Global panels giant Arauco has ordered a new OSB plant from Dieffenbacher for its Trupan site in Chile.
The plant, to replace an existing MDF line at the site in Cholguán in the Bío-Bío region of Chile, is scheduled to start production in the second half of 2026.
The scope of supply includes belt dryer, OSB disc screen and MAIER rotor debarker.
“We operate eight production lines from Dieffenbacher, and they’re all running great,” said Tito Jara, Composite Panels Corporate Industrial Director at Arauco.
Diego Coelho de Oliveira, area sales director and managing director of Dieffenbacher do Brasil, described it as a special project as the new plant would be built around the existing 10-opening press from 1988, which would remain at the centre of the production line.
Dieffenbacher’s scope of supply also includes the wood yard with debarking to the raw board handling, pneumatic systems, plant electrics and automation.
Dieffenbacher’s Belt Dryer is designed to save costs and supports sustainability because it works at lower temperatures than drum dryers and can use low-calorific energy from the waste heat of other plant components that would otherwise remain unused.
Arauco said installing a Dieffenbacher Belt Dryer was in line with its sustainability strategy.
In recent years, Arauco and Dieffenbacher have worked together on many new plant and modernization projects, with one highlight being the construction of a particleboard plant in Beeskow, Germany, for the Sonae Arauco joint venture, which went into operation in July 2020, and an 800,000m³ per year complete particleboard plant in Grayling, Michigan (US), in operation since February 2019.
“Most important to the success of a project like this in Cholguán—integrating a new line into site structures that have existed for more than 35 years—is the relationship with our partners,” said Mr Jara.
