With commencement of commercial production of Balaji Action Tesa at Uttarakhand and Green Panel at Andhra Pradesh, the production capacity of MDF in India is almost double now. Action Tesa has begun commercial production from 1st April this year, which is around 800 cubic meters with European manufacturing line from Siempelkamp. The supplier MDF line to Green Panel, Dieffenbacher announced the production of first board in April, which has 1200 cubic meters capacity per day.
It is noted that after beginning of Century Ply MDF unit in Punjab, the total installed capacity touched around 2300 cbm per day. Now with addition of the new two mega capacity plants India has almost doubled its manufacturing capacity in MDF. Producers and suppliers are expecting that this product will replace some of the portion of cheaper grade plywood in future and accordingly moving ahead but they are also sure that it will take time. A considerable amount of import of over Rs 500 crore/annum is an addition to the existing market.
MDF is steadily entering into many interior décor purposes such as decoration, flooring, carcases, shutters, wardrobes, grills, racks etc. Manufacturers view that growth is expected in MDF due to rise in application of material in surfacing, partition and furniture making. The development work from government departments and PSUs and acceptance of MDF is also going to help the boost in demand in this segment. The leading manufacturers in the country believe that MDF growth shall remain steady during next three years because of rise in availability and softening of prices. The Ply reporter data analysis indicate that MDF shall witness growth of 19-21 percent during next three years compared to 10 to 12 percent growth in plywood segment.