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Coillte Hosts Major European Wood Industry Event in Dublin
- 12 July 2013
Coillte, Ireland’s leading natural resources company are hosting the European Panel Federation Annual General Meeting in Dublin. The three day gathering is bringing together experts, manufacturers and representatives from across the European wood panels product industry. The sector has an annual turnover of about €22 billion every year and directly employs over 100,000 in the EU member states.
Minister Tom Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who addressed the 150 delegates from the European Panel Federation (EPF) at a function last night in Dublin said “I welcome all our European delegates to Dublin in this the year of the Gathering. I am delighted that the EPF decided to hold their AGM in Dublin this year. Ireland has a vibrant export oriented wood and wood products sector and Coillte is a key player in that sector, locally and in Europe. The industry in Ireland has a total value of €2.2bn, employing almost 12,000 people across the country and has potential to grow exports in the future.”
Coillte manufactures and exports wood panel products to 32 countries. This follows a concerted effort to seek out new markets for our products – SmartPly OSB made in Waterford Port and Medite MDF made in Clonmel. The UK and Europe remain the largest markets for Coillte Panel Products accounting for approximately €150m of sales.
Acting CEO of Coillte Gerry Britchfield said “Coillte is delighted to host this year’s AGM and we welcome the delegates here. Coillte is also striving to be part of Ireland’s success story in exports. Therefore we constantly challenge ourselves to push the limits of the material and the processes we use and to create panel products that our customers will want to buy.
“This has been recognised in a couple of ways in recent months. In June Coillte was the only Irish winner at the European Business Awards, taking first prize in the Environment & Corporate Sustainability category. In March one of our products, Medite Tricoya, was chosen as Product of the Year at the Sustain Magazine Awards in the UK. This is testament to our commitment to innovation and sustainable work practices and we remain focused on the future.”
President of the EPF Mr. Ladislus Dory said “It is a great pleasure to welcome all our delegates to Dublin, to our 16th EPF Annual General Meeting. We are looking forward to great discussions on the key issues impacting our industry as well as enjoying the warm welcome of our hosts here in Ireland, Coillte Panel Products.”
Pictured at the Gala evening of the European Panel Federation AGM hosted by Coillte in Dublin are l-r:
Brendan McKenna, Chairman of Coillte, Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Tom Hayes TD and Gerry Britchfield, Acting CEO Coillte.
