Panel producer Finsa is expanding its range of products by launching a plywood range in the UK, with the first two loads expected to arrive by the end of October.
Finsa UK managing director Rafael Willisch told the Plywood Club of London’s October 14 meeting that the company was looking to sell about 2,000m³ of plywood in the UK during 2009. The first UK loads will be 2500x1250mm 12mm and 18mm ply.
Mr Willisch admitted the amount was “tiny” compared with the overall UK plywood market of 1.6 million m³, but he said the technical specifications of the FSC-certifed radiata pine core clear-faced WBP Class 3 product provided something different from other competitor products and could carve a “niche”.
He told plywood traders that the product would be a higher price compared with Brazlian elliottii pine plywood and would cost somewhere in between the spruce to birch product price range.
Finsa’s purchase department and export spokesperson Ramón Prieto Trigo told the club that Finsa’s original plywood factory in Santiago de Compostela was shut three years ago for being uncompetitive. It has now opened a 3,000m³ per month capacity plywood plant in South Africa, where production started in April this year.
“We’re now actively starting to promote this product in the UK,” he said.
Finsa also plans to have its plywood CE marked.
