ECUADOR - With a 7.0% growth in the first five months of 2019, Ecuadorian particleboard (PB)/MDP exports exceeded USD 51 million.

It is worth remembering that in 2018 the Ecuadorian exports of Particleboard/MDP reached a record of figure USD 118.5 million. Novopan supplied 99 percent of the total of PB/MDP exported by Ecuador, accumulating exports for USD 50.7 million in May 2019, a growth of 8.5 percent over the previous year.

The main market for Ecuadorian PB/MDP was Colombia, with shipments of more than USD 27.9 million in the period, although with a slight drop of 1.3% compared to the 2018 period.

Peru was the second market in importance for Ecuadorian PB/MDP, with purchases for USD 20.4 million and a growth of 15.4 percent compared to the same period of 2018. Peru with Colombia represent about 94 percent of Ecuadorian PB/MDP exports in the first five months of 2019.

While in Colombia there is local production of PB/MDP by Duratex Colombia and Primadera, in Peru domestic production is non-existent since the closure of Tableros Peruanos (Tapesa) in early 2017.