Cautiously confident

The Association of the European panel industry (European Panel Federation = EPF) – it encompasses manufacturers of chipboard, MDF, OSB, plywood, hardboard and softboard – held its annual general meeting on June 25th and 26th in Vienna. "The economic developments of the European engineered timber sector have been positive for several years now. The European particleboard production increased by 2.5% in 2014 compared to the previous year. Expectations for this year are largely stable and production in the EU-EFTA area is bound for a 0.5%-increase. The particleboard production should come to more than 29 million m³", said the new EPF managing director Clive Pinnington.

In Europe, the MDF production grew by 1% to 11.5 million m³, consumption by even 4% in 2014. The OSB production increased by 3% to 4.8 million m³, with a planned capacity increase of 8% for this year. "The hardboard production decreased by 1% to 580,000 m³ in 2014, compared to 2013. European soft fiberboard production rose to 3.3 million m³ for the third year in a row", reported Pinnington. Overall, the markets will grow for all wood panel products except for hardboard. Expectations for the near future are cautiously confident.

In addition, Dr. Paolo Fantoni, new EPF president, appointed Ladislaus Döry on the basis of merit to EPF honorary president.