One of Latvia's leading timber industry companies, “Stiga RM”, continues its rapid growth – its new birch plywood further-processing factory in Kuldīga has been commissioned. Alongside its existing birch plywood factory, the company is developing a modern, technology-equipped further-processing operation that will increase the value of the products made by “Stiga RM” by 50-70% and create new jobs in the region.

The development of the new further-processing factory is an important step in the company's long-term strategy of deliberately expanding into the high value-added product segment. The company invested 3.09 million euros in the construction of the 4,036 square metre birch plywood further-processing factory that has now been commissioned. The factory is to be fitted with modern equipment, making it possible to carry out precision milling, drilling and sawing of plywood, as well as a new type of lamination, which will allow “Stiga RM” to add innovative, functional and decorative birch plywood products with a wide range of colours and coatings to its portfolio. In the near future the company also plans to announce the signing of contracts for the purchase of production equipment. The new factory could be operating at full capacity as early as next summer.

“Commissioning the further-processing factory is only an intermediate stage in a significant step forward for our production. We plan to equip the factory with automated workbenches made by the world's leading suppliers of production equipment, along with the most advanced machinery available. Once the birch plywood further-processing factory is up and running, “Stiga RM” will not only broaden its product range, opening up opportunities to attract new customers around the world, but will also make a substantial contribution to the Kuldīga region by creating new employment opportunities and strengthening the area's position in the forestry sector,” says Viesturs Krēvics, member of the board of “Stiga RM” and head of the birch plywood factory.

“In developing this project, we are once again demonstrating that in Latvia the driving force behind the timber industry's development must be the manufacture of high value-added products. We are taking birch plywood production to a new level, creating functional solutions that are in strong demand on international markets and that will strengthen both the company's competitiveness and export volumes and the Latvian timber industry as a whole,” emphasises Andris Ramoliņš, owner and chairman of the board of “Stiga RM”.

Alongside the birch plywood further-processing factory in Kuldīga, “Stiga RM” is also developing its business in Tukums, where a 34 million euro investment has produced the world's most advanced acoustic panel factory, already operating in test mode, and in Ogre, where a 92 million euro investment will create a factory for large-format and non-standard birch plywood on the site of the former “Norupe” sawmill.