WBPI: THE EUROPEAN WOOD-BASED PANELS INDUSTRY HAS BEEN IN A STATE OF FLUX IN RECENT TIMES DUE TO CHALLENGING MARKET CONDITIONS IN THE FURNITURE AND CONSTRUCTION SECTORS. HOW WOULD YOU APPRAISE THE CURRENT SITUATION AND WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR 2026 AND BEYOND IN THE DIFFERENT MARKET SECTORS/ EXPORT MARKETS?
Michael Egger Jr: The overall economic outlook remains challenging, although current market data shows that we may have passed the lowest point. Weak markets, ongoing price pressure, low construction activity and numerous uncertainties – from inflation in Argentina and Turkey to geopolitical conflicts – have been weighing on demand. At Egger, we are responding to these developments with regional diversification, among other measures. Overall, we are content that we were able to secure stability despite these challenges.
Markets in Eastern Europe and overseas are developing positively, while in Western and Central Europe we are facing strong competition, which we are answering with efficiency and innovation.
In a challenging economic environment, we continue to focus on sustainability, circular economy and product innovation to consolidate our competitiveness. In these strategic focus areas, we continue to realize extensive investment projects. Despite volatile conditions, there are initial signs of stabilisation.
And so is the outlook for the future – we do not expect any major leaps in the market in 2026. There is a slightly positive trend following stabilisation, both in furniture and interior design and in building products. And we are convinced that we are well prepared for a future economic upturn.
WBPI: EGGER HAS BEEN VERY ACTIVE IN SITE INVESTMENTS. CAN YOU BRING US UP TO DATE ON THE COMPANY’S DEVELOPMENTS AT THE MARK BIBART PLANT?
M Egger: In a multi-stage large-scale project, we are investing more than €200m in our plant in Markt Bibart (DE) – one of the largest investment projects in our industry. The focus is on sustainability, upgrading and automation. Implementation is proceeding according to plan, with several milestones already achieved.
The Markt Bibart plant was acquired by Egger in autumn 2023 and has since been successfully integrated into the group. Immediately after the acquisition, we began comprehensive investment measures. The new recycled wood processing facility, which enables the use of recycled wood in the production of high-quality particleboard on site, has been gradually ramped up since September 2025. At the end of 2025 the first short-cycle press has also been put into operation. Further groundbreaking project steps are planned until autumn 2026: the creation of additional lamination capacities through a second short-cycle press, the construction of a highly automated highbay warehouse and a loading hall, and optimisations to existing facilities.
As in all our plants, we are also relying on state-of-the-art technology at the Markt Bibart site. The investment will create around 70 new jobs in Markt Bibart.
The creation of lamination capacities is a major innovation at the plant. The site previously produced raw particleboard with a capacity of up to 650,000m3 per year. Existing customers will continue to be reliably supplied with raw particleboard of the highest quality. Part of the production volume will be coated with immediate effect. This investment will ensure sustainable utilisation of production capacities.
We are convinced of the great potential of the Markt Bibart plant. Together with our employees and partners, we are developing the plant into a state-of-the-art wood-based materials location. Markt Bibart will play an important strategic role within the Group. We are proud that we are making progress with the construction work at record speed. This is a major and successful team achievement.
WBPI: THE WISMAR OSB FACTORY HAS ALSO SEEN INVESTMENT. CAN YOU OUTLINE THE DEVELOPMENTS THERE AND HOW IT IMPROVES EFFICIENCY/ CAPACITY AT THE PLANT?
M Egger: Two major investments were made at the Wismar (DE) plant. The first was in the resin plant and the second in the modernisation of the OSB facility.
With an investment of around €48m, we have fundamentally improved our OSB facility. Spreading, mat preheating, pressing and extraction have been brought up to the latest technical standards. The result: an increase in production of around 60,000m³ of OSB per year to 460,000m³ and improved working conditions for the workforce.
A particular highlight is the new connection to the neighbouring resin plant. The excess steam from production there is fed directly into the plant’s steam network via a specially constructed pipeline. This means that the OSB facility uses this process heat efficiently – a prime example of circular thinking and sustainable energy use at the Wismar plant.
At the Egger Group, we produce a significant portion of the binding agents and impregnating resins we need for wood-based panel production in our own resin factories in Hexham (UK), Radauti (RO) and Wismar (DE). The resin plant in Wismar has now been upgraded, modernised and expanded to the latest state of the art as part of a major project. This project was successfully implemented over several years under particularly challenging conditions, namely during ongoing operations. A big success of this investment was the optimisation in our energy supply. Since August 2025, the entire resin factory in Wismar has been operating completely without natural gas. A total of over €90m was invested in this major project.
Wismar shows how holistic progress works: investments in the plant, energy and working environments are interlinked. Wismar thus remains an attractive production location and an important export hub for the Group – from here, binders, products and ideas spread far beyond the region.
WBPI: EXPANDING MARKET ACCESS IN WORLD REGIONS, SUCH AS ASIA, HAS BEEN A FOCUS FOR EGGER. THE COMPANY TOOK A STAKE IN THAILANDBASED PANEL PLUS IN 2023. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE STRATEGY AND HOW YOU SEE EGGER’S BUSINESS IN ASIA AND OTHER REGIONS DEVELOPING?
M Egger: Asia is an important market for us per se. We have been supplying Asian customers for a long time. We have been represented in Asia for years through sales offices and we were able to build fruitful and successful partnerships with our customers.
In 2024, we acquired a 25.1% stake in the Thai wood-based materials manufacturer Panel Plus Co., Ltd. With this investment, we were able to further strengthen our own market position in Asia. Panel Plus has state-of-the-art production facilities and a product portfolio that is perfectly tailored to regional needs. We benefit greatly from local expertise and that together we are able to exploit further growth opportunities.
WBPI: APPRECIATION FOR WOOD’S SUSTAINABILITY AND LOW CARBON CREDENTIALS HAS INCREASED IN RECENT YEARS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME LEGISLATION AND BUREAUCRACY HAS SOMETIMES PROVED A CHALLENGE FOR THE INDUSTRY. HOW DOES THE INDUSTRY RECONCILE THESE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES?
M Egger: The growing appreciation for wood as a renewable, recyclable and carbonstoring raw material confirms that we are on the right track. At the same time, new legal requirements – such as the EUDR – place additional administrative demands on companies. These regulations pursue an important goal, but their implementation is complex.
For us at Egger, the responsible use of wood as a resource has always been at the heart of everything we do. That is why we expressly support the objectives of the EUDR. For us it goes without saying that we further develop our already established traceability and due diligence systems so that they fully comply with legal requirements. We are involving our suppliers as much as possible to work on joint solutions. It is important that the entire industry, authorities and politicians work together on practical, digitally supported solutions to reduce the administrative burden while ensuring the ecological impact of the regulation.
We also see this as an opportunity: greater transparency along the supply chain will enable us to highlight the strengths of wood as a climate-friendly material even more clearly. At the same time, we are continuously investing in modern technologies and efficient processes so that we can implement the new requirements reliably and economically.
WBPI: EGGER HAS JUST LAUNCHED ITS DECORATIVE COLLECTION 26+. WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THIS COLLECTION AND HOW DO YOU SEE IT CONNECTING WITH SPECIFIER AND CUSTOMER MARKETS?
The Decorative Collection 26+ responds to current market trends and customer requirements in furniture and interior design. It is a further development of our Collection 24+. For the first time, we are focusing on a two-year rolling collection concept. This gives us the opportunity to respond very quickly and flexibly to trend developments and changing market requirements. With ongoing updates, we make new products, innovations and the collection’s services available more quickly.
At the same time, we give our customers and retail partners planning security. All new products remain in the range for at least four years. Egger trade partners, architects and fabricators thus receive a globally uniform decor and product portfolio that is always up to date. Regional needs are covered by locally adapted stock programmes.
With over 360 decor and texture combinations, as well as new decors, products, surfaces and digital services, this update allows us to closely meet the needs of our customers. New solid colours, especially in the trend colour beige, wood reproductions in linear Italian design and additions to the colour spectrum of matt PerfectSense surfaces are just some of the new features.
Feedback from our customers at the launch events and initial trade fair appearances confirms that we have struck a chord with Decorative Collection 26+.
WBPI: WHAT OTHER COMPANY DEVELOPMENTS/INVESTMENTS CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE DURING 2026 AND BEYOND?
M Egger: We are continuously investing in the modernisation of our plants. In addition to ongoing maintenance investments, we are focusing our investments on three strategic priorities: upgrading, circular economy and Net Zero.
New short-cycle presses are being built at some plants. This will further increase our upgrading capacities. Moreover, our focus is primarily on making the best possible use of the capacities we have created in recent years.
Investments in the circular economy are closely linked to the Net Zero target. I would like to go into two aspects in more detail: Firstly, recycled wood. We are investing in our plants to continuously increase the proportion of recycled wood in production. We now collect wood ourselves at over 25 recycling collection sites in Europe and the US for further processing in our plants. This is because the guiding principle that has driven us since our foundation in 1961 is that “wood is far too valuable to simply throw it away”. Working in closed cycles remains a core element of our business model to this day. We give the valuable resource of wood many lives. At the end of their service life, most of our products are also recyclable.
Secondly – and it is therefore only logical – we are pursuing the goal of Net Zero and reducing our climate-impacting greenhouse gas emissions. In doing so, we are clearly focusing on reducing our emissions, not on offsetting them outside our value chain. This is backed up, for example, by investments in our own biomass power plants and renewable energy supply at our sites. This year, for example, we are commissioning a new power plant in St Johann, which will give us a high degree of independence from fossil fuels in the region and at the same time supply neighbouring villages with district heating.
WBPI: FRITZ EGGER STEPPED DOWN FROM BEING CHAIRMAN OF THE EGGER SUPERVISORY BOARD RECENTLY AND HAS RETIRED. CAN YOU SUMMARISE HIS IMPACT ON THE COMPANY OVER MANY DECADES.
M Egger: Fritz Egger was a key leader in the Egger Group for many decades. In 1982, my uncle Fritz took over responsibility for the Egger Group together with my father Michael and their brother Edmund. They are all considered the “fathers of internationalisation” of the Egger Group. From 1982 to 2000, Fritz was part of the operational management team. In the years that followed, he played a decisive role in shaping the strategic development of the Egger Group as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. With his personality, convictions and entrepreneurial foresight, he has contributed significantly to the Egger Group becoming an international company with over 12,000 employees in 11 countries.
Fritz stood and stood for the values of our family business: “Quality, respect and progress”. I grew up with these values, and they are what unite all Egger employees today.
Fritz had a decisive influence on the company with his entrepreneurial courage and strategic vision. He was always guided by his understanding of values and his firm conviction that our success can only be achieved through the great commitment of our employees. We want to follow his example and continue to be a company where a handshake is binding.
