12 | Focus on MDF: Part 1
Europe Turkey Russia
Table 2: Changing importance of European sub-regions (000m3) End 2024 17150 9323 4982
31455
54.5 29.7 15.8 100
% End 2025 17180 9323 4982
31485
54.6 29.6 15.8 100
Total Canada Total Mexico Total US
Table 3: North American capacity development (000m3) End 2023 1324 792
Total North America
Capacity 2026 and beyond Canada Mexico US
Total North America
capacity expansion. Starwood is reportedly not producing on one of its lines (55.3m press length), with hopes to sell this line ultimately to Iran. One of the more prominent European projects in recent years was by Germany’s Homanit, which boosted its manufacturing presence in the Baltic states by investing in Pagiriai Lithuania. The thin HDF production facility went operational on May 8, 2025, with a capacity of 310,000m3
.
The facility expands Homanit’s foothold in the three Baltic states but also allows the manufacturer to export a larger share of the group’s production beyond Europe. Homann Holzwerkstoffe GmbH, the producer of the Homanit brand, said in March 2026 that the ramp-up phase has progressed as planned since then. The Group says the gradual expansion of production processes and integration of additional finishing steps will progressively increase the site’s revenue contribution and profitability. The company reported increased revenues in the 2025 fiscal year, and reported adjusted operating EBITDA of €38.2m, impacted by startup losses in Lithuania.
It said the other existing plants showed a stable earnings trend in a challenging market environment. The company met its revenue forecast for the year, with group consolidated revenues at €383.1m, up from €369.9m a year ago, and prices remaining largely stable. The company’s other plants are in Losheim am See, Germany, where an upgrade and modernisation programme has been completed, and in the Polish cities of Karlino
As part of the Losheim modernisation, the
foundation stone for a new warehouse and shipping complex was laid in July 2025. Homann Holzwerkstoffe also reported
3671 5787
Great Plains MDF Inc Arauco Zitácuaro
Roseburg Forest Products Homanit USA Inc., Alcolu
% 2026+ 17630 9373 5926
32929
%
53.7 28.5 17.8 100
End 2024 1324 792
3421 5537
End 2025 1324 776
3361 5461
849 300 310 487
7407
that in November 2025 that it divested its minority stake in Global MDF Industries BV, based in Amsterdam. The 16.2% stake was in a joint venture, which has built an MDF mill in Sadat City, Egypt, with a 200,000m³ per year capacity – first board being produced in June 2025. Egypt Kuwait Holding S.A.E. (EKH) said in November 2025 that Nile Wood was ramping up commercial operations, with positive operating cashflows expected in 2026.
Meanwhile, Italy continues to be caught up in the challenges caused by the somewhat long-term decline in furniture production locally, coupled with the construction sector’s reduction in activity. Bipan (Luigi Frati) and Plaxil (Fantoni) remain the two long-term domestic MDF brands and producers. Fantoni has been developing for some years a process to produce MDF utilising at least 50% post-consumer waste raw material and highlights ‘RECY’, its new wood cleaning plant for the production of recycled MDF panels. With ‘RECY’, the innovative wood recycling and cleaning plant, integrated into the Plaxil 8 production line, the Osoppo- based company can continue its pathway towards maximum levels of production sustainability and produce three-layer MDF. The technology enables the surface quality of the panel, in virgin wood fibre, to remain unaltered, guaranteeing the same performance as traditional MDF. Design trends from Italy are always worth noting and it is reported from there recently that coloured MDF is gaining in popularity with Black MDF currently being the most popular colour of choice. Albeit that this is a small niche market, but with significant added value. Sadly, market conditions in Italy remain difficult and, in this period, industrialists
WBPI | Summer 2026 |
www.wbpionline.com
have not been able to further the uses of MDF and as well, the downturn in the laminate flooring sector is resulting in extra capacity exceeding demand currently. Looking ahead, the trend in Italy and indeed across Europe is towards utilising increasing percentages of recycled wood raw materials. It’s still in the early stages, but this is expected to grow continually. Several of the big process equipment manufacturers have been developing MDF recycling solutions. Whilst these developments can be promoted as aiding the ‘circular economy’ the drive is also accelerating due to the growing pressures on wood fibre availability used for biomass green energy projects and the development of aviation fuels from green resources. Technologies developed include that of MDF Recovery Ltd which has a partnership agreement with leading recycling technology supplier PAL. Both Dieffenbacher and Andritz also have fibre recycling technologies.
In addition, the EU funded investment programme – EcoReFibre – which is specifically looking at how to replace up to 25% of MDF fibre with recycled material in the future – has done some important work. The European Panel Federation (EPF) is a participant in this 4-year project and is excited about the prospects. In October 2024, Unilin and Dieffenbacher announced an agreement to introduce and further commercialize Unilin’s “Osiris” wood fibreboard recycling technology. Under this agreement, Dieffenbacher is the preferred partner for offering Osiris machine and equipment technology into fibreboard production processes globally. The companies took a next step in their partnership with Dieffenbacher supplying Unilin with an industrial-scale fibreboard recycling plant called “Osiris 2.0,” which succeeds Unilin’s “Osiris 1.0” industrial pilot installation at its MDF plant in Bazeilles, France. The new plant boosts Unilin’s fibreboard recycling capacity from 1 to 10 tonnes per hour and can process post- consumer MDF material. Another main development in the MDF
industry has been the regulatory change of the EU REACH formaldehyde emission limits. This restriction is being introduced under EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Annex XVII (Formaldehyde Restriction). The current limit in some European countries, known as E1, is 0.124 mg/m³ and the new restriction halves this threshold to 0.062mg/ m3
for wood-based panels, introducing the
industry classification E05. The EPF is looking for a continuation of the Green Deal, but adjusted so that industry might be a driver, not a victim of it. The greatest hope is that the Affordable Energy
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