With an eye towards the future and additional capacity needs, Latvian timber producer Latvijas Finieris has announced their intention to invest in Raute's latest veneer peeling technology - the Veneer Peeling Line R7-Hybrid. The new line will offer better raw material utilization and increased capacity for the company who is looking to expand their production capabilities amidst other investment plans for the future. Delivery of the new line is expected sometime this summer with commissioning taking place shortly thereafter.

As part of their larger investment plans for the future, Latvian timber producer Latvijas Finieris has announced their intention to invest in Raute's latest veneer peeling technology - the Veneer Peeling Line R7-Hybrid. The new line will offer better raw material utilization and increased capacity for the company who is looking to expand their production capabilities amidst other investment plans for the future. Delivery of the new line is expected sometime this summer with commissioning taking place shortly thereafter.

With an eye towards expansion and increased production capacities, Latvian timber producer Latvijas Finieris has announced their intention to invest in Raute's latest veneer peeling technology -the Veneer Peelling Line R7-Hybrid .The new line will offer better raw material utilization ans increased capacity for thre company who is looking to expand its production capabilities amistst other invesment plans fort he future.

As part of larger investment plans into their forestry operations, Latvia based timber producer Latvija Finiera has announed they will be investing into Rauta Group's latest venner peelign technoloby -the Venner Peelign Line R7.

Raute will deliver a significant modernization package to Stiga RM in Latvia. Total contractual value is about 10 M EUR. Modernizations will cover Raute veneer peeling line, veneer scarf-jointing line, plywood lay-up line, and panel overlaying line. In addition to the modernizations, the order includes a new Raute Veneer Peeling Line R7 and a dry veneer grading line to be installed on the non-Raute veneer drying line.

With the order, Stiga is looking for additional capacity and quality improvements for their birch plywood production. The target is to increase automation level and production efficiency.

Delivery is expected to take place around fall 2022 – summer 2023.

Raute Corporation has received orders worth approximately EUR 18 million from company called Red October LLC to Russia. The order includes machines for all main production processes to a new birch plywood and veneer mill: a log handling line, three peeling lines, a veneer drying and grading line, plywood layup and pressing line and a trimming line. The equipment will be delivered to Red October’s birch plywood and veneer mill located in Perm, Russian Federation. A service agreement for several years as well as extensive digital services are also included in the scope.

The production capacity of the green field mill will be 45 000 m3 of birch plywood and 60 000 m3 of birch veneer to be sold to other plywood and furniture makers. Production in the new mill is planned to start in 2023.

The ordered machinery and equipment will be delivered between August and November 2022. The equipment will be engineered and produced in Raute's production units in Lahti, Shanghai and Kajaani, and also in the company’s partnership network.

Red October group of companies is the largest sawn timber producing factory in the Perm region, Russia. It was founded already in 1910. In the recent years the company has developed its business systematically e.g. by building a new sawmill 2013. Now Red October will expand its business in birch plywood and veneer production. The company has concessions to a forest area with license to harvest more than 1 million cubic meter of timber per year. Red October’s operations cover the full timber supply chain from forest management, harvesting, transportation, sawmilling and delivery of sawn timber to its clients in more than 30 countries across 3 continents. With the new project in partnership with Raute, the company expects to double its current production capacities at all stages of production, and reach maximum utilisation of forest resources including both coniferous (spruce and pine) and deciduous (birch, aspen) species. Red October is accredited with ISO, FSC and PEFC certificates and company’s main mission is development through state of the art technology.

Raute's strong expertise in the entire plywood production process was the main factor for red October to select Raute as the full scope supplier for their project. Raute’s service offering both through local presence in the Russia and through digital channels also had a contribution for the supplier selection.

The present new order has no impact on Raute's outlook for 2021. Raute’s net sales are expected to grow in 2021 and operating profit to improve from 2020.

RAUTE CORPORATION
Tapani Kiiski
President and CEO

In August 2021, Raute officially relocated its service hub in Riga, Latvia. With the move, we have a new office with a more space and convenient location. It will allow us to meet the needs of our expanding business, help us to be closer to and better serve our customers.

We appreciate and look forward to continued cooperation with our customers. Warmly welcome you to visit our service hub or give me a call at Davis Zunde +371  22006828.

Raute OYJ Latvijas filiale

(Raute OYJ Latvia branch)  

Alauksta street 11-1A, Riga, 1009

Latvia

+371 22006828

Raute strengthens its digital knowhow by acquiring majority holding in Hiottu Oy. Raute Corporation has today signed an agreement on the acquisition of the majority of the share capital in Oulu-based Hiottu Oy. The shareholders employed by Hiottu will continue working for the company.

Hiottu, established in 2005, is a company offering software services with special knowhow in various machine vision solutions and other system solutions for demanding industrial environment. Hiottu Oy complements Raute’s knowhow in digitalization and the acquisition of the company is part of the previously reported investment in digitalization. Hiottu has previously been Raute’s cooperation partner.

The acquisition is carried out as a share transaction, after which Raute’s holds 80 percent of the company shares. Mr. Kari Lapinlampi, one of the founders of the company, holds 20 percent of the company after this transaction and will remain with the company, too. The terms of acquiring also the minority holding through an additional agreement after a transition period have been agreed on in the terms and conditions of the agreement closed today.

Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO says: “The acquisition of Hiottu is an investment in the digitalization in line with our strategy and it strengthens for its part Raute’s excellent machine vision knowhow. Hiottu will be part of our Metrix business, which includes also Mecano Group Oy and Metriguard Inc which have been acquired previously.”

This transaction has no impact on Raute’s outlook for 2020. Raute’s net sales for 2020 are expected to decrease compared to 2019 and operating profit is expected to weaken clearly year-on-year.

Raute Group' new Service Center has been inaugurated in Kirov, Russia. The Kirov Service Center, Raute's second Service Center in Russia, was opened to ensure Raute's capability to meet its customers' needs better and serve the Kirov region plywood mills more effectively by offering shorter delivery times for spare part deliveries and local services.
 
Kirov Service Center provides maintenance and spare parts warehouse services locally to Raute's customers. Within a radius of 400 kilometers, there are more than ten plywood mills that will be served in the first stage. Technology services are offered in Russia also by Raute Service LLC, which is a Raute Group company in St. Petersburg, established in 2005. The city of Kirov is located 1,500 kilometers east of St. Petersburg.
 
"The opening of the new Kirov Service Center marks an important milestone for Raute Service LLC in terms of providing local services to a growing veneer, plywood and LVL industry in the local market," says Jouni Putkonen, Vice President, Market Area Russia (CIS).
 
"Raute's strategy is to establish local service points close to its customers in order to be able to offer fast local service utilizing global knowhow – global presence, local service. The demand for technology services has increased strongly in recent years, which is why Raute Service LLC moved into larger and more professional premises in the beginning of 2017 in order to have more office and warehouse space. 2018 was a year of extensive service growth and this trend looks set to continue in 2019 and 2020," says Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO, Raute Corporation.
 
Raute serves the wood products industry with a full-service concept that is based on technology solutions covering the customer's entire production process and services throughout their life cycle. Raute's full-service concept includes comprehensive technology services ranging from spare parts deliveries to regular maintenance and equipment modernizations, as well as consulting, training, reconditioned machinery and digital services.
 
Raute's Finnish units include the head office and main production unit in Nastola, Lahti and production and development unit specializing in machine vision and moisture analyzing technology in Kajaani. The Group also includes eight subsidiaries. The Group's other production units are located in the Vancouver area of Canada, the Shanghai area of China and in Pullman, Washington, USA. Additionally, customer and maintenance services are offered by the subsidiaries in St. Petersburg, Russia, Santiago, Chile and Singapore. In addition to the new Service Center in Kirov, Russia, Raute has local service points in Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Australia.

Raute Corporation has received orders worth over EUR 12 million from OOO “Ilim Bratsk DOK” in Russia. The orders include, among others, two state-of-the-artpeeling lines and two drying lines to be delivered to Bratsk, Siberia, by the end of 2011.

Raute’s leading softwood plywood technology, solid references for successful deliveries to Russia and strong service capacity through a local after-salescompany all contributed to winning the order. One of Raute’s first-ever mill-scale deliveries was made in 1970 to Bratsk.

OOO “Ilim Bratsk DOK”’s plywood mill in Bratsk is the largest softwood plywood mill in Russia, and the only one to focus on the manufacture of softwood plywood. The raw material used is mainly Siberian pine and larch. The plywood mill’s annual production capacity totals approximately 200,000 cubic meters. The mill has long traditions and holds an established position in the markets. The current investment is the first in a large-scale modernization plan. The new equipment will entirely replace the mill’s current veneer production.

The RauteSmart peeling lines included in the transaction feature curtain lasers for the centering systemsto increase recovery and productivity, automatic scanning for veneer clipping as well as random stacking. RauteSmart drying lines include a non-stop feeding system, three-zone dryer with automatic adjustment of the drying conditions in each zone and automatic veneer grading based on color camera technology.

Russia is globally the leading manufacturer of birch veneer, although use of the vast softwood resources as a plywood raw material has been modest so far. The current investment will increase the Bratsk mill’s competitiveness and profitability to a level which Raute believes will boost the development of the Russian softwood plywood segment in general.

The strength and stiffness of softwood plywood are high, but it is softer and has more knots than birch plywood. On the other hand, softwood plywood is fairly light and easy to machine and nail. Typical end-uses include roof structures, floorings, walls and ceilings, non-visible structures in vehicles, packaging and boxes, construction site structures, fencing and shelters, and formwork with a limited number of concrete pourings. Softwood plywood with three thick veneer plies is also used as a wind barrier in construction thanks to its breathability and stiffness.

The machinery and equipment will be manufactured at Raute’s main production unit in Nastola, Finland, and by its partner network, except for the machine vision system, which will be manufactured at the Kajaani unit in Finland.

Raute will publish its net sales and financial performance information for 2010 and outlook for 2011 in the financial statements on February 15, 2011. This transaction is not included in the December 31, 2010 order book.
 

RAUTE CORPORATION
Tapani Kiiski President and CEO

Raute's Mecano business unit scored record highs in 2015. This was the largest number of Mecano orders received from a single country within one year. A total of 20 new orders from Russia were made for Mecano's veneer analyzers based on intelligent machine vision and precise moisture analysis technology.

Raute's Mecano unit, located in Kajaani, Northeastern Finland, is specialized in the development, manufacturing and maintenance of smart analyzers. Mecano is strongly focused on product development performed in collaboration with the customer. "Our extensive cooperation with the industry's leading producers, such as UPM Kymmene Wood (press release, published 2014-06-12) and SVEZA Les, has enabled the development of functions that increase the productivity of veneer and plywood manufacturing" explains Jani Roivainen, General Manager of Raute's Mecano business unit. By now, more than 500 Mecano systems have been delivered all over the world. The record high orders to Russia have been installed to existing Raute lines, but also to other makes machinery from Germany, Brazil, Russia and Finland. Are new records expected to be broken during 2016 as well? "Now that the Mecano products are known by all Russian plywood manufacturers  - and required I would say - we definitely expect the sales to increase in 2016" illustrates Olga Harju, Raute's Vice President of Sales (Russia and CIS).

Russian company CJSC Plyterra has awarded over €12million worth of orders to the Raute Corporation.  The goods are to be supplied to Plyterra’s Mordova mill, Umet, Zubovo-Polyanskiy in the first 3 months of 2020, with production of new lines starting in the summer. The orders include veneer drying and patching lines, machinery, equipment and plywood lay up and overlaying lines.

Raute will engineer the equipment in their production units based in Nastola,  Kajaani, and their partnership network.   Plyterra’s investment will now mean that Raute’s annual capacity at the mill will rise to around 80,000m3.

The 2 companies have been working together since 2012, with Raute supplying Plyterra’s plywood production equipment and machinery which have been used in several projects including a veneer peeling line in 2018.  Raute also provides preventative maintenance for several of Plyterra’s production lines.

The scope of the Raute’s involvement in the industry indicates their level of expertise and they retain a firm presence in the Russian market.  This has played a key role in their selection by Plyterra as a supplier.

Segezha Group has ordered approximately €58million worth of machinery and production equipment to equip their factory based in Galich, Kostroma.  The group's new mill will process green field plywood and has a capacity of 125,000 cubic meters annually.

Raute will deliver the order, which is the largest single order in the company's history, during 2020 with production scheduled to start at Segezha's plant in the summer of 2021.  The equipment is due to be engineered and produced in Raute's Nastola, Shanghai and Kajaani plants and within its partnership network.
The Russian company, Segezha Group, has operations across 11 European countries as well as in Russia. In 2006 and 2017 Vyatskiy Fanernyi Kombinat, part of the  Segezha Group ordered two production processes which are needed to manufacture plywood which Raute delivered to its plants in Kirov region.

Raute, with its extensive experience in resource-efficient technology and, delivery capability alongside its ongoing presence both locally and within Russia was a key influence on Segezha's choice of supplier.  This order further proves Raute's high level of expertise in the plywood production industry.  However, the orders will not impact Raute's net sales for the year of 2019 which are still expected to drop alongside their profits when compared to last year.