MARKHAM, Ont. - Arauco North America promoted Al Murray to U.S. National Sales Manager, MDF. The move comes in the run-up to the opening of the massive Grayling, Michigan, plant, as the company reorganizes sales.
 
Murray will be reporting directly to Kevin Shotbolt, Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Last week, Shotbolt got another direct report, when Phil Pierot was named to head national sales in particleboard. And yesterday, Dieffenbacher announced it had sold a complete plant to Arauco, for its Grayling site.

Arauco is headquartered in Chile, and its North American business produces composite panels at nine mills across the U.S. and Canada, with 1,400 employees across all locations. Central support center for North America is based in Atlanta, and Markham, Ontario is .

 Murray brings a wealth of experience to this position, most recently as Mill Sales Manager for the composite plants in Moncure, NC and Bennettsville, SC.   
     
In addition to his other responsibilities, he was selected to be part of a dynamic SAP implementation team responsible for transitioning the company to its new and current operating platform; a role which utilized his other skills including, scheduling, logistics and planning.
   
As sales manager for North America's largest MDF producer, Murray will have responsibilities for Arauco's four U.S.-based MDF mills located in Moncure, North Carolina; Bennettsville, South Carolina; Malvern, Arkansas; and Eugene, Oregon.