South African based manufacturer of wood-based panel products, PG Bison, announced that it has received approval for the purchase of a new Melamine Faced Board (MFB) press and an additional hot coating line from its shareholder KAP Industrial Holdings.
PG Bison’s MelaWood and Premier ranges. Photo by PG Bison
The purchase of the MFB press will bring PG Bison’s tally to seven MFB presses and two hot coating lines. The new lines will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2022.
“These investments are made possible by the support we have received from our customers for our MelaWood and Premier ranges, resulting in phenomenal growth, for which we are grateful,” says PG Bison CEO, Gerhard Victor. “These investments are over and above our R2-billion capital investment plan, being rolled out over the next two to three years,” adds Victor.
The larger PG Bison capital expenditure plan includes a major capacity expansion to PG Bison’s existing facilities in eMkhondo (Piet Retief), Mpumalanga, as well as an additional new medium density fibreboard (MDF) plant at the same location.
“We are excited about this positive news and the trust our shareholder has demonstrated in the PG Bison team and our industry over the long term. We look forward to continuing to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s vision of growing domestic manufacturing as part of the economic recovery plan, and to increasing our ability to service market demand for PG Bison products,” says Victor.
He notes that investing in the new MFB press and hot coating line is a response to the fact that the company’s ranges have continued to grow in popularity, across all segments of the market. This is influenced in part by significant changes in the local furniture retailers’ buying behaviours as they are increasingly looking for local solutions and new product category opportunities. Security of supply has come under the spotlight on the back of the pandemic, and many of PG Bison’s customers are shifting away from imported products to buy locally instead.
“This, coupled with the PG Bison team’s focused approach to colour range and finish management, is ensuring our ranges stay on trend with international markets, while remaining locally relevant,” says Victor. “The investment will not only assist the growing demand for our Proudly South African MelaWood and Premier ranges, but the additional capacity will give us the flexibility needed to drive further innovation.”
Both the MFB press and hot coating line will be located at its Boksburg site in Gauteng and will be installed alongside the existing production lines without any disruption to current capacity.
