Despite current global dynamics, investment in new MDF capacity continues in various regions of the world.
Following on from the Focus on MDF Part 1 (Europe and North America), we now focus on the existing MDF mills in the rest of the world as at the end of 2023 and on those under construction in 2024 or planned for 2025 and beyond.
After several updates to data from across the globe, we now show an increase in installed capacity in these regions in 2023 to 90,300,000m3, while further investments identified in this region for 2024/25 and beyond, bring the total up to 95,033,000m3.
So, for 2024/25 and beyond, when this figure is added to the European future capacity of 32,449,000m3 and the North American future capacity figures (including Mexico) of 7,042,000m3 for the same period, we see future global MDF capacity growing now to a revised figure of 134,524,000m3.
CHINA AND NORTH-EAST ASIA
Average annual growth over the past five years has been typically strong in this region, except for Japan, where GDP growth declined, but subsequently has been recovering more strongly with GDP forecast to be 1.8% in 2024.
In 2023, China reported GDP growth of around 5.2% and has anticipated 4.6% in 2024. Economic projections are still forecasting strong growth into the future from these nations, which ultimately will drive MDF consumption higher.
China is still forecast to produce 85% of the furniture in north Asia by 2024/25 and the relatively strong growth in the region will influence not only the aggregate consumption of all wood panels, but also the proportion of use by each sector.
However, according to statistics from the Chinese Academy of Industry Development and Planning under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the China Forestry Products Industry Association (CFPIA), both the number of enterprises and production capacity of China’s fibreboard industry declined in 2023.
Apparently, there were more than 278 fibreboard manufacturing enterprises (down 19% year-on-year) in China at the end of 2023 with a stated production capacity of 46 million m3, down 4% over 2022. As previously stated though, MDF production capacity in China ranges widely in scale from a variety of sources – but it is clearly substantial.
Shandong Province was the largest in terms of fibreboard production capacity at 6.4 million m3 exceeding Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2023 but down 5% over 2022.
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s production capacity dropped 15% to 5.9 million m3, dropping from the top production ranking for the first time but still accounting for 13% of the national total.
China Customs data shows fibreboard exports totalled 2.205 million tonnes valued at US$1.194 bn, up 10% in volume but down 0.5% in value over 2022.
Mexico, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia were the top three destinations in 2023. Mexico was the largest destination for China’s fibreboard exports in 2023, up 65% to 223,000 tonnes over 2022.
In addition, China’s fibreboard exports to Vietnam and Canada in 2023 increased 17% and 37% respectively. In contrast, China’s fibreboard exports to Saudi Arabia, US and UAE in 2023 fell 10%, 23% and 32% respectively.
Of the annual production of furniture in China, approximately 32% is exported to a wide range of countries, with the largest volumes still destined for the US, Japan, and Europe, while the domestic market continues to grow year-on-year. The drive by the authorities to move industries to inner cities also led to an exodus of some Taiwanese furniture factories from China, relocating to Vietnam.
China’s MDF production capacity has grown rapidly in the last decade and opinions about the volume of installed capacity vary greatly. Different sources estimate MDF capacity in China being anywhere between 46 million m3 to 69 million m3, the former being linked to closures of old plants.
Our estimates of circa 58 million m3 for MDF in China are based on known capacity for listed plants, plus estimates and new investment news, with the caveat that there are undoubtedly additional small plants with unknown capacity.
Whereas consumption has previously increased so strongly, forecasts are for consumption to increase at an average annual rate of just 1% in the region over the two years out to 2024/25, as China shifts to a focus on more domestic growth in consumption, possibly at the expense of some exports, such as furniture.
Also, real commercial activity in the Chinese MDF industry has continued to slow as the government tries to rein in the country’s dramatic economic growth of recent years.
Looking ahead, the use of rice straw for MDF production is an evolution that is starting to be noticed around the world.
The latest MDF investment decision by Wanhua Ecoboard Co Ltd based on this raw material source, in partnership with Dieffenbacher, has been installed in Yiyang, Jiangxi Province. The line designed with an annual capacity of 210,000m³ using a CPS+ and in dimensions of 9ft x 32.4m is now in production, is to run completely on straw and has been added to the main listing.
Another plant added to the main listing now is Chinese MDF producer Guangxi Guoxo Dongteng Wood Based Panel Co Ltd in Wuzhou, Guangxi Province, with a capacity of 350,000m3. With its new MDF plant and with refiners from Andritz the pressurised refining system is designed to achieve superior fibre properties at low consumption of electrical and thermal energy. The system uses a mixture of eucalyptus and pine wood chip as raw material to produce high quality furniture boards.
Finally, one other new future MDF investment in China is with Huashi Chaoyang Tech with 97,000m3 planned.
Our total listing for Chinese installed capacity at the end of 2023 is now 58,258,000m3. Note, this is not the same as production output.
MDF installed capacity in Japan remains at 635,000m3 with 95% of material produced mainly in the form of raw panels. There are no plans known to substantially increase domestic MDF capacity and the supply of imported MDF from New Zealand continues, with all three MDF mills in that country under Japanese ownership.
SOUTH-EAST ASIA
South-east Asia economies are still set to be among the world’s fastest growing when looking out to 2024/25 and beyond. India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are expected to continue to have positive GDP growth rates.
In this part of Asia, the MDF market has been doing well, driven by continuing increasing demand. The pandemic-induced disruptions, exacerbated by the Russia- Ukraine war since February 2022 and the war in Gaza have caused disruptions to markets, higher production costs and some shortage of raw materials.
Thailand has particularly had to grapple with the high production cost due to a shortage of raw materials. It has also to contend with a low price that its main importing countries such as Vietnam can afford, given that the higher shipping cost has itself precluded it until recently from being able to export further afield.
Likewise in Malaysia with an installed capacity of 1,505,000m3 there are challenges where there are some shortages in raw materials due to a decline in rubber wood cultivation in favour of palm oil and no new investments have been seen recently.
In Indonesia, manufacturers have been exporting far less due to increasing consumption, as well as the complication of severe shortages of shipping containers. The new MDF investment by PT Indonesia for an additional 208,000m3 capacity is now complete with equipment from Yalian, China and this mill is now in the main listing. For Indonesia, alongside the traditional highvolume plywood production, we now see MDF to be a substantial product produced in this country, with 1,485,000m3 capacity installed.
Outputs from both Malaysia and Indonesia are mostly sold locally, with some exports going to the Middle East, where shipment can be sent via break-bulk. The outlook remains complex with many of the supply chain problems not about to go away anytime soon.
In Vietnam, now with 2,680,000m3 of MDF capacity confirmed as installed and following the announcement of a further US$350m investment by the Kim Tin Group back in 2021, for two new MDF production lines (460,000m3 and 400,000m3) in Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai provinces, we see the first line up and running in Chon Thang. This mill has been added to the main listing.
Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese Kim Tin Group commissioned Dieffenbacher to supply the two MDF plants, for its sites in Chon Thanh, Binh Phuoc province and Dau Giay, Dong Nai province.
Kim Tin Group planned to produce the first board on its new MDF line in Chon Thanh in 2023 (achieved), with start-up of the plant in Dau Giay expected to follow in early 2024. By 2025, Kim Tin Group intends to build additional plants in central and northern Vietnam.
Also in Vietnam, Mekong Wood MDF JSC of Cam Khe in Phu Tho province, currently active in trading wood-based panels, plans to start producing MDF.
It has ordered a complete plant from Siempelkamp. The 8ft x 47.1m ContiRoll with a NEO press infeed will be geared to processing acacia wood. Use of other woods, such as eucalyptus, is planned as well.
The plant is to have an annual output of more than 400,000m³. The main customers are likely to be buyers in the furniture industry. Siempelkamp says the range of thickness is 3.5-32mm, but a large proportion of the output will comprise panels with a thickness of 15-17mm.
In Thailand, with 4,933,000m3 of MDF capacity installed, two significant new MDF investment projects have been announced and added to the future capacity table. Kijchai Enterprise PCL(SKN), Huay-Yang, approved the expansion project concerning constructing the company’s third MDF/HDF line with an annual capacity of 500,000m3 MDF with an investment of THB2.4bn, equivalent to US$66.8m. The construction is anticipated to take two years.
Additionally, Thai MDF producer Wisewoods Co Ltd has commissioned Dieffenbacher to supply a CEBRO MDF plant to expand its production capacity at the company’s headquarters in Khao Yoi in the province of Phetchaburi. Plant assembly has been under way since January 2024, with the first board production scheduled for the third quarter. Capacity will increase by 247,500m3
In keeping with Dieffenbacher’s CEBRO smart plant concept, the new plant will use Z-Sifter technology and the PROjet gluesaving system.
Wisewoods exclusively uses rubberwood fibres as the raw material for its MDF boards.
“The many Z-shaped sifting stages of the Dieffenbacher Z-Sifter provide a sharp separation line, making the separation of lighter rubberwood particles possible,” said Visarut Palarit, deputy director at Wisewoods.
“The Z-Sifter also efficiently eliminates other contaminants such as wood residues, glue lumps, fibre deposits, minerals and metals from the fibre flow,” added Holger Ries, area sales director at Dieffenbacher.
Dieffenbacher will also supply Wisewoods with the glue preparation and dosing system, the forming station and forming line, a CPS+ continuous press and the raw board handling system. The contract with Wisewoods also includes plant electrics and automation.
In South Korea, with 2,113,000m3 of MDF production capacity installed, raw material availability remains a key issue. With the introduction of the Recycled Energy Policy, the amount of wood ‘waste’ used for energy has increased. So, consequently Korean panel manufacturers seek a new policy now to prioritise the cascade and efficient use of wood for materials first. Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and China are the major sources of imported MDF in this country.
Summarising, this region has experienced supply shocks following the pandemic causing output to be at times at a suboptimal level. El Nina which brought extremely wet weather since the middle of 2020/21 has resulted in logging activities being drastically scaled down, thus causing shortages of wood raw materials.
Added to this, advanced technology has enabled the life span of old rubber trees to be prolonged, so that more latex can be extracted. And, more logs are licensed for export, causing shutdown to downstream wood processing plants, which in turn deprive MDF plants of their sources of wood materials. This creates a complex set of circumstances.
INDIA AND PAKISTAN
In India we saw MDF capacity grow substantially to 2,355,000m3 in 2023. The plywood manufacturer Greenply Industries Ltd’s new MDF line (Greenpanel) in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, features a 56m-long Dieffenbacher CPS at the core of the plant.
Greenply (Tinsukia, Assam) announced plans to eliminate existing bottlenecks at its two MDF locations in Routhu Suramala (Andhra Pradesh) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand). This is intended to ultimately increase total capacity of these two plants by 20%, from the current 540,000m³/year to 650,000m³/year.
In its current investment planning, the company estimated INR250m for this expansion, which was expected to be completed in early 2024.
Greenply Industries Ltd acquired all shares in Baahu Panels Pvt Ltd, a company based in Kolkata, West Bengal in 2022.
Baahu Panels had developed plans to build an MDF mill in Sherpura in the western Indian state of Gujarat in recent months.
Greenply bought the greenfield project to fruition by the end of 2023 with a design annual capacity of 240,000m³, the mill had an investment of INR5.480bn or around US$73.8m and has now been added to the main listing now.
As India’s largest MDF manufacturer, Greenpanel has now ordered its third MDF plant from Dieffenbacher. The new thin-board line based on Dieffenbacher’s smart plant concept CEBRO will be added in Routhu Suramala, Andhra Pradesh with a capacity of 230,000m3.
Over the last two years, it has increased its MDF production capacity from 500,000m3 to 660,000m³ and demand is still growing.
The new CEBRO line, scheduled to go into operation in summer 2024, will include a fibre dryer, air grader, forming station and forming line, a CPS+ continuous press system including Press Emission Control System, the raw board handling system, and the new Wireless STS raw board storage system.
The Indian laminate and wood-based panel manufacturer Rushil Décor Ltd of Ahemdabad in Gujarat, India, commissioned Siempelkamp as the single-source supplier of a new 240,000m3 MDF plant for it in India. This plant is fully operational, and we understand is running well.
With the new plant in Vishakapatnam also in the main listing and in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the manufacturer will produce MDF from plantation eucalyptus and from over mature mango trees. To meet local market needs, Rushil Décor with this investment, will significantly expand its original production capacities above its current and original 90,000m3 MDF capacity at Chikmagalur, based within the Indian state of Karnataka.
The scope of work included an 8ft x 28.8m ContiRoll press from Siempelkamp.
E3MDF, which belongs to the E3 Panels Group, based in New Delhi, has installed another multi-daylight press made in China at its plant in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, which has been expanded in several phases since 2019. According to the company, it now operates several MDF lines with an annual capacity of 180,000m3 and this capacity is included in our main listing.
Century Plyboards (CenturyPly) of Kolkata in West Bengal has now commenced work on construction of its second MDF production line at Gopavaram, Andhra Pradesh with an annual capacity planned of 314,000m3. In its current investment planning, the company has estimated a total of INR2.2bn, equivalent to US$30m, for the expansion projects.
CenturyPly’s Gopavaram line is the second MDF works planned in southern India. In contrast to the original plans, the greenfield project also includes creating capacity for producing laminates, plywood, and particleboard with production startup planned for 2024. The plant is being supplied by the Siempelkamp Group.
There is also the new investment to add to our future capacity listing for India and this is by Metro Panel Industries Pvt Ltd, headquartered in Taluka Kadi, Gujarat, for a new MDF plant supplied by Yalian of China, with a design capacity of 180,000m3. The company brands its MDF products as Crossbond.
Installed MDF capacity in Pakistan remains at 342,000m3 with four manufacturers operational.
The ZRK Industries (Pvt) Ltd investment in its MDF mill with a continuous line in Mardan, we understand is running well. The ZRK group is the largest wood-based panel industry in Pakistan, producing both MDF and particleboard. Having state-of-theart plants from Europe and China, it has a distributor’s network throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Its Wood Processing Division is vertically integrated, and the group consists of Pakistan’s largest, new, fully automated particleboard plant, paper lamination and impregnation lines and now Pakistan’s largest new MDF plant.
Pakistan currently imports MDF from a variety of countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and China and is a major export market for MDF produced in Sri Lanka.
SOUTH AMERICA
South America continues to have an underlying demand of well over one million housing units annually which in turn, is good for MDF consumption. But elevated prices for wood raw materials, currency crises and political and economic crises mean the market dynamics are often challenging.
Regarding the wood supply, in some regions of Brazil, the prices have more than doubled year-on-year and with the cellulose sector also growing, the pressure on wood availability and prices is an important issue.
Players who own their own pine/ eucalyptus forests in order to supply the majority of their operations like Dexco (formally Duratex) have the inflation pressure attenuated, but players who have a high dependency of third-party wood suppliers, may have some risk in maintaining production and full-scale operations. Despite this, Arauco has sold all of their forest assets in Brazil, stating they will purchase wood at competitive prices in the open market
In the last year demand for MDF products has been stronger across the continent and a significant event impacting the sector in the months ahead is the recent flood tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul. This disaster affected over 200,000 households, creating a substantial demand for reconstruction, with the supply of building materials being a key component.
With some excess supply over demand in Brazil, quantities of Brazilian MDF are being exported worldwide, taking advantage of better freight rates. Main exporters are Dexco, Berneck and Guararapes, but also other smaller players like Greenplac. Brazilian MDF can be seen all across EMEA, rest of the Americas, Africa, the Far East etc.
Overall, it seems that the competition between Kronospan and Egger seen elsewhere in the world has found a new arena: Latin America. With Kronospan this is through its Spanish subsidiary international connections and Egger through its Argentinian and US companies.
And on the Pacific side of Latin America, Chinese boards can also be found again now that freight rates have come back to a more normal level.
Noting a change of ownership, the Fibraplac MDF line located in Glorinha, RS has been acquired by plywood producer Repinho. This is its first move into MDF.
Dexco’s (formally Duratex) planned MDF project of 350,000m3 at Alagoas changed to become a new plant for dissolving wood pulp in partnership with Lenzing, so it has been taken out of our future capacity listing.
Asperbras (producing now under the MDF brand name GreenPlac) is an industrial and agro business group, located in Água Clara, Mato Grosso do Sul state – a complete newcomer to panel production, but serious. The company is using its eucalyptus plantations to feed its 250,000m3 Siempelkamp ContiRoll line and this line was up and running for some years. According to Greenplac, the facility can now produce approximately 300,000m³ annually. A new short-cycle press was also installed during the last year, increasing annual laminating capacities by more than 70,000m³.
The group has plans to add a second line at a cost of US$24m – with a capacity of about 230,000m3 when its forest base grows more, making a potential combined capacity of 460,000m3. The project remains in our future capacity listing.
Brazilian Guararapes previously ordered a new and additional MDF line. This third MDF production line will almost double MDF output of the Caçador works. Like the second plant delivered in 2015, Siempelkamp supplied all the main components from the debarker through to the 9ft x 48.7m ContiRoll Generation 9 press and the packaging section.
Siempelkamp says the plant is designed for an annual capacity of around 540,000m³ per year. The start-up which was in mid-2023 will boost Guararapes’ total MDF capacity by 90% and has been added to the main listing. Guararapes says it believes this will give the company the biggest combined MDF facility in South America.
Moving on, Indústria de Compensados Sudati Ltda of Palmas wants to further enlarge its MDF capacity. Capacity planned is suggested at 360,000m3 with anticipated start up in 2026.
The future investment projects envisaged by Asperbras (Greenplac), and Sudati will in due course again accelerate the expansion of Brazilian MDF/HDF capacity, which has been proceeding at a somewhat subdued pace in the past two to three years.
Along with increasing their raw board capacity, several Brazilian MDF/HDF manufacturers are also set to invest in coating operations. Wemhöner had previously delivered a short cycle press to Berneck’s facility in Curitibanos in April 2020 under the terms of an older contract. Assembly work has now restarted after being delayed by the pandemic.
Wemhöner has received more orders from the Brazilian MDF/HDF industry via Inserco Industrie Service GmbH. Besides Guararapes and Sudati, Floraplac Industrial MDF Ltda, based in Paragominas, Pará, has also ordered a short-cycle press.
With all these great projects in mind it is important to note that Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country by area with a currently installed MDF capacity of 8,092,000m3. Its forest resources sector now comes under the common umbrella of IBA, the Association for the Brazilian Tree Industry. We would particularly like to thank IBA for its help in updating this part of our report.
In Paraguay, the modest project to build Paraguay’s first MDF plant, a 55,000m3 unit in Coronel Oviedo (department of Caaguazú), was given the green light by the Industry and Commerce Ministry there. It was planned by Agroindustria del Paraguay SA as its first venture in panel manufacturing and it took advantage of fiscal incentive legislation for national and foreign investors to assist its investment of US$6.7m in imported machinery. The mill, which we understand is running well, is in the main listing. Paraguay’s domestic demand for MDF is also partially satisfied by MDF imports from Brazil and from China.
In Chile, installed capacity remains at 1,155,000m3 and there is no new capacity expansion on MDF seen at present. Arauco as the largest manufacturer has continued to expand its panel products global reach along with Masisa and Polincay, being the other MDF producers in this country.
Production of MDF also continues in individual mills and facilities in Columbia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela and we have no new or specific information to report at this time.
Consumption of MDF in South America overall (post Covid-19) is projected to increase continually out to 2025/26 and most of this will be in Brazil, which will be consuming more than 70% of all MDF in South America by then. Consumption will also expand over time in other countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and other non-producing South American countries, providing strong export demand regionally within the continent, as well as overseas internationally, particularly to the US.
As at the end of 2023, we now estimate total South American MDF production capacity stands at 10,626,000m3.
REST OF THE WORLD
Australia remains one of the strongest performing advanced economies in the world and has been over the past decade. GDP growth slowed in 2023 to 1.5% but is anticipated to rise to 2.5% in 2025. Economic production shifted from a dominant mining and resource sector to a greater emphasis on the production of goods and services. While housing and non-residential construction have been booming over the past decade, a moderation in residential construction activity has been seen in recent times.
MDF is imported mainly from China, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Vietnam. The industry is highly concentrated with only three producers as per our listing and has operated at near full capacity of around 740,000m3 over the past five years.
Previously the most recent MDF line to be added was at Australian Panels, Borg Group, which is Australia’s leading producer of melamine coated boards. With its new MDF forming and press line from Siempelkamp, which became operational during the second half of 2022, this facility was previously added to the main listing. It has a ContiRoll in 8ft x 18.8m format with lightboard package and annual capacity of 100,000m3 which bought Borgs’ MDF total capacity up to 360,000m3
However, in February 2024 came a fresh MDF investment announcement for an 8ft x 78.6m press format. This is an additional new MDF line for Australian Panels, Borg Group, and will be the longest line ever developed by Siempelkamp. The Australian wood-based panel producer ordered the plant from its German partner and the new MDF plant will be built at the Mount Gambier, South Australia site.
The new order for the Mont Gambier location includes the forming and press line, the gluing and the cooling and stacking lines. The scope of supply also includes three Siempelkamp subsidiaries: Pallmann supplies a drum chipper, CMC Texpan a wood chip screening system, and Büttner contributes a drying system.
The raw material used will be light radiata pine – a non-porous coniferous wood that is particularly suitable as a feed material for the production of fibreboard and particleboard.
The new MDF plant will be delivered in May 2025 and production, estimated at 500,000m3, is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2026.
In New Zealand, MDF producers have had an installed name plate capacity for MDF of 640,000m3 but based on the current product mix and efficiencies, are apparently now producing in the region of 700,000m3.
The economy in New Zealand, which is highly trade-exposed and export dependent, especially in the forest products sector, continues to respond to the global financial and economic challenges with vigour.
The building and construction cycle is still forecast to shift to a strong growth path in New Zealand over the next two years.
The biggest news recently from New Zealand, was that in 2023 Daiken was to shut down its original (Customwood) MDF line in Rangiora, the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury.
The decision to retire the line, which has been in production since the factory opened in 1975, follows Daiken announcing a restructure in May 2023.
A second line will continue to operate, in conjunction with Daiken’s sister plant in Southland. Volumes in the main listing have been adjusted accordingly.
Looking now at North Africa, both Algeria and Egypt have joined the nations of MDF producers in recent times. The Algerian family-owned company Bigstar Sarl, via its subsidiary Panneaux d’Algérie, entrusted Dieffenbacher with its order for the delivery of a complete system for producing MDF panels at its site in El Tarf in the far northeast of the country. This first continuous press operating in North Africa has been operational since 2021, with the first commercial boards produced in March 2022.
In Egypt, we also recorded previously the investment decision by Nile Wood SAE to add an MDF facility. Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding (EKH) said its 99.99%-owned subsidiary, would start to establish a factory to produce MDF in two phases with a total estimated investment cost of LE2bn.
The greenfield site development in Sadat City, Egypt will be able to make just under 200,000m³ per year, which will climb to around 400,000m³ per year when a second production line is added later. Nile Wood initially only wanted to produce raw board after starting up the first line (with Dieffenbacher as main supplier) during the fourth quarter of 2022 (now added to the main listing). The later capacity expansion project will also entail investments in downstream processing capacities. Nile Wood is using sesbania wood from its own plantations as the raw material.
Meanwhile, Homann Holzwerkstoffe GmbH, based in Munich, bought a stake in Nile Wood, with its joint venture agreement with EKH. Under the terms of this deal, Homann Holzwerkstoffe bought a qualified minority interest in the holding company Global MDF Industries BV, headquartered in Amsterdam, which controls Nile Wood.
Also in Egypt, Wood Technology Co (WOTECH) placed a milestone project order in February 2020 with Siempelkamp. The MDF plant has an annual production capacity of 205,000m³ and is designed to process rice straw as the raw material. With start up established in 2023 this facility has now been added to the main listing.
With this plant, WOTECH has positioned itself in the areas of environmental protection and resource efficiency, because the value-added use of rice straw opens new perspectives for a raw material that would otherwise be burned as a waste product. The concept is also attractive for countries such as Egypt as well as in other countries globally, who do not have sufficient wood resources for industrial use.
WOTECH is the second customer after CalAg, LLC, California, to ask Siempelkamp for an MDF plant based on rice straw at Idku, near Alexandria. The contract value for the new project marks the third-largest single order ever placed with Siempelkamp.
The assembly process on the new plant with its annual production capacity of 205,000m3 started in January 2022.
The forming and press line were supplied with an 8ft x 48.7m ContiRoll, while board produced on the line will cover 3-40mm thickness. The panels produced will primarily go into the furniture industry in the local or Middle East region. With start up established in 2023 this facility has now been added to the main listing.
For South Africa, private sector housing is still projected to grow annually and certainly the demand for furniture and wood-based panel products has strengthened there considerably over the past decade.
Only one MDF producer has been under expansive construction in South Africa in the last year, and this is by the wood-based panel manufacturer PG Bison, which has an existing MDF facility at Boksburg in Gauteng Province, with a current installed capacity of 132,000m3 out of a total South African capacity of 207,000m3.
In December 2020 PG Bison unveiled a ZAR2bn (equalling roughly €110m) programme of investments. Owned by the South African conglomerate KAP Industrial Holdings, PG Bison said that the investments involved installing a new front end, screens, gluing, blending and dryer at its particleboard mill in Mkondo (Piet Retief), Mpumalanga, that had already been modernised in several phases in the past few years and also the installation of a new MDF line with a capacity of 275,000m3 at the Piet Retief site.
Downstream processing capacity will also be increased again following the completion of the two projects. Additional investments to the tune of around ZAR400m are envisaged for the projects between now and 2025, which include installing a seventh short cycle press and a second hot coating line.
Siempelkamp supplied the main components of the MDF/HDF plant planned for its eMkhondo (Piet Retief) location. The press line is a 6ft x 38.7m ContiRoll.
According to PG Bison, the new plant will produce MDF, light MDF and HDF in thicknesses between 3-35mm, reaching a capacity of around 275,000m3 a year.
Total capacity for MDF/HDF sold by PG Bison under the name SupaWood will increase from currently 420m³ to 1,200m³/ day.
PG Bison achieved a significant milestone with the production of the first board from the new MDF line, with full commercial operation beginning in July, 2024. This new line trebles PG Bison’s MDF capacity and enables the company to meet the growing demand for MDF in Africa and select markets.
Despite the sharp declines in the few years following the previous global economic crisis, MDF consumption in South Africa increased annually over the past five years. The relatively strong growth in production and consumption of furniture in the past decade, as well as projections for strong growth to 2023/24/25, suggest that it will be a key sector continually driving growth in the consumption of MDF and particleboard.
For Iran we have recently been able to completely update our main listing, which shows Iran’s MDF name plate production capacity up to an impressive 3,220,000m3.
In recent times the Ministry of Industries, Mining & Trade in Iran banned the exports of timber, chipboards and MDF.
The measure was said to be aimed at regulating the domestic market, as furniture producers and business in the field, had recently complained of scarcity and high prices of raw materials used in their trades.
There has been considerable change in the MDF manufacturers’ evolution in Iran during the last few years. Many new companies came into the market with both new and second-hand lines installed. The previous details about Iranian MDF industries published in WBPI has been updated again this year.
Furthermore, there are also two new investments in Iran for MDF lines now listed in our future capacity table that are under construction – the Arta Industrial Group 2 at Ardebil with 300,000m3, and Melamin Sazeh 2 at Azarshahr, Tabriz with 500,000m3.
In Iran, MDF still has further potential for more to be produced locally as nearly 800,000m3 was imported only in the last years, mainly from Turkey and China.
HOW THE LISTING WAS COMPILED
The WBPI listings published in 2022 were reviewed and modifications made, using other published sources and data received directly from the mills and specific industry experts. Published information was reviewed for news of capacity changes. These sources include relevant trade magazines, association reports, press releases and equipment suppliers’ reference lists.
The mills own reported capacities are used wherever possible because this is the basis upon which they can make their estimates of future capacity and production changes. Where this information is not available, published sources are used, usually on a basis of 330 operating days per year.
Conversion to ft2 to m3/year is made with 1,000ft2 to m3/year is made with 1,000ft2 equal to 1.77m3.
In September 2011, Geoff Rhodes established GRA as a specialist forest products and international trade consultancy, providing independent in-depth assessment of markets and market potential for wood-based panel products. Geoff is well known for his pioneering work over many years driving the introduction and huge expansion in the use of MDF in the UK and international markets. He is a former President of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), the European Association of MDF Manufacturers (EMB), the Fibre Building Board Federation (FIDOR) & a former Board Member of the European Panel Federation (EPF). He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and since 2016, he has been President of the Institute of Carpenters (IOC). In 2017 he was the recipient of the TTJ’s Lifetime Achievement Award for services to the timber industry. geoffrhodes.associates@gmail.com
