Summary
¦ OSB prices lost ground but will rise again.
¦ In the UK OSB demand grew by 10% last year.
Despite a recent dip which, in late January, had left domestic prices some 10% lower than they had been, experts agree that the OSB price is likely to regain this lost ground quickly. “Everything you need to make OSB is going up in price,” TTJ was told.
A senior spokesperson for one leading supplier into the UK market said: “OSB prices will have to be greater than the 2010 peaks because of the costs of glue and fibre, and also of transport. The fibre costs are horrendous and glue has probably moved up 20% since November.” His company “will have to consider price increases before the end of the first quarter – people can’t keep selling at these numbers”, he added.
Optimism about the future direction of the OSB market is based on solid sales growth: in the UK, consumption is believed to have increased by around 10% last year. The product’s “year-on-year upward demand curve” is attributed to concerns over plywood quality and the fact that OSB is cheaper. Last year’s “shortages” of plywood pushed many customers in the direction of OSB – “and a lot of them never went back”, said one contact.
UK demand for OSB has made a “strong” start to 2011, with order levels outstripping those seen in early 2010. However, business is currently short of the “manic” levels witnessed around the middle of last year.
Meanwhile, it is understood that OSB from Kronospan in Latvia has arrived in the UK.
