFL), laminates, edge banding, raw particleboard, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), MDF Mouldings, and laminate flooring.