MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) is the third generation wood substitute, after plywood and particleboard. MDF exceeds wood, plywood and particleboard in terms of quality and applications. The properties of edge cutting, post- forming, nail holding, bonding & moisture resistance are far better in MDF.  We cannot think of modern wood decorations in houses & offices without MDF.  It is used for doors, windows, kitchen & office cabinets, drawers, tables & chairs, furnitures, indoor stadiums, auditoriums and entertainment halls.  It is also used for interior decorations for offices, houses, hotels & restaurants.  More & more applications of MDF are being invented now-a-days.

MDF is an engineered wood.  Excellent machinery & application properties make MDF an economic & future-oriented substitute of solid timber.  MDF is flawless, smooth & uniformly strong, easy to cut, machine & joint.  It can be carved like natural timber.  MDF can be made available for interior & exterior grades, plain or laminated.

HDF is the High Density Fibreboard, which is mainly used for laminated flooring. While MDF boards have the density range from 700 kg/m³ to 880 kg/m³ and thickness range from 6mm to 25 mm, HDF boards have the density range from 890 kg/m³ to 1,000 kg/m³ and thickness range from 8 mm to 12 mm. HDF boards are ideal substitutes for natural timbers & they are widely used in high–strength floorboards as well as in furniture decorations.

The worldwide market for MDF is increasing at the rate of 12-16% per annum, while the market for HDF is increasing at the rate of 15-20% per annum.

The raw materials for MDF & HDF include-

• Firewood from plantations & forests;
• Wood cuttings from sawmills;
• Wood furniture industry wastes;
• Round logs of smaller dia (5 cm to 20 cm) from social forestry; &
• Bamboo.

MDF saves virgin forests by using wood wastes and logs from social forestry. MDF is a wood substitute, saving precious foreign exchange, as large quantities of wood are being imported into India.

There is a potential to set up at least 25 MDF plants in India over a period of next 10 years, as against only 7-8 plants in operation now. The worldwide MDF capacity is around 75 million cubic metres per year with around 350 plants in operation, while the Indian production capacity is less than 1 million cubic metres.

India is using 60 million cubic metres of sawn wood per year for housing, furniture, agri-implements, packaging etc., and there are 23,000 saw mills in the country. It is estimated that each saw mill generates 100 tons of wood cuttings per year on an average, making available 2.5 million tons of wood waste, which can provide necessary raw material to more than 10 new MDF plants in India.

Since the Supreme Court of India has banned further licensing of plywood factories, plywood industry cannot meet the future demand for panel products. The present demand for plywood is 250 million sq. metres or about 4 million cubic metres per year. Plywood needs large sized wood in excess of 20 cm dia, as against small sized wood (from 5 to 20 cm dia) used by MDF.

The MDF production line mainly includes debarking, chipping, screening, refining, glue preparation, drying, mat forming, pre-pressing, hot pressing, edge trimming and sanding. The plants can use the old types of single opening / multiple opening presses or the new continuous presses.

A standard MDF plant needs other auxiliary plants such as UF resin plant, short cycle lamination plant, horizontal impregnation line, laminate flooring line and also energy plant (to supply steam for the digester, hot oil for the press and hot air to the dryer).

The MDF plant capacities range from 30,000 cubic metres per year to 3,60,000 cubic metres per year and the total investments range from Rs. 30 crores to Rs. 450 crores. The pay-back periods are from 3-5 years.

At the present time of deforestation, with timber reserves under pressure from the growing worldwide demand for panel products, MDF project offers low-risk entry into a potentially lucrative market.

GoodRich is the Indian representative for the following European companies, who supply complete equipments for MDF projects –

1)   IMAL-PAL-Globus, Italy, for complete Particleboard & MDF lines – www.imalpal.com

90% of the world’s MDF plants have one or other machines from IMAL-PAL-Globus.  Together, they have supplied more than 14,000 machines till now.

IMAL-PAL-Globus have built the 8 ft. wide complete MDF plant in Vietnam during 2014, which is running successfully with a world record for lowest glue consumption. Some of their new technologies include–

1. Hi Jet resination system
2. Dynasteam steam injection system
3. CPD continuous density profile
4. FBC full blister control
5. Thickness gauge
6. Screencam / fibercam
7. Complete set of new laboratory equipments

2)   Steinemann Technology AG, Switzerland, for sanding lines – www.steinemann.com

Steinemann sanders are known to be the world’s best, with 80% market share globally. All the Indian customers who installed the European Particleboard / MDF lines have also installed / placed orders on Steinemann sanders.

3)  Anthon, Germany for panel cut-to-size lines – www.anthon.de

Anthon is the top quality manufacturer of panel cut-to-size lines.  Anthon saw lines are in perfect combination with Steinemann.  Together, they supplied equipments for the world’s largest & fastest lines.

4)  Argos Solutions AS, Norway, for panel grading systems – www.argossolutions.no

Argos panel grading system is the world’s top-quality sensor based grading system, which saves the labour cost of 80 – 120 people per day for manual grading of boards.

5)     ForbesVyncke, India for Energy plants – www.forbesvyncke.com

ForbesVyncke is a joint venture between the Indian Company Forbes Marshal and the Belgium Company Vyncke, which is the world leader in Energy plants for Particleboard & MDF lines.

GoodRich has participated in almost all the large scale MDF projects that came up in India during the last 10 years, & can arrange to supply complete plants or individual equipments for MDF lines.