The Highland Council has given the company the go ahead to start on groundworks, foundations, retaining walls, drainage works, landscaping and to upgrade roads.
"The planning process is in two stages and we still have to secure the full operating permit and licence," said
Norbord Europe managing director Karl Morris. "But our application for this has been submitted and we hope will be processed this year and we are well advanced in our thinking about the overall investment. In the meantime, we have the go-ahead for the initial work to be undertaken as and when all the other factors are in place. It’s a step in the right direction."
Currently the 25-year-old Inverness facility operates two daylight presses. The proposal is to upgrade the plant with a new continuous press and supporting "environmental control technologies".
The company has not disclosed how much the development would increase capacity by, or the cost, although Mr Morris confirmed it would run into the millions of pounds. The company sets it in the context of an anticipated 50% increase in European OSB consumption over the next decade.
"We’ve already seen the market increase five-fold since 2000," said Mr Morris. "And demand continues to rise, driven now by housing recovery, and particularly growth in timber frame, which we expect to continue disproportionately in the years ahead. In addition, as Norbord experienced earlier in North America, we’re seeing OSB continuing to take plywood market share."
The Norbord development, he added, still had to be approved by the company’s main board.
