Global plywood market relying on the housing sector for growth

Consumption within the global plywood market has been projected to exceed 85 million cubic meters by 2018, owing to notable demand from emerging markets across Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Plywood is a manufactured wood panel made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured. Plywood is used instead of plain wood because of its resistance to cracking, shrinkage, splitting, and twisting/warping, and its general high degree of strength.

Housing development represents the key determinant for plywood demand on a global scale. The importance of plywood in the construction industry has risen in over the past decade, owing to its advantages over conventional wood, metal, and plastic.

The reliance on the housing market let to global plywood demand suffering a decline during 2008 and 2009 because of the turmoil in the global economy that was triggered by the housing market slump and mortgage crisis in the US.

The housing market, the key determinant to the growth of the plywood market, suffered seriously across the geographies during 2008 and 2009 leading to a noticeable drop in demand for plywood.

China dominates the global market for Plywood consumption. The Chinese plywood market witnessed phenomenal growth in past decade, evolving from an industry largely focused on addressing domestic market needs to the one increasingly catering to global demand.

Though the plywood sector witnessed a marginal recovery in demand in 2011, future growth in the market primarily relies on the recovery of the housing sector, which is poised to readily absorb the new capacity.

For more information on the global plywood market, see the latest research: Global Plywood Market

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