As the construction sector continues to recover slowly in Europe, I-joist production is gearing up to another level, although manufacturers say there is already sufficient capacity to satisfy current demand. And, in fact, some commentators refer to overcapacity in Europe.

Last year Metsä Wood produced more than 6 million linear metres at its facility in King’s Lynn in the UK and says it can increase this "substantially" should the need arise.

Steico’s "theoretical" I-joist capacity is around 20 million linear metres per year, just under half of which is current sales worldwide. The UK is its largest export market, with Scandinavia next in line, followed by Germany, France and Eastern Europe.

Sales have increased, with organic growth of around 15% in the first quarter of this year.

James Jones & Sons’s I-joist capacity has risen to 9 million linear metres – equivalent to supplying floors for 90,000 UK houses. It claims a 40% share of the UK I-joist market, which is principally in the domestic and new build intermediate floor sector.
The company has been exporting JJI-Joists to France, Belgium and the Netherlands for more than five years and said that demand continues to grow in these markets. It is also "exploring" markets in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.

The first phase of a £4.5m capital expenditure project, a high-speed, fully automated finger-jointing line, was commissioned last month and will substantially increase the company’s production of its JJI-Joists.

The second phase of the investment, which is currently under due diligence, includes a new I-joist production line "designed to meet the increasing demand for JJI-Joists in the UK and Europe".

The company said that demand for JJI Joists in 2015 is up 20% on the same period in 2014, which in itself was a record period.

The key driver for the I-joist sector is the new build housing market, which has climbed back up from the trough of 2009 but the pace of recovery of which is holding back any further increase in production volumes.

"We want to ensure for our part that we get 200,000 starter homes in the UK as promised, a figure that is more in line with pent-up market demand, although some way short of the 240,000 homes a year that many forecasters believe the UK needs," said Metsä Wood’s Kevin Riley. "This in turn will drive demand for all timber products."

The company said that by diversifying into student accommodation, hotels, education and leisure sectors, the timber frame industry had also grown the market for engineered wood products and that, although these had also been hit by recession, they too were recovering.

Prices have been "pretty stable" for the past 18 months, as demand has risen. And if prices are held down, this could be due less to abundant capacity and more to market forces. "Virtually all the top 20 housebuilders use I-joists exclusively so they have that type of purchasing power," said one contact.

Demand is coming from the roofing sector, in particular. Roof cassette systems are said to be increasing in popularity and the room-in- the-roof market is growing.

There isn’t much expectation of huge growth in the use of I-joists as wall studs in the UK, with one commentator suggesting the Conservative government "isn’t going to be very ecological". In Germany, however, where Passivhaus standards hold sway, the wall stud market is the biggest user of I-joists.

Louisiana Pacific’s current I-joist production stands at 67 million linear metres per year from three facilities – two in Canada and one in the US. A fourth I-joist manufacturing plant will come on stream in Chile in 2016 although production figures weren’t available at the time of writing.

The company sells its I-joists on all seven continents and in 52 countries and, as such, claims more of a global presence than other I-joist manufacturers. However, it says its market penetration in the UK is probably the smallest of its competitors as it focuses on merchants and smaller builders rather than national housebuilders.

It has expanded its distribution in the UK and there are now 34 dealers stocking the company’s Simply Better I-joist and four wholesale distributors, including MBM Forest Products.

MBM reports "at least double digit growth year-on-year" on sales of LP’s SolidStart I-joist and says that, as well as "off-theshelf" products, it has also started to stock products for longer-established I-joist users who require longer lengths and a fully designed floor kit service.

There are still many small builders who haven’t converted to I-joists yet, said the company, so there is plenty of room for growth.