COLOMBIA - Colombian imports of particleboard / MDP reached USD 103.3 million in 2018, which represented a significant increase of 23.6 percent compared to 2017 (USD 83.6 million).

Ecuador once again took advantage of the dynamism of the Colombian market by supplying close to 68 percent of particleboard / MDP imports, with shipments of USD 70.2 million in 2018, which represented a 25.4 percent improvement compared to its exports to Colombia the previous year (2017: USD) 57.5 million). The manufacturer of Ecuadorian boards Novopan del Ecuador accounts for this outstanding performance with shipments for USD 69.8 million in 2018.

Brazil was the second supplier country with USD 15.7 million in 2018, a significant increase of 29.9 percent compared to USD 12.1 million in 2017. In this case, behind this figure are the shipments to Colombia of the Brazilian panel manufacturer Duratex for USD 10.8 millions.

The third supplier country to the Colombian market in 2018 was Chile with USD 13.3 million (2017: USD 11.3 million). Here the Chilean manufacturer Paneles Arauco stood out with exports to Colombia totaling USD 8.7 million. Spain was the fourth supplier country in 2018 with USD 1.8 million.

In 2018 among the particleboard importing companies, the leader was once again Madecentro with USD 60.2 million and an improvement of 18.8 percent compared to 2017. Madecentro’s share in total particleboard imports was 58.2 percent, followed by Duratex Colombia (formerly Tablemac) with USD 10.8 million.

The furniture manufacturer Maderkit, with a growth in its particleboard / MDP imports of 117.5 percent in 2018, was the third importer with USD 10.3 million, surpassing Arauco Colombia (USD 10.2 million).