Focus on MDF Part Two: Rest of the World | 15


Above left: Thai MDF producer Wisewoods Co Ltd produced the first board on its expanded line at Khao Yoi in early 2025, using Dieffenbacher technology Above right: Kim Tin’s 400,000m3


featuring continuous presses are now chiefly placed with Yalian and Shanghai Wood-Based Panel Machinery Co Ltd (SWPM), in which Dieffenbacher holds a majority stake. Dieffenbacher is also maintaining its position when it comes to larger projects. Surplus capacity in China and ongoing projects to install new lines will likely further curtail investment activity in the country. In view of this situation, Yalian has increasingly looked overseas and has landed orders in India, South-east Asia and neighbouring markets in recent years. MDF installed capacity in Japan 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.


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


be among the world’s fastest growing when looking out to 2026/27 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 has been doing well, driven by continuing increasing demand. The pandemic-induced disruptions, exacerbated by the Russia- Ukraine war since February 2022 and the war in Gaza have caused disruptions to markets, higher production costs and some shortage of raw materials.


Thailand has particularly had to grapple with the high production cost due to a shortage of raw materials, it has also to contend with a low price that its main importing countries such as Vietnam can afford, given that the higher shipping cost has itself precluded it until recently from being able to export to markets further afield. Likewise in Malaysia with an installed


capacity of 1,505,000m3 there are challenges


where there are some shortages in raw materials due to a decline in rubber wood cultivation in favour of palm oil and no new investments have been seen recently. Malaysia has hit a capacity bottleneck, largely due to raw material shortages. As palm oil plantations continue to displace aging rubberwood trees, the local MDF producers are struggling with limited supply. In Indonesia, manufacturers have been exporting far less due to increasing consumption, as well as still the complication of shortage of shipping containers. For Indonesia, alongside the traditional high- volume plywood production, we now see MDF to be a substantial product produced in this country, with 1,485,000m3


capacity


installed. Its exports have been primarily to Egypt, Japan, the Middle East, and neighbouring South-east Asian countries. In Vietnam, now with 3,180,000m3


capacity project in Chon Thang, Dong Nai is now up and running


progressed with currently. We will leave the latter on the future capacity listing for now. Also in Vietnam, Mekong Wood MDF JSC of Cam Khe in Phu Tho province, currently active in trading wood-based panels, has expanded into panel production. The plant is up and running and added to the main listing, with an annual output of more than 400,000m³. The 8ft x 47.1m Siempelkamp ContiRoll with a NEO press infeed is geared to processing acacia wood. Use of other woods, such as eucalyptus, is planned as well. The main customers are likely to be buyers in the furniture industry. Siempelkamp says the range of thickness is 3.5-32mm, but a large proportion of the output will comprise panels with a thickness of 15-17mm. Thailand, with 5,180,000m3


of MDF of MDF


capacity confirmed as installed, the country remains a key player, especially in furniture exports to the US, benefitting from earlier factory relocations out of China. Major producers like Kim Tin Group and Dongwha have scaled up significantly, adding over 1 million m3


in new capacity. As a result,


Vietnam is becoming more self-sufficient and is now importing less from Thailand. Kim Tin’s 400,000m3


capacity project in


Chon Thanh, Dong Nai produced its first board in July, 2025 as we were going to press, and the facility will be added to the main listing next year. The project appears in our 2025 and beyond list of future capacity. Headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, the Kim Tin Group commissioned Dieffenbacher to supply two MDF plants, for its sites in Chon Thanh, Binh Phuoc province and Dau Giay, Dong Nai province. Chairman of the Board Nguyen Tien Hai originally said the company liked to “think big” and therefore decided to build two production lines at the same time. We understand that while the Chon Thanh plant has been completed, the other project at Dau Giay is not being


capacity now installed, has been rapidly expanding with companies like Panel Plus, Metro, and SPB installing new lines to meet growing demand. While exports are surging, the country faces growing external pressures, including anti-dumping probes. Two significant new MDF investment projects were previously announced and added to the future capacity table. Kijchai Enterprise PCL (SKN), Huay-Yang, approved the expansion project concerning constructing the company’s third MDF/HDF line with an annual capacity of 500,000m3 MDF with an investment of THB2.4bn, equivalent to US$66.8m. The construction is anticipated to take two years. Additionally, Thai MDF producer


Wisewoods Co Ltd has expanded production capacity at its headquarters in Khao Yoi in the province of Phetchaburi. Plant assembly has been under way since the end of 2023 with the first board produced early 2025. The Dieffenbacher CEBRO plant has allowed the site’s overall MDF capacity to increase by 247,500m3


.


In keeping with Dieffenbacher’s CEBRO smart plant concept, the new plant is using


continued on page 27 www.wbpionline.com | August/September 2025 | WBPI


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