European wood-based panel production fell 6.3 per cent
According to Timber Trades Journal (Timber Trades Journal), on Wednesday, the European Panel Federation (EPF) said that the European wood-based panel production fell by 6.3 per cent in 2023, which is "disappointing". The figures are contained in the EPF's annual report for 2023, which was launched at the federation's annual general meeting, held in Riga, Latvia, from 19 to 21 June.
One benefit of the report is that wood-based panels outperformed the overall performance of the two main end-use sectors (furniture and construction), suggesting that wood's share has increased in both areas.
The breakdown by product in 2023 is as follows:
...OSB is the only panel product sector in the EU27/UK/EFTA region to see production growth, up 2% to 6.6 million m3 (2022: 6.5 million m3).
. Particleboard is the largest product area, down 5% to 30.9 million m3 in production (2022: 32.5 million m3).
. MDF declined even more, by 11% to 11.1 million m3 (2022: 12.5 million m3).
. Flexible boards (mainly wood fibre insulation boards), which have been an area of significant growth in recent years, fell by 6% to 4.8 million m3 (2022: 5.2 million m3).
. Plywood production fell significantly by 15% to 2.6 million m3 (2022: 3.1 million m3).
. Hardboard decreased by 17%, although this is the smallest product area in the European wood-based panel industry at 400,000 m3 (2022: 500,000 m3 ).
