Stiga RM wood production plant

The Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) has selected and endorsed for further evaluation an ambitious investment project from the Stiga RM company or the establishment of a new technologically advanced wood processing plant in Ogre.
The new production plant of high-quality engineered panels is currently being built at the site of the former Norupe sawmill. The total cost of the project will reach approximately EUR 86 million, and the company is currently applying for EUR 10 million in public funding under the program “Loans with Capital Discount for Investment Projects of Large and Medium-Sized Enterprises”.

“The timber sector accounts for around 20% of all goods exports and ranks among the leading sectors in Latvia. Stiga RM is one of the largest companies in the sector that continuously invests in productivity and efficiency. Not only does such investment consolidate the competitiveness of the Latvian wood processing industry, but it also promotes innovation and the development of sustainable production. We are pleased that the large investment programme is starting to materialise in specific projects,” said Ieva Jāgere, Director of LIAA about the project.

“The granting of state co-funding is very important for us – not only as financial support for the implementation of a large and complex project but, above all, as a vote of confidence and a clear example of our willingness to work together in striving to move the Latvian wood processing industry away from low added value and the export of raw logs or primary processing timber products and towards technologically advanced industry and the creation of high added value,” said Andris Ramoliņš, owner of Stiga RM.

The Large Investment Project Support Programme is aimed at projects of large companies above EUR 10 million that create high value-added products. The programme is jointly implemented by LIAA and joint-stock company Development Finance Institution Altum (ALTUM).

The new plant would become the third wood processing plant of Stiga RM in Latvia. Currently, the plant of Stiga RM in Kuldīga produces birch plywood from high-quality Latvian birch wood, which is exported to more than 50 countries worldwide, with the largest sales markets in Germany, the UK and the USA. The world’s most advanced production facility of Wood Wool Cement Board (WWCB) is getting ready to start operations in Tukums. The plant in Ogre is the first step of the company beyond its home Kurzeme region.

Source: lsm.lv