12 | Focus on Particleboard Part 2


CAPACITY RISES CHINA’S PB


WBPI’s Focus on Particleboard Part 2 concentrates on the Rest of the World region, with Asia being one of the key regions for particleboard capacity investment. Stephen Powney reports


D


espite many regions still seeing reduced demand for wood-based panels, there is


much to report on in this latest global survey on the particleboard industry. In the last issue of WBPI we covered


Europe and North America, with European markets still challenging but production rates still expected to rise slightly in 2025. Capacity improvement projects are of course few and far between in Europe. This survey covers the Rest of the World, with many more updates to report on. One particular highlight is the figures coming through showing the increase in PB capacity in China over these past few years. Many Chinese panel producers have placed increased emphasis on PB over MDF investments, due to many reasons, including product cost-effectiveness, lighter board weights and reduced energy/emission requirements.


The sheer number of continuous lines


coming online in these past couple of years is impressive, and we’ve added updated


statistics from Chinese press manufacturer Yalian, which has secured a huge level of orders in China these past few years. While we see Chinese new line orders starting to reduce now, this update does illustrate the increased PB trend in the country. The Asia region in general is seeing the most PB capacity investment activity in our Rest of the World region. Our main survey listings feature mills’ installed capacity as at the end of December 2024, with new plants that came online during 2025 being added to the main listing tables in the 2026 report.


Our headline statistics for installed particleboard capacity for the Rest of the World region is 56,554,000m3


, which


represents a big increase, mainly due to the swathe of PB plants that have come online in China during 2024.


Our installed particleboard capacity for Europe & North America is 67,840,000m3


,


giving a combined global total of installed particleboard capacity for Europe, North


South America North East Asia South East Asia Other Asia Australasia Africa


Table 1: Mills outside Europe and North America at end- 2024 No of mills 340 (e) 24 26 47 63 12 24


China 536


Table 2: Rest of the world average line capacity 2024. ('000m³/year)


China


South America North East Asia South East Asia Other Asia Australasia Africa


72.5


251.5 138.1 170


60.9


101.1 83.9


585


America and the Rest of the World of 124,394,000m3


. CHINA


Of all the regions covered in this report, China is by far the most active on the PB front. The product has seen an increase in popularity over recent years, due to its cost-effectiveness, lighter weight, and due to the less intensive energy requirement as opposed to MDF production. So as MDF capacity growth has stalled in recent years, numerous new PB mills have been getting the go ahead, with many of the projects being awards to Chinese press suppliers. This does mean information can be harder to come by to track every potential new PB line being planned.


The upgrading of older multiple opening


lines to continuous production lines has been another feature spurring investment. But we have had an extensive update


No of lines December 2024 capacity '000m3 347 36 29 60 70 16 27


25149 (e) 9053 4005


10199 4265 1618 2265


56554


Table 3: European and North American average line capacity 2024. ('000m³/year)


US


Canada Mexico


EU27 + UK Other Europe


273.4 362.3 94.1


320.6 250.1


from Yalian, one of the main Chinese press suppliers. The figures are quite considerable and show the glut of PB investment arriving in 2024 as the Chinese panel industry increased its focus on PB. Some 14 PB plants were due to have gone online with Yalian presses in 2024 – our main listings have been updated.


And a further 8 were due to be installed in 2025 and 2026. This is an indicator that investment levels are reducing in China, but of course these are still bigger mill numbers that any other country, regardless of specific press sizes. It also shows the growing size and stature


of Yalian. It had a large stand at the 2025 LIGNA exhibition in Hanover. Not only is it strong in China and the Asian markets, but it is targeting projects further afield as well, especially as the Chinese market cools. Yalian has supplied to Russia, Pakistan, India, and Bulgaria in the past and has current projects in Indonesia and Belarus as well. Of the projects which Yalian says were


completed in 2024, the largest was Ningfeng (Xiangyang) New Material Co Ltd (Ningfeng


WBPI | December 2025/January 2026 | www.wbpionline.com


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  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53