Wood panel manufacturer Norbord reveals £35m investment in Inverness

Wood panel producer Norbord is pumping £35 million into the second phase of development at its Inverness factory, taking overall investment in the facility to £130m in the past two years.

Norbord's latest investment will fund a second wood room, a heat plant and a dryer at its production mill in Morayhill. Picture: Contributed

The manufacturer’s latest investment will fund the construction of a second wood room, a heat plant and a dryer at its production mill in Morayhill.

Norbord said the development, which is due to be completed by 2021, will enable the Inverness plant to meet rising consumer demand for oriented strand board (OSB), also known as sterling board, across the UK and European.

It comes just one year after a £95m expansion programme, which was supported by a £12m development grant from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to “significantly increase” capacity at the site.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the new manufacturing line in April, calling it “one of the largest single inward investments made into Scotland”.

HRH The Duke of York also visited the plant last year to help commemorate the line’s first year of production.

Alan McMeekin, managing director of Norbord Europe, said consumer demand had brought forward funding for the planned development.

He said: “The plan was always to invest further and we are pleased that the market has enabled us to make this investment much earlier than originally anticipated.

“The £35m investment will increase capacity and will deliver an increased level of support to our strategic customer base – further enhancing Norbord’s status as the world’s number one OSB producer.”

Jerry Jones, general manager at the Inverness factory, added: “This investment is a vote of confidence in our highly loyal Inverness workforce and supply chain, and the significant growth potential within the European OSB industry.

“The level of investment demonstrates how we’re evolving as a business in response to customer demand and puts Norbord in an even better position to efficiently serve our customers’ growing needs across the UK and in continental Europe.

“We have a great team here and we’re looking forward to building on our success.”

The Inverness plant opened more than 30 years ago and was the first OSB mill in Europe.

Norbord, the world’s largest producer of OSB, has a second Scottish plant at Cowie, as well as manufacturing sites in South Molton, Devon and Genk, Belgium.