BRAZIL - Brazilian demand for boards rose 4.7% in the first 9 months of 2013 reaching to 5.21 million m3 compared to 4.97 million m3 in 9M-2012.

This performance is in line with the growth trend in Brazilian demand for wood panels of the last five years, which went from 4.9 million m3  in 2008 to 6.7 million m3 in 2012.

In the 2008-2012 period the growth in demand was especially notable for MDF, in 2012 reaching 3.5 million m3 compared to 2.3 million m3 in 2008 (+37%), while demand for PB / MDP grew 21% from 2.6 million m3 in 2008, to 3.2 million m3 in 2012.

In the breakdown by board type, in the first 9 months of 2013 the demand for MDF continued to grow at a healthy rate of 9.5%, compared to the same period of 2012. Demand for PB / MDP remained stable with a slight drop of 0.4%.