| 17
housebuilding still ground to a halt in the UK. “The market was challenging throughout 2024 and into 2025, with housebuilding about 20% below average,” he said. He added that in the EU, manufacturers tended to switch between MDF and HDF, largely due to fluctuations in demand for laminate flooring. Demand for laminate flooring has been low so EU manufacturers have switched to producing MDF, which has impacted the UK market to some extent. “We have had an extended period of increased costs – for resin, wood raw material and labour, while rising energy costs have been a massive problem for us,” said the manufacturer.
He also mentioned the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) replacing the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR); something which we covered in depth in TTJ’s recent plywood and OSB market report (TTJ May/ June 2025); and described it as a lot more bureaucracy and a lot more pressure on manufacturers.
All that being said, the spokesman admitted he had seen an improvement in the market in April, being the best month for volumes in about 18 months – and he said that May looked even better. “However, we are still not back to where we were in 2019,” he concluded.
Another MDF manufacturer contacted for this report pointed out that the MDF market can be divided into different sections: standard MDF panels; mouldings; flooring; kitchen doors; and lacquered board. His company supplies all those markets with full sheets of MDF/lacquered MDF. The manufacturer said that the standard MDF market remained relatively static, while MDF for the mouldings market for housing is beginning to increase because housebuilding is increasing. “We are normally four to six months behind the [first fix] market because MDF is generally used for skirting, architrave, kitchen doors, etc, later in the build. “The whole market seems to expect an increase now because my customers [the processors of MDF] are investing in their businesses. The UK government wants more housebuilding, but it is not happening as they would like. I would say that most housebuilders have increased production by about 10-12%, therefore the MDF moulding market is increasing.”
The manufacturer also said that the laminate flooring market was beginning to improve, having dropped sharply during Covid. He blamed the huge increase in inflation after Covid for reducing people’s buying power. He also suggested that Covid changed people’s behaviour and that, post- lockdowns, they spent more money on holidays rather than having extensions to their homes, or moving house. The kitchen
door business for example, he said, is static. “But there are clear signs of improvement in my opinion. Autumn is usually a good time for us but you never know these days, with political and economic uncertainties. “Prices for MDF have fallen over the last few years and our costs have risen. Labour costs have gone up because of inflation – as well as energy and wood costs. There has to be some adjustment to MDF selling prices. The margins of merchants, distributors and so on are also being squeezed. We are not talking big increases but something has to happen. We have seen prices on the continent rising already.”
Builders’ merchants are a major outlet for MDF manufacturers and confirm that the price of MDF has been more or less stagnant for some time now.
Merchants are somewhat less price- susceptible than, say, large furniture manufacturers in that they generally sell in smaller volumes and mixed loads of wood product to contractors carrying out remodelling, extensions and other smaller works.
One merchant explained that it has gone over to only stocking moisture-resistant (MR) MDF for two main reasons: One is that MR board can be used in a far wider variety of applications than can standard MDF; and secondly, it reduces the amount of stock that the merchant has to hold and finance. “It’s true there is a price penalty, but in terms of space and cash utilisation, it is still more economical for us to keep just MR board. Also, most of our customers are ordering quite small quantities – and mixed loads – so the price is less significant.” The merchant said that a growing market for his company is grooved MDF for wall panelling, which is used in office and home refurbishment projects, notably in Victorian properties where grooved MDF can replace the traditional tongued and v-grooved pine panelling below dado rails. It avoids the defects associated with pine and is proving popular among younger house owners, he said.
Obviously, moulded skirting, architrave and so on continue to account for a very large part of a merchant’s turnover in MDF and is continuing to take market share from the traditional softwood mouldings. Most merchants buy the MDF mouldings from a third party as bulk production is obviously more cost-effective. Talking about pricing of MDF in general, it was reported as slow and disappointing and one merchant had one eye on the possible consequences of Donald Trump’s tariffs if they continue to be applied to MDF products from China. Obviously, in that event, the Chinese will be looking elsewhere for markets for their MDF panels and that could depress prices in Europe and the UK if the panels come here.
Chinese mills these days are equipped with the latest continuous production technology (mostly from Europe) and generally meet European MDF standards. Their production certainly can no longer be dismissed as all being of inferior quality.
Another worry the merchant mentioned was the aforementioned EUDR.
One merchant interviewed was enthusiastic about the potential for exterior grade MDF in the market. He suggested end-uses such as fascia, soffit and so on.
“There is big potential in the builders merchant sector for these exterior products, but we need the MDF manufacturers to help us to grow that market,” he said. Meanwhile, at the time of writing this report, the Interzum exhibition was opening in Cologne and key figures and trends were released by the European Panel Federation. The report said that production of panel products in general saw a slight increase of 1.9% compared to 2023, but that both the construction and furniture industries continued to decline in 2024. “However, the wood-based panel industry was able to reverse this trend by substituting other materials and increasing its market share,” said the EPF report.
“Challenges persist due to energy prices remaining high………additionally, low consumer confidence is reflected in the sluggish recovery of the construction and furniture sectors,” continued the report. “Although 2025 is expected to be challenging, the long-term outlook for wood-based panels remains positive,” said the report, “This is evidenced by capacity investments [on the continent].” Which sums up this report really. The MDF
Above: Fibre costs have increased
market has been slow to stagnant for some four or five years but is now just beginning to show the early signs of an upturn in both volume and the all-important price. Without a price rise soon, life is going to be very hard for MDF manufacturers, who are seeing continuing upward price pressure on their raw materials. ■
www.ttjonline.com | July/August 2025 | TTJ
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 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85
