An investment of €29 million will be made in Kohtla-Järve this and next year to establish a fully digitalised and automated engineered wood products plant. Layerwood Production OÜ will invest €16 million, while Enterprise Estonia supports this enterprise-diversifying project in the region with €13 million from the Just Transition Fund. The new factory will be equipped with cutting-edge technology, creating high-productivity jobs in Ida-Virumaa.
“The new factory will shape the future of Ida-Viru industry and offer the region’s people smart jobs – meaning better pay, modern working conditions, and opportunities for professional growth. It will also boost Estonia’s export revenues, as most of the production is planned for export, primarily to the European market where demand for high-quality, sustainably produced engineered wood is on the rise,” said Sigrid Harjo, member of the management board at Enterprise Estonia.
“We have received interest from 18 companies across nine countries. The initial annual production capacity is approximately 54,000 m³, most of which is planned for export to EU member states.”
Egert Parik, management board member at Layerwood Production OÜ
Layerwood Production OÜ is an Estonian-owned company established two years ago and is building the new plant in the Kohtla-Järve industrial park. According to Egert Parik, management board member, the new factory will cover an area equivalent to nearly two football fields, or over 12,000 m². It will manufacture veneered and laminated three-layer engineered wood products for various sectors, such as furniture, construction materials, garden products, and playground equipment. The project will create more than 60 highly skilled jobs.
Layerwood opens factory in 2026
“Our factory is based on Industry 4.0 principles – full digitalisation, automated production lines, autonomous forklifts, real-time ordering systems, intelligent data exchange, and fully automated finished goods loading. Thanks to a high level of automation, we can achieve productivity levels that surpass Estonia’s current standards and are comparable to leading Scandinavian plants,” Parik explained.
Construction is planned to begin in the coming months. The building permit for the production facility has been obtained, and the construction tender is currently underway. The company plans to open the plant in the second half of 2026.
There is already significant international interest in the factory’s output – according to Parik, around 75% of the future production volume is already covered by purchase intentions or preliminary agreements. “We have received interest from 18 companies across nine countries. The initial annual production capacity is approximately 54,000 m³, most of which is planned for export to EU member states,” Parik said.
75 million euro investment to Kohtla-Järve
In addition to the ongoing project, Layerwood’s long-term goal is to establish a second production unit of similar size in the Kohtla-Järve industrial park. The building of the second factory, with technology developed in cooperation with TalTech, is planned for 2031–2032.
The Just Transition Fund is a financing mechanism established by the European Union to support economies, people, and environments in regions facing significant socioeconomic challenges related to achieving the EU’s 2030 energy and climate targets and 2050 climate neutrality objectives. The fund targets Ida-Virumaa in Estonia, supporting the region’s transition from oil shale-based industry to a more sustainable and diversified economy.
Layerwood Production emphasises its commitment to the development of Ida-Virumaa. In collaboration with TalTech’s local branch and the coding school kood/Jõhvi, the company is investing in vocational training and the diversification of the regional economy. The goal is to create a sustainable, high-value-added industrial enterprise that offers quality jobs and strengthens Estonia’s wood industry export capacity.
In total, Layerwood Production’s investment plans in the Kohtla-Järve industrial park between 2025 and 2032 amount to €70–75 million, with an estimated 110 new jobs to be created in the region.
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