Masisa's Board Approves Plant Construction in Brazil


Santiago, Chile, 27 September 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Masisa S.A. (NYSE: MYS), in an ordinary board meeting held 26 September, approved the construction of an MDP mill in Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

The planned mill, costing approximately USD 119 million, would produce 550,000 cubic meters of MDP a year and would include a melamine line with a capacity of 220,000 cubic meters a year.

"This investment is a great opportunity for Masisa to boost its presence as a major player in the Brazilian market, virtually doubling our production capacity in the country," said Enrique Cibie, Masisa's CEO.

The start-up of this new project, which will mainly supply the Brazilian market, is scheduled for late 2009.

Masisa Brasil will complete its product mix with this new MDP production line, incorporating the full offering of wood panels produced by the company.

"The company is constantly analyzing different opportunities that arise in the region to grow, maintain, and consolidate its leadership in each of the countries where it is present," Cibie said.

Masisa currently has two plants in Brazil, a distribution network of 40 "Placacentros" (licensed retail outlets), and approximately 17,000 hectares of forest holdings.

About Masisa

Masisa is a leading furniture and interior architecture board production and marketing company in Latin America. It has forest assets throughout most of the region, thereby guaranteeing the raw material for the board business. Masisa's value proposal is to be a reliable brand, close to all its stakeholders, anticipating market needs by means of product and service innovation, and operating responsibly towards society and the environment.

The company has 13 productive plants in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, all of which must have ISO 14.001 and OHSAS 18.001 certification. It is currently building an MDF mill in Cabrero, Chile, which will have a capacity of 340,000 m3 a year, will be the company's largest mill in Latin America, and will mainly supply the foreign market.

Masisa has three other business units that operate in synergy with the core board business unit: forestry, solid wood, and retail.

Masisa is a publicly traded corporation. Its shares are traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:MYS) by means of ADRs.

The company had total sales of USD 886.5 million in 2006.

Source: Masisa S.A.