CHILE - Chilean particleboard / MDP (PB / MDP) exports had a slight improvement in 2020, totaling USD 72.1 million, which represented an increase of 1.8 percent when compared to the USD 70.9 million reached in 2019.

Likewise, Chilean PB / MDP exports managed to recover after having fallen 6.9 percent in the first half of 2020 when they were strongly impacted by the closures associated with Covid-19 in their main markets.

The 2020 Chilean exports of PB / MDP were well below the record figure reached in 2018, when Chile exported PB / MDP for USD 86.7 million.

This slight improvement in Chilean PB / MDP exports in 2020 was mainly due to the strong improvement in shipments to the Mexican market, which went from USD 22.6 million in 2019 to USD 26.3 million in 2020, representing an increase of 16.2 per cent.

Chilean PB / MDP exports to Peru, its second foreign market in 2020, fell 11.1 percent and reached USD 21.0 million (2019: USD 23.7 million).

Colombia, the third external market for Chilean particleboard / MDP, slightly reduced its purchases in 2020. Chilean PB / MDP shipments to Colombia reached USD 11.6 million in 2020, a decrease of 2.6 percent compared to USD 11.9 million reached in 2019.

Ecuador, the fourth most important market for the Chilean particleboard, had a significant fall of 12.6 percent, totaling USD 3.9 million in 2020 (2029: USD 4.5 million).