12 | Focus on MDF: Part 2


CAPACITY INCREASES GLOBAL MDF In the second part of our annual survey of the industry worldwide and for the countries


outside Europe and North America, independent industry consultant Geoff Rhodes looks at new developments and summarises the current and future global position for MDF


in the ‘rest of the world’. The current dynamics, issues and realities of 2022 and 2023 are also considered


I


nvestment in new MDF capacity continues in various regions of the world. Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam have each either announced or are developing new projects. 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 2022 and on those under construction in 2023 or planned for 2024 and beyond. After several updates and corrections in data from across the globe, we now show an increase in installed capacity in 2022 to 88,107,000m3


, while further investments


identified in this region for 2023/24 and beyond, bring the total up to 94,749,000m3


So, for 2023/24 and beyond, when this figure is added to the European future capacity of 32,305,000m3


and the North


American future capacity figures (including Mexico) of 7,277,000m3


. for the same period,


we see future global MDF capacity growing to 134,331,000m3


 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 2023. In 2022, China reported GDP growth of around 4.4% and has anticipated 5.6% in 2023. 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 2023/24 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. 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 47 million m3


to 69 million m3 , the former


being linked to closures of old plants. Our estimates 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 2023/24, 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. We have added the latest MDF investment decision by Wanhua Ecoboard Co Ltd based on this raw material source, in partnership with Dieffenbacher. The first Wanhua Ecoboard MDF line, which will be installed in Yiyang, Jiangxi Province will have a designed annual capacity of about 210,000m³ using a CPS+ in dimensions of 9ft x 32.4m and is to run completely on straw. A plant added to the main listing is existing Chinese MDF producer Guangxi Lelin


WBPI | August/September 2023 | www.wbpionline.com


Forestry Development Co’s new MDF plant from Dieffenbacher. With the construction of an 80m-long CPS+, this one sets a world record for the longest continuous press used to produce wood-based panels and the line has a design capacity of 630,000m3


. Plant construction started in the second


quarter of 2021 in the southern Chinese city of Chongzuo, not far from the Vietnamese border. It went online in 2022. A high-speed THDF plant in Nanning that produces up to 1mm thin boards was previously ordered by Guangxi Lelin from Dieffenbacher in June 2018 and commissioned in October 2019. Two other new future MDF investments in China are on the cards - Huashi Chaoyang Tech with 97,000m3


and Guangxi Guoxu


Dongteng Wood-based panel Co Ltd in Wuzhou, Guangxi Province, with a planned capacity of 350,000m3


.


Our total listing for Chinese installed capacity at the end of 2022 is now 57,698,000m3


production output.


Japanese MDF installed capacity 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.


 Economies in South-east Asia are still set


to be among the world’s fastest growing when looking out to 2023/24 and beyond. Six countries – 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 had been generally doing well, driven by continuing increasing demand. The


continued on page 15 . Note, this is not the same as


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49