Comment | 3
WBPI – the voice of the global panel industry I
n this edition of Wood Based Panels International (WBPI) we
have two survey reports: MDF Part One focusing on Europe and North America, and our annual OSB report, covering both North America, Europe and the Rest of the World.
There is no sugar coating that we can use to sum up market dynamics – most MDF and OSB
markets have been challenging and the number of new capacity investments continue to be reduced from levels of a few years ago. Some projects are still being progressed, but others on the drawing board have gone cold while panel manufacturers wait for more favourable market conditions and time to ride out the wave of increased costs
For now, recovery is taking longer than everybody
for that.
At the end of 2025, we estimate OSB installed production capacity for Europe & Rest of the World regions at 18,063,000m3
(up slightly on 2024). , with the European portion
(including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) at approximately 11,603,000m3
Our North America Focus on OSB showed a reduced installed 2025 capacity at 22,336,000m3 23,896,000m3
(2024: ) for reasons set out in detail in the report.
So, total combined world OSB installed capacity we estimate at approximately 40,499,000m3 reduction of approximately 3% or 1,260,000m3 to 2024.
for 2025, a compared
On the MDF front, we estimate total all-European installed capacity reached 31,485,000m3 to 31,455,800m3
in 2025 compared in 2024. We also show the changes to
capacity expected during 2026 and beyond up now to a new total 32,929,000m3
for Europe, including Turkey and
FOCUS ON MDF PART 2 This report covers the Rest of the World region
FOCUS ON PARTICLEBOARD PART 1
We look at Europe and North America PB markets FOCUS ON ITALY
Coverage of leading technology suppliers from Italy
❯ PLUS REGULARS Including all the news relevant to our industry, which will be covered in depth and will also appear, as it happens, on our website:
www.wbpionline.com
Russia. Total North American installed MDF capacity for Canada, USA and Mexico for 2025 is estimated as 5,461,000m3 With so much attention on the cost of energy, our
.
Focus on Energy Systems has come at an interesting time. Energy systems suppliers Vyncke and Turboden share their thoughts and expertise, while we look at an energy investment case study of Unilin Panels in Belgium.
in our Focus on Recycled Wood, with an update on Unilin’s
project EcoReFibre and a lifecycle study involving MDF
Recovery. We also preview the IWF in Atlanta, taking place in
August. The North American market is genuinely massive and we expect this to be a very interesting show with at least 14 major wood-based panels producers taking part, we well as many of the main machinery and surfacing suppliers.
specialist CitroTech, which has recently formed a joint
venture with Hexion to supply the wood products industries. Wood-based panels are a major target market
of being added in the raw board production line to provide
GROUP EDITOR
www.wbpionline.com
www.wbpionline.com | Summer 2026 | WBPI
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