PHB shows potential

Last week, Binderholz announced the acquisition of PHB Burgbernheimer Holzbau, Burgbernheim/DE, and all of its staff members. As of August, the group now goes by the name of Binderholz Burgbernheim GmbH. Timber-Online asked Reinhard Binder about his motives for the acquisition: "The production facilities in Burgbernheim have a lot of potential for optimization. We will be able to rise production to an adequate level while keeping the required investments relatively low. Our aim is to reach an output level of at least 50,000 m³/yr in the near future. Most recently, the output reached around 30,000 m³, which from our point of view is not enough."
When asked about the purchasing price, Binder said that it had been "adequate" without going into detail. Rumor has it that there had been another potential buyer for the site.
Binderholz does not want to turn Burgbernheim into a mass production facility. "We can already use the site to produce orders with a smaller batch size that are too minor for a high-capacity plant such as Jenbach. Another option is to remodel the facilities such that we can produce larch glulam, duolam or triolam – the options are endless."
Their 450,000 m³ sawmill in Kösching is located on the A9 motorway and only 150 km away. "Until now, PHB used to purchase the slats fresh and then let them dry on site. From now on we want to supply dry, pre-sorted lumber to Burgbernheim. This way we can free up even more space", Binder elaborates. The size of the internal supply level cannot yet be foreseen.

Binder sees the deal as strategically important for opening up new markets in Germany. He explains that running a factory in the middle of Germany enables the group to "compensate previous logistical deficits", which will strengthen the presence of Binder glulam in Germany. With regards to sales there would be virtually no overlaps with already existing PHB customers. Binder emphasizes that Claus Greber, former director at PHB, will remain active in Burgbernheim as sales director.