Danzer, a producer of decorative hardwood products, reports 2016 sales of EUR 252 million (2015: EUR 254 million). After a sales growth of 4% in the first three quarters of 2016, a fire at Industrie Forestière d’Ousso (IFO), in the Republic of Congo in November brought production at the facility to a halt; subsequently, Danzer sales in the fourth quarter dropped by 10% compared to Q4 2015.
“We are very glad that nobody was injured. By now, production has been fully reestablished”, says Ulrich Grauert, CEO of Interholco AG. IFO is owned by Interholco AG, a separately managed Danzer company that focuses on sustainable tropical hardwood (sales 2016: EUR 64 million). Under the Danzer brand, Danzer focuses on hardwood from temperate forests in the Northern hemisphere (sales 2016: EUR 188 million).
Lumber production grew by 20% in 2016
In North America, Danzer further optimized its new sawmill in Bradford, PA, that had been overhauled in 2014 and 2015 and grew its hardwood lumber production by 20% to approximately 60.000 m³. The six top species for Danzer lumber in North America in 2016 were White Ash, Black Cherry, Hard Maple, White Oak, Soft Maple and American Walnut; together they accounted for 74 % of the total production volume.
Further investments in sliced deck layer business
Danzer grew its sliced flooring deck layers sales 70% to EUR 14 million in 2016 – most of this in Europe. In 2016, Danzer started the flooring deck layer business also in North America: Four new drying kilns at Danzer’s Darlington, PA, facility have been put into service in October 2016. Danzer had introduced high-quality sliced deck layers to the engineered hardwood flooring industry in 2012; customers have adopted the new product quickly and Danzer plans to further increase its capacities.
“The slicing process can save up to 50% of the hardwood resource, compared to the traditional sawing process”, explains Hans-Joachim Danzer, CEO of Danzer and adds: “Throughout 2016, we have been operating at full capacity in Europe to the extent possible with the on-going investment projects at Danzer France in Souvans. We are continuing to invest in technologies that improve the use of the valuable hardwood resource. The conversion of our plant in Souvans to enable us to produce flooring deck layers also in France will be completed on plan, in summer 2017.”
The four highest volume wood species for Danzer flooring deck layers in 2016 accounted for more than 90% of the total output: they were European Oak, American Walnut, European Ash and American Hard Maple; many other species have also been produced for individual customers and projects.