It comes as German-based Siempelkamp<\/a>, one of the world’s top mass timber equipment companies, is now working with Chinese manufacturers to supply newly commissioned plants with super-strength particleboard lines that can produce up to 600,000 cubic metres per year<\/a> “to develop the Chinese particleboard industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Particleboard, or chipboard, is a manufactured wood made from compressed wood particles \u2013 including wood residues, forest thinnings and wood waste from processing. It is a low-cost and strongly bonded general-purpose board used in various applications, including furniture, cabinetry, flooring and construction, and 50% of all IKEA products.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “From 2022 to 2023, production grew more than 20% year-on-year,” Mr Rensburg told Wood Central, adding that “particleboard supply and consumption is booming across China,” with a significant shift in demand, supply, growth and production of panel-based products in the world’s most important forest economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Particleboard capacity is actually maxed out and has been since Covid,” Mr Rensburg said, “with China quickly adding new plants to keep up with domestic consumption.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The capacity crunch comes as the Chinese government looks to curb the surge in unsold housing. Officials are moving to bar construction as it looks to shrink a mountain of unsold homes weighing on prices.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wood Central understands that the restrictions prevent local authorities from selling land usage rights to developers in cities with unsold housing inventories that would take three years or more to clear\u2014a criterion that more than 40% of major cities meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming all planned particleboard plants are actually built, China will have enormous additional capacity\u2014but will they have the demand to keep pace with production?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I guess you’ll need to purchase the report,” Mr van Rensburg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is Particleboard?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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