Wood Panels

Featuring 80 tables and 41 figures – now available in Excel and Powerpoint! Learn More

Wood Panels

This study examines the US market for wood panels (building boards). This includes structural boards (oriented strand board (OSB) and softwood plywood) and nonstructural boards:

  • hardwood plywood
  • particleboard
  • medium density fiberboard (MDF)
  • hardboard
  • insulation board
  • low density fiberboard (softboard)

Markets for these products encompass construction and industrial uses. Construction uses include:

  • roofing (e.g., sheathing, decking, framing, trim)
  • flooring (subflooring and finish flooring)
  • wall sheathing
  • cabinets (e.g., cabinet boxes, drawers, drawer fronts, doors)
  • siding
  • doors (and, though a negligible portion of the market, windows – primarily hurricane-proof storm types)
  • interior paneling
  • other construction applications, including moulding and trim, stairways, concrete formwork, temporary shelters, decks, and porches

Industrial applications include:

  • furniture and fixtures (e.g., ready-assemble household furniture, office furniture, wood partitions, shelving)
  • engineered wood products, including the manufacture of plywood, I-joists, and rim boards
  • material handling products (e.g., pallets, crating, packaging products, bins, tanks)
  • transportation equipment (e.g., recreational vehicles, boats, trucks, trailers, buses, rail cars)
  • other manufactured goods, including signs, appliance cabinets, trophies and plaques, crafts, sports and exercise equipment, musical instruments, and toys and games

In addition to providing wood panel demand by product type and market, the study also discusses demand by US region.

Historical data for 2009, 2014, and 2019 and forecasts to the years 2024 and 2029 are provided for wood panel production and demand in square feet and current dollars. Data in square feet are actually volumetric measurements since the various types of wood panels are each associated with a standard thickness. These standard thicknesses (as most commonly accepted within the industry) are:

  • 1/8 inch – hardboard
  • 3/8 inch for OSB and softwood plywood
  • 1/2 inch for insulation board and low density fiberboard
  • 3/4 inch for particleboard, hardwood plywood, and MDF

Data for each board type are provided in terms of that product’s standard thickness. In order to improve the comparability of wood panel demand in volume terms across different board types, data are converted to a 3/8-inch basis. These measures are used in the market and regional sections, as well as for product aggregations in the product sections. Unless another thickness is specified, square feet measurements in the study are on a 3/8-inch basis.

Wood panels used as a component of other wood panel products, such as particleboard used to make plywood, are counted separately and considered to be engineered wood for the purposes of this study. Although this results in some double counting of wood panel demand, this treatment is in line with that used within the industry.

Data from the US Census Department were consulted in the preparation of this study and a list of related codes is presented here for informational purposes. However, these codes may not include all products covered in this report or may exclude some products of interest and the data have thus been adjusted accordingly.

Back to Top