News of capacity expansion plans has been dominating the OSB market. Late last year, Coillte Panel Products announced it would be increasing the annual capacity of its Waterford mill in Ireland from 350,000m³ to 500,000m³ under a project due for completion next year; and Norbord has since indicated that, with OSB consumption expected to climb 50% over the next decade, it is considering an expansion of its European capacity (see p?).
According to Coillte, the project at Waterford would enable the company not only to meet a demand which "is growing and will continue to grow" but also to offer a more varied OSB product range. And in its latest financial results package, Norbord underlined the fact that its European operations "are expected to deliver stronger results in 2014 as the company’s core panel markets continue to rebound", driven in part by improved housing starts in the UK.
However, another contact expressed concern about the ability of the market to absorb such additional capacity. "I don’t see how the numbers pan out, unless they have big export plans," he said.
For the moment, the slight softness perceived in the UK’s OSB market towards the end of last year has persisted into the early weeks of 2014, with a leading producer blaming the impact of imported material and less robust demand. The flooding across large parts of the south has pushed back timber frame and newbuild projects, he added.
