In an extraordinary session, the board of directors of Maderas Arauco SA approved the enabling and operation of an OSB products manufacturing line within the Trupán-Cholguán Complex, Ñuble region.
The project involves an investment of around $100 million, taking advantage of the current facilities, modernizing and renovating some parts of the MDF1 line and incorporating new processes and equipment.
“We have decided to make this investment in an emblematic place for our company, such as the Trupán-Cholguán complex, reaffirming our commitment to the Yungay commune and the region,” said Cristián Infante, General Manager of Arauco. It is also expected that during the construction of the project an average of 200 workers will be employed, with a peak of 300, prioritizing the hiring of local services and labor.
The future line – whose operation is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026 – will be used to develop bare OSB boards and also value-added boards, products that will be sold in the local market, thus contributing to boosting the construction industry at a national level. “With this project, we not only seek to expand our portfolio of wood products, providing sustainable and quality solutions for our clients, but also to contribute to addressing the country’s housing deficit,” added Infante.
OSB boards
OSB (Oriented Strand Board) boards are widely used in the construction industry in residential and commercial buildings, for walls, roofs, floors and finishes. They are made up of flakes of wood oriented in perpendicular layers, which gives them strength, efficiency and good thermal and acoustic insulation.
In the case of the Trupán-Cholguán project, two types of boards will be developed: “naked” or commodity and siding or value-added.
Trupán-Cholguán complex
The beginnings of the industrial complex date back to 1935, when a successful plantation of 16,000 hectares of radiata pine was established. In 1953, the decision was made to install a high-density board industrial plant called “Maderas Prensadas Pinos de Cholguán”, which began operations in March 1959.
The Trupán 1 MDF Plant began operations in 1987 with the construction of the first medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant in Latin America, located in the town of Cholguán. It began operations with the first pressing in November 1988, with a nominal capacity of 103,000 m3 per year.
EIn 2000, Arauco acquired two plants, Trupán SA and Maderas Prensadas Cholguán, both located in the Yungay commune, Ñuble region. This operation allowed the company to add two new lines to its production of pressed boards or plywood: MDF boards and HDF boards. The expansion continued the following year with the start of construction work on the new Trupán 2 MDF plant.
The latest investment made in the Complex in recent years was the development of the Hilam Plant, for engineered wood products.
Today the complex produces sawn wood, remanufactured wood and mouldings with different degrees of finish, appearance and value-added processes. It has approximately 1,000 direct employees.
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