Nordic mills upgrade kilns

Vida Borgstena bought a 56,000m3 annual capacity FB progressive kiln with heat recovery system to dry thin spruce boards.
The plant will replace an older kiln by the end of November.

"The new kiln has a higher capacity than the one it is replacing, which gives us scope to increase capacity in the future if we want," said Magnus Bodare, the mill's production manager.

Valutec is also supplying a new control system to serve five batch kilns and six existing progressive kilns, meaning all kilns at the mill will be using Valmatics as their control system.

The Borgstena mill has an annual production of 250,000m3, mostly construction timber. About 60% of output is exported to the UK.

Meanwhile, Valutec also reports it is continuing to gain ground in Norway. Its latest contract is two progressive kilns to Moelven's Soknabruket sawmill near Oslo. The mill has also ordered a Valmatic control system for eight existing batch kilns.

The contract is part of a general modernisation of the Soknabruket facility.

Moelven said successful kilning operations which meet high customer expectations were necessary for establishing long-term customer relationships.

Soknabruket has an annual production of 155,000m3, with two-thirds of output being pine and the rest spruce. Around 30% of production is exported.