MEXICO – After just over 18 months of starting operations, Tecnotabla, the MDF manufacturer of the Proteak group, closed the year with an estimated market share of 21%, supported by a strategy of producing high-quality boards and focusing in value-added products (melamine launch 2017) that resulted in a purchase recurrence close to 80%.

As a result, Tecnotabla’s sales in 4Q-2017 reached a total of MXP 194 million, 4% higher than those registered in 4Q-2016. In the year, the consolidated sales of Tecnotabla totaled MXP 863.3 million (2016: MXP 445.8 million).

In 2017 Tecnotabla produced 192,986 m3 of MDF, 90% more than in 2016. Now, twenty months after starting operations, the MDF plant is in the final stabilization phase.

The production ramp-up is in line with what was expected and the growth curve has been maintained, reaching the target level of the installed capacity with the desired quality, reducing in 2 p.p. the production decrease vs. 2016.

During 4Q-2017, production was down vs. 3Q-2017 due to a scheduled major plant maintenance stop, as well as stops related to turbine integration tests.

The history of the production of MDF boards in Mexico is recent. From being a market totally dependent on imports -particularly from Chile- Mexico is nowadays a country that produces MDF boards with an installed capacity of more than 600 thousand cubic meters per year.

This transformation is due to the important investments made in the last years to install MDF manufacturing plants by Proteak (Tecnotabla), Duraplay and Masisa, the latter recently acquired by Arauco. According to Proteak’s (Tecnotabla) analysis and estimates, the MDF market is growing at rates above 10% per year, reflecting opportunities within a 24 month outlook.