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Board ProductionThe production of a range of hard and soft boards for use
in panelling for buildings, ceiling boards, the manufacture
of furniture and associated cover strips and
mouldings, is a significant manufacturing activity in
KwaZulu-Natal, with major plants in Pietermaritzburg,
Durban, Estcourt and Richards Bay.
The raw materials for board production are roundwood logs
and wood-chip material from sawmills and as a by-product
of the forestry industry. When combined with natural timber
resins, they provide the material for pressing into boards
of perfect thickness and cut that are the staple input for
buildings and furniture.
Board Factory - Pietermaritzburg
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Boards are produced from 5-25 mm in ranges of
hardboards and softboards. Some board is rough finished
and some have laminated vinyl finish material on one or
both sides.
Timber is received at the different plants on road or
rail, and logs are stacked in holding yards to ensure
continuous feed to the production line. Wood chips are
stored in silos or bins, and moved by blower or conveyor to
point of process.
Other ranges of ceiling boards are produced from heavy
carton board [paper ] filled with gypsum to provide
durable, easily worked ceiling panels. The accompanying
quadrant and flat mouldings are pre-formed from the same
process.
Timber board resins are received by road from producers in
northern KZN and Mpumalanga as well as from the port
of Durban. The estimated output from the main producers in
KZN is 400,000 tons per annum of boards and mouldings. TransportThe transport of the raw materials to most of the board
manufacturers is by road from forests, although one major
producer still receives about 80,000 tons per annum of
timber
on rail. The finished board products are transported all over South
Africa using large, curtain-sided, flat-deck interlink
combinations to protect the products and to provide direct
deliveries to hardware wholesalers, timber merchants and
retail outlets.
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