Greenfield investement
of superlatives
Resource-efficient log processing
for modern LVL production
Log handling system for new LVL mill
With the new VMG Lignum Construction plant in Akmenė, the VMG Group is entering LVL production. This greenfield project in northern Lithuania is the largest investment in the company’s history and is designed for an annual capacity of up to 120,000 m³ of laminated veneer lumber.
For HOLTEC, it is already the fourth joint project with the VMG Group – and at the same time the largest to date.
Task
VMG aimed to place maximum emphasis on process reliability, automation and efficiency right from the outset of its entry into LVL production. The objective was to implement the entire log‑handling process from a single source – from sorting and conditioning to cross‑cutting and feeding the Raute peeling lines.
The core focus was the development of a powerful, continuous conditioning system. Baltic pine and spruce logs must be heated to a core temperature of 30–40 °C before the peeling process – while ensuring minimal water consumption, high energy efficiency and maximum automation.
What was required, therefore, was a coherent overall concept for state‑of‑the‑art LVL raw‑wood preparation on an industrial scale.
Solution
HOLTEC developed an integrated log‑handling system with a sorting capacity of up to 270,000 solid cubic metres per year, designed for diameters from 180 to 600 mm and lengths from 4 to 6.5 m. At its heart is the continuously operating conditioning and preparation line.
Instead of classic water basins, HOLTEC relies on an innovative spray system: the logs are continuously sprayed with water at around 70 °C inside an 80‑metre conditioning tunnel. Approximately 700 m³ of wood is in the system at any given time, which operates with only around 150 m³ of water in a closed circuit. A multi‑stage filtration system reliably removes extractives and contaminants, meaning that just 1–2 m³ of fresh water per hour need to be added.
The continuous process enables precise control of all parameters – adapted to wood species, moisture content and ambient conditions. At the same time, the rising structural design ensures safe emergency emptying, while specially engineered foundations compensate for temperature‑related longitudinal expansion of the 80‑metre steel body.
After conditioning, the logs are automatically discharged, cross‑cut, measured and scanned using metal detection before being transferred seamlessly to the Raute LVL line.
With this project, HOLTEC reinforces its expertise as a log handling specialist in the LVL sector – and, together with VMG, sets new benchmarks for efficient and resource‑conserving log processing.
Successful cooperation:
from left to right: Alexander Gebele and Barbara Göbel
(Holtec), Paulius Sereikis, Director VMG Lignum Construction
and Ainaras Šaltys, Engineering Manager at VMG
Grand Opening:
In VMG Group’s newest project in Akmenė, Holtec convincingly proved that even the demanding requirements of LVL log‑processing present no obstacle for the log handling specialist.
