Housing and particularly the timber frame market has fuelled demand for OSB, but the packaging market has also been buoyant in the expansion of the wider industrial economy.
Kronospan, which previously imported exclusively via Goole in East Yorkshire, last month added the Kent port to serve the south-east. The vessel carries 4,200m2 of OSB and Kronospan expects a frequency of every two months. The company said it was both a strategic and long-term move.
“It is to give better coverage and better service to the UK as well being more direct in the south-east where construction is doing well,” said Kronospan commercial director Alex Gambroudes. “Demand is very good at this time, but we are looking to grow further. Timber frame especially is growing and we are also seeing the substitution of OSB for plywood, so we see the UK remaining strong for the next few years.”
Mr Gambroudes said some of the volume arriving in Chatham would be diverted from Goole, which had already been servicing the south-east, and some would be additional volume.
The UK’s OSB market is about 400,000m3 a year. According to the latest statistics from the Timber Trade Federation, imports continue to grow and reached 132,000m3 between January and July this year, an increase of 13.6% over the previous year. Exports continued to slide, down 6.4% at 92,000m3 for the seven months.
Producers, distributors and merchants all report greater demand as well as competitive pricing although some producers also believe the UK has become an alternative to Europe’s badly performing markets. Coillte’s new continuous press is expected to begin deliveries next year and Norbord’s Morayhill mill in 2016.
