The OSB market has entered perhaps one of its steadiest phases in recent memory – although prices in the UK are likely to go higher during the third quarter, TTJ was told this week.
Having noted the continuing trend towards substitution of plywood with OSB, a market expert said the differential between the two products’ prices was still sufficient to allow for a further OSB increase.
Domestic demand for OSB is said to have flattened out of late; stocks in the UK are quite low but no gaps or shortages have emerged. “It’s a normal market,” he added. “We don’t expect any dramatic changes [in the near future].”
According to latest statistics from the TTF, OSB exports jumped from 18,000m³ in January-February 2010 to 24,000m³ in the same period of this year. UK imports of OSB, meanwhile, recorded a year-on-year increase of approaching 17% in the first two months of 2011 to around 35,000m³.
