VMG Group Opens LVL, I-Joist, and Structural Particleboard Facility in Lithuania

VMG Group, one of the largest wood processing and furniture manufacturing groups in Central and Eastern Europe, together with Hanner, the leader in real estate development in Lithuania, and the Baltic Industrial Fund II, which is managed by BRAITIN, announced on Thursday (2-8-24) that VMG Lignum Construction, a subsidiary, has begun operations in Lithuania. The facility is first sustainable construction factory of its kind in the Baltics and only the third in Europe.

The VMG Lignum Construction factory has an annual capacity of 120,000 m³ of laminated veneer lumber (LVL), 15 million meters of I-joists, and 200,000 m³ of structural particleboard. The facility has plans to produce €150 million of products a year for Scandinavia, North America, Australia, and major European markets.

The €100 million factory is the VMG Group’s third industrial project in Lithuania’s Akmene Free Economic Zone. In 2020, it opened one of the largest chipboard factories in Europe, investing €150 million in the site. In August 2023, it launched a new cabinet furniture factory. Investments in that project exceeded €80 million.

Timber construction is identified as one of the top priorities of the new European Green Deal. Under the New European Bauhaus initiative backed by the European Commission and EU member countries, timber structures will be used more widely for new build and renovation projects. As new regulations aim to minimize climate impact, the building industry is facing new challenges to reduce carbon emissions. Engineered timber products are helping to tackle that issue, while also creating new opportunities to save energy and boost stagnating efficiency, according to the press release.