MLR Forestal with greater capacity for the transformation of teak from its plantations

Since November 2022, an industrial warehouse of 1,600 square meters is the new sawmill of MLR Forestal where the company now carries out the first transformation of teak wood from its plantations into poles and boards.

“We went from a rustic industry where we were in the field to being in a basically first-world industry. Here we carry all the traceability, controls, production objectives and everything we need to know to improve both quality, quantity, efficiency and productivity,” explains Julio Rodezno, who was part of the team that was in charge of the installation of the sawmill.

The issue of traceability is very important to maintain the chain of custody of wood, which comes from plantations, which are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); in the future MLR Forestal will also request the certification of the sawmill as well.

MLR Forestal teak plantations have been certified since 2013 and ensure that the planning and management of plantations comply with FSC principles and criteria regarding environmental benefits and conservation; the respectful relationship with nearby communities, and compliance with laws, workers’ rights and better employment conditions.

The first transformation of teak wood is more technified and faster

Now MLR Forestal has the sawmill with the highest processing capacity of teak wood in Nicaragua, from where at least 100 cubic meters of teak wood can leave per day, which allows to remove from its Siuna plant not only roundwood, but also wood of first transformation.

In the new hall you can work pieces of teak wood of any size, up to 5 inches wide and 2.5 meters long. This includes 3×3-inch, 3×4-inch, 4×4-inch, 4×5-inch and 5×5-inch poles, as well as 1×4-inch up to 1×5-inch boards.

Rodezno tours the ship and expresses that the whole process of the teak medera is more technified. “We are processing better and faster. The workers are very happy, the processes are much cleaner and the best thing is to be able to work linearly and with the right spaces. The idea is to continue changing the industry and have it cleaner, we are on the way, “he says.

Among the possibilities for improvement, the person in charge mentions the management of sawdust that for now is collected in sacks, “but there is a plan to eventually do it with extractors that will take it to certain storage places. This way everything will be easier, cleaner and there will be much less dust.”

As part of its policy of making the most of everything from teak wood, MLR Forestal sells sawmill waste as biomass to companies that use it for energy-generating boilers. These residues are the small rubble and sawdust that comes out of the cut.