Roseburg to end operations at Montana particleboard plant

Roseburg will permanently end operations at its Missoula, MT, particleboard plant on May 22. The closure is the final step in the company’s strategic plan to exit the particleboard manufacturing business and focus resources on other product segments, including MDF, engineered wood, plywood, and lumber.

Roseburg acquired the Missoula particleboard plant from Louisiana-Pacific in 2003 in an expansion of the company’s composite panel business. Built in 1969, the age of the manufacturing platform created challenges as the mill competed with more modern plants.

Roseburg is heavily invested in the composites industry, with manufacturing across North America. The company recently announced a $700 million investment in manufacturing in Oregon, including a new plant, Dillard MDF, which will make both medium- and high-density fibreboard, and Dillard Components, which will produce exterior trim. Construction of its Roanoke Valley Lumber mill in Weldon, NC, is nearing completion, with sales of dimensional lumber underway.