BELGIUM – In 2023, European production of wood-based panels experienced a notable decline of 6.3%, as reported by the European Panel Federation (EPF).
Despite this overall decline, wood-based panels outperformed the furniture and construction sectors, indicating a gain in market share within both segments for wood products.
Within the EU27/UK/EFTA region, OSB was the sole category to see production growth in 2023, increasing by 2% to 6.6 million m3 (from 6.5 million m3 in 2022). Conversely, particleboard, the largest product category, saw production decrease by 5% to 30.9 million m3 (from 32.5 million m3 in 2022). MDF experienced a more significant drop of 11%, producing 11.1 million m3 (compared to 12.5 million m3 in 2022).
Softboard, primarily comprising wood fibre insulation boards, had been an area of growth in recent years but declined by 6% to 4.8 million m3 (from 5.2 million m3 in 2022). Plywood production also saw a substantial decline of 15% to 2.6 million m3 (down from 3.1 million m3 in 2022), while hardboard, the smallest product area in the European wood-based panels industry, saw a reduction of 17% to 400,000 m3 (from 500,000 m3 in 2022).
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