The veneer and wood panel market - Italy

1.2 World Market: Stable Growth

According to Mordor Intelligence, the wood panel market reached *,*** million cubic meters produced in ****, and the global market is expected to grow by about +*% each year between **** and ****.

Distribution of global wood-based panel production (***) World, ****, in % Source: ****

Wood-based panels are a widely traded commodity. **.*% of world consumption (***).[***]

Distribution of export volume by major world exporters World, ****, in % Source: ****

The graphs below illustrate global production and export trends since the ****s, according to data reported by FAO. The first graph shows the growth of the two subsegments (***). In terms of production, both subsegments show an average annual growth of about +* percent for the period ****-****.

Global panel production World, ****-****, million m* Source: ****

Exports grew at an average annual rate of +*% over the entire period, slightly faster than production.

World panel exports World, ****-****, million m* Source: ****

1.3 Domestic market

Data for this market are recorded in ATECO code **.**.**, "Manufacture of veneer sheets and wood-based panels," which includes:

The manufacture of thin veneer sheets for use in the production of plywood or for other purposes: sheets sanded, dyed, coated, impregnated, reinforced (***), patterned The manufacture of plywood, wood veneer panels and similar laminated panels The manufacture of oriented particle board (***) and other particleboard The manufacture of medium-density fiberboard (***) and other fiberboards The manufacture of densified wood The manufacture of glued laminated wood and veneer laminated wood

As can be read in the graph below, after a slight decline from **** to ****, total industry sales in Italy are slightly but steadily increasing. From **** to ****, it increased by +**.* percent

Turnover of the veneer and wood panel industry Italy, ****-****, millions of euros Source: ****

1.4 External trade

The following data refer to HS Code ****** : "Veneer sheets and sheets for plywood, whether or not spliced, of coniferous, and other coniferous wood, sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness =< * mm."

Italian exports increased sharply from **** to ****, for a change of +**.*% in just * years, and then dropped by -**.*% from **** to ****. This is due to the slowdown in world trade caused by the Covid-** pandemic. However, Italy imports more than it exports in the sector, although the difference between the two has decreased in recent years. For example, in ****, Italy's trade balance was almost equal: it imported a total of $***.* million USD and exported $*** million USD.

External trade of veneer and plywood sheets Italy, ****-****, in million $ USD Source: ****

United States

Germany:

France

China

Romania

Destination of veneer and plywood sheet exports Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

The first country from which Italy imports veneer and plywood sheets is Cameroon, which accounts for ** percent of total imports in ****. It is followed by Croatia with **.* percent, Germany with *.* percent, France with *.* percent, and Côte d'Ivoire with * percent.

Cameroon is a major exporter to the International Tropical Timber Organization (***), so its timber market is dynamic.

Provenances ...

2.1 Wood construction, the main driver of demand

Until some time ago in Italy wood was only used for roof construction, whereas today it is used to make entire buildings, whether residential, commercial, industrial, healthcare, hotel or public. Thus, wood construction is experiencing a very strong acceleration: the sector has reached a total turnover of *.** billion euros in **** and Italy has become the *th country in Europe for realization of wood buildings .

Below, we list the main reasons (***) why wood is chosen in construction:

Wood captures and stores CO* and reduces the greenhouse effect. It has a low environmental impact and provides long-term energy savings. Requires little energy for the processing from log to engineered wood (***) Wood has important insulating properties from heat, cold and noise. It also camouflages itself in metropolitan settings, where facades can be plastered and flank surrounding buildings seamlessly. It has earthquake-resistant characteristics (***). it is lightweight, which allows it to be suitable in case of elevations, restorations or rehabilitation of existing buildings. Wood construction is more economical because site timelines are reduced through engineered procedures.

[***]

The graph and chart below refer to data in the *th Wood Construction Report, conducted in **** by FederlegnoArredo. The very positive trend in the wood building sector, the main ...

2.2 The demand of the wood-furniture sector

Another demand driver positively correlated with the construction sector is the wood-furniture sector, which includes the manufacture of wooden furniture, which requires panels of the same material. According to UNECE (***), the wood-furniture sector can be divided into two different areas of demand:

B*B, Business to Business demand, which concerns a professional audience (***). The B*C, Business to Client, demand for a domestic use.

In the chart below, we will analyze Prodcom data on annual Italian production of the following products:

******** Wooden furniture parts ******** Wooden furniture of the types used in offices: desks, tables, cabinets, shelves, etc. ******** Wooden furniture of the kind used in warehouses ******** Kitchen furniture and wooden elements ******** Wooden furniture of the kinds used in bedrooms including beds ******** Wooden furniture of a kind used in lounges and living rooms ******** Wooden furniture for bathrooms, garden and others

Italian annual production in this sector has remained fairly constant through the years, with only -*.* percent change in eleven years.

Production annuelle de meubles en bois et de produits en bois pour meubles Italie, ****-****, en millions d'euros Source: ****

Positive outlook for the sector : tax breaks

The Italian wood-furniture market recorded **.* percent growth in **** over ****, and **.* percent over ****. This result has ...

2.3 The demand of the wood packaging industry

The wood packaging sector is also part of the demand drivers for the veneer sheet and wood panel sector. The data in the graph below refer to the"Manufacture of wooden packaging" sector (***), which includes:

The manufacture of wooden crates, boxes, cages, cylinders and similar packaging. The manufacture of pallets, crate pallets and other wooden loading surfaces. The manufacture of barrels, vats, tubs and other wooden products and parts for coopers' work. The manufacture of wooden cable drums.

We can see that this Italian sector is very dynamic: global sales increased from **** million euros annually in **** to **** million euros annually in ****, for a change of +**.** percent.

Chiffre d'affaires du secteur fabrication d'emballages en bois Italie, ****-****, millions d'euros Source: ****

3.1 The structure of the Italian market

The U.S. housing bubble of **** and the great economic recession into which Italy fell in **** had a very strong and very negative impact on the wood industry in Italy. Between **** and ****, the Italian wood industry saw a -**.* percent drop in its turnover.[***] These phenomena also had an impact on the Italian structure of the wood industry, which can be seen in the following graphs, whose data are taken from Istat. Businesses have struggled to survive afterwards and so many businesses and factories have been closed. In ****, there were *,*** fewer enterprises in the sector than * years earlier in ****, meaning the number of enterprises in the sector experienced a -**.* percent change in seven years. Since ****, however, there has been a return of a positive trend and entrepreneurs have returned to investing in the sector: from **** to ****, the number of enterprises in the sector increased by +***%. from *** to * *** in just one year.

This positive increase is expected to continue in the coming years.

Nombre d'entreprises du secteur fabrication de feuilles de placage et de panneaux en bois Italie, ****-****, unités Source: ****

-**.* percent,

*

***

Effectif salarié du secteur fabrication de feuilles de placage et de panneaux en bois Italie, ...

3.2 The stages of wood panel production

The operations listed below are performed on **-hour lines with presses, in continuous or discontinuous operation. A panel production line is a very expensive investment. the raw materials needed for production are wood chips and related wood products.

Panel production takes place in * main stages:

Cutting (***);

Low moisture drying. This essential stage aims to dry the cut wood to avoid any bacteriological risk;

The sortingand grading. The sorting of the dried wood is carried out according to the size and quality of the material with the help of meshes and skilled workers who control the production;

Gluing and shaping. This stage aims to form the panels to the desired dimensions by applying a glue solution to the wood chips;

Hot pressing (***). The purpose of pressing is to solidify the panels and to regularize the shape, thickness and size of the panel; Finishing (***). The purpose of this stage is to make the appearance of wood panels uniform by removing impurities from the manufacturing process.

3.3 A multi-sectoral distribution

As we saw in Part *, the construction, wood-furniture and wood packaging sectors are the main outlets for the wood panel industry. The table below reveals the value chain of wood panel distribution.

4.1 Analysis of prices charged in the market

Production costs

Panel prices depend heavily on their production costs. Two main factors influence them:

The price of raw material, which varies depending on world prices and supply and stock levels; The cost ofenergy needed to process the wood and dry the panels once they are produced.

Raw material prices : the price of wood

As can be seen in the graph below, the price of wood is a very volatile price that has fluctuated widely over the past year (***). It cost $****.** USD/**** FBM in April ****, and $***.** USD/**** FBM in April ****, for a change of -**.* percent in one year. FBM, foot board measure, is a specific unit of measurement for the volume of lumber and corresponds to the volume of one square foot and one inch thick.

Prix du bois World, ****-****, USD/**** board feet Source: ****

Below we see the graph showing the monthly ISTAT data on producer prices of the veneer sheet and wood-based panel industry, with a ****=*** base index. In recent months this price has increased a great deal, from *** to *** in just one year from February **** to February ****.

This price is expected to increase in the coming months as well, depending on the development of the Russian-Ukrainian situation ...

4.2 The different types of wood panels and the breakdown in European production

Below, we list the different types of wood panels.

Particleboard or particleboard is composed of wood particles and an organic or mineral binder. The particles must be milled, sorted, dried and glued; Oriented strand board or OSB is made by adding several strips of wood glued together with a binder; Glulam board or BLC board is obtained by adding several strips of wood arranged in parallel; The laminated wood panel: Its color and patterns are customizable. It can be used for doors and floors; MDF (***) is made from wood fibers and a synthetic binder. It does not split and is often used for furniture; Plywood It is made by gluing together sheets of flayed wood. The glue used differs depending on the intended use; Melamine wood panel is more brittle, made of wood covered with a sheet of paper under pressure containing melamine.

The following two graphs show the evolution and distribution of European production among these different types of products and is marked by a strong domination of particleboard (***).

Volume de production des différents types de panneaux à bois Europe, **** - ****, en million de m* Source: ****

relatively low cost of production

high demand

Répartition de la production européenne ...

5.1 Italian regulation and European regulation

The regulations to be complied with for the manufacture of wood-based panels are as follows:

CE marking for wood-based panels: covers the relationship between the manufacturer and notified bodies, the responsibilities of links in the distribution chain in ensuring that the information accompanying the CE marking reaches the construction site or the end customer in full, and how to mark panels. Reaction to fire of wood-based panels: the European Commission published in May **** Decision ****/***/EC "establishing the classes of reaction-to-fire performance for certain construction products as regards wood-based panels." Wood-based panels and emissions: covers standards on panel emissions.

All standards, organized by panel type, can be read here.

In addition, process panel manufacturers are committed to providing products that meet the various existing European standards:

NF EN *** for OSB panels NF EN *** for particleboard NF EN ***-* to * for fiberboard

The European Due Diligence Regulation

EU Regulation No. ***/**** of October **, **** establishes the obligations of operators marketing wood and wood products, and came into force on March *, ****. This Regulation considers the Due Diligence system to be an essential element of its application. "Due Diligence" a concept developed from the U.S. legal system and means "the degree of care that a reasonably ...

6.1 Segmentation of actors

The following segmentation of market players is noted:

• Gruppo Mauro Saviola
• Fantoni
• Gruppo Frati Luigi
• Cleaf Spa
• S.A.I.B.
• Schilliger Bois