EPF approves plywood manufacturers as members for the first time
23 April 2015The European Panel Federation, representing the European manufacturers of particleboard, MDF, OSB, hardboard and softboard has appointed new directors and approved the application of European plywood manufacturers as regular members of the federation.
These announcements were made when the federation held its last March Quarterly Meetings at its office in Brussels where preliminary results in the wood based panels industry for the year 2014 were presented.
Concerning particleboard, production rose by 3% and home sales by 1% while exports fell by 3% compared to 2013.
Production of MDF, however, remained stable and exports rose by 3% while home sales fell slightly (1%).
The results for OSB show a further increase by 5% of home sales and by 3% of production although exports dropped by 2%.
Stable production capacities are observed for particleboard, while they decreased slightly for MDF and increased slightly for OSB.
Wood availability remains critical in the core Europe. Concerning the current general economic context, slow but steady improvements are observed. Furthermore, consumers' confidence is currently rising.
The general assembly also approved a revision of the statutes of the federation and re-elected EPF's managing board.
The assembly re-elected Ladislaus Döry as chairman and approved the appointments of Clive Pinnington in the newly created position of managing director and secretary general Kris Wijnendaele as technical director.
Mr Pinnington's appointment reflects the EPF's desire to significantly strengthen its capability and capacity and in so doing be able to deal in the best possible way with the many strategic challenges that the wood based panels industry faces both today and in the future.
