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Above: Wanhua is one of China’s major wood-based panels producers
growing local high-end furniture market and the ‘green’ building market will become significant drivers for growth for China’s major panel manufacturers in coming years. At the same time, with the advancement of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (which aims at stitching China closer to the world through investments and infrastructure projects), the export market for China’s wood-based panel products will also be expanded, providing new impetus for the growth of the industry. There are particular hopes related to trade with Russia, which, according to some analysts, should become one of the major consumers of Chinese wood-based panels during the period of 2025-2026. In addition to Russia, there are also major
plans to the increase the presence of Chinese wood-based panels in the African market. As the level of competition from other major players in the South-east Asian market is also growing, more and more major Chinese producers are considering increasing their presence in the emerging nations further abroad, particularly those that are located along its Belt and Road Initiative transport corridor and where the level of
competition is traditionally lower than in many neighbouring Asian nations. In general, due to exchange rate fluctuations and inflation, the Chinese panels’ manufacturers have faced difficulties with the supplies of their products to major export markets. As competition also increases in the domestic market, most analysts expect to see more consolidation in coming years. This, they believe, will result in the appearance of larger players and the withdrawal of many smaller companies from the market. Most of these smaller companies will be unable to operate in future market realities based on sustainable production. According to the 2024-2030 China Wood- Based Panel Machinery Industry Research and Investment Potential Analysis Report - prepared by China’s Industry Research Report Network - as the industry moves towards sustainability, the demand for formaldehyde-free or low-formaldehyde particleboard products will further increase in 2025-2026. The application of bio-based composite materials will also bring new development possibilities to the PB market. It is expected that the domestic furniture industry will remain the main consumer of
panels in China, although the demand from other industries will also continue to grow. In the meantime, the Chinese government has plans to continue to provide support to domestic panels manufacturers in years to come. According to some Chinese media, during the period of 2023-2024 a number of significant tax incentives have already been provided for domestic manufacturers (which contributed to the reduction of their costs), and it is expected the same policy will be implemented this year. In addition to the strong domestic panels
market, in recent years China has made serious efforts in the development of the machinery sector. According to the aforementioned 2024- 2030 China Wood-Based Panel Machinery Industry Research and Investment Potential Analysis Report, there are more than 100 wood-based panel machinery manufacturers in China, and nearly a dozen companies have the ability to assemble lines. The market is dominated by leading domestic companies such as Fuma, Yalian, Baishengyuan, and Xintianli, although overseas companies Siempelkamp and Dieffenbacher also have a strong presence. ●
Above: A wood-based panels factory of Osborne, a Chinese manufacturer of panels, which is part of a local Treezo Group
www.wbpionline.com | February/March 2025 | WBPI
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