Capacity, production, and manufacture of woodbased panels in the United States and Canada

Abstract

Structural and nonstructural panel products have constituted the fastest growing segment of the wood products industries over the past two decades. Based on announced plans, growth will accelerate in the next 2 years. The cost of wood fiber used in these processes has been rising. To keep wood costs as low as possible, a growing share of the new production is being channeled into regions where panel manufacturing has been low or nonexistent and where underutilized timber supplies are still available. There is also increasing interest in using agricultural fibers for panels, either to complement or to replace wood. The projected increases in production over the next 2 years are likely to exceed projected growth in demand, leading to an oversupply, at least temporarily. This paper summarizes capacity growth in various wood-based panels: Southern Pine plywood, oriented strandboard, medium density fiberboard, and particleboard. It also examines changes in the manufacturing costs and the emerging supply–demand balance through 1997.

Citation

Spelter, Henry. 1996. Capacity, production, and manufacture of woodbased panels in the United States and Canada. Gen. Tech. Rep. FPL–GTR–90. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 17 p.