Jan 2026 Melamine Chipboard Trade Core Summary
author: Carl
2026-01-30
As the world’s major exporter of melamine chipboard, China’s MFC production capacity is concentrated in three core regions: Shandong, Jiangsu and Guangdong. In January, the overall industry operating rate remained stable at 80%-85%. Driven by the concentrated release of pre-holiday stockpiling demand from downstream terminals, shipments achieved a steady double growth of 10%-12% month-on-month and 4%-6% year-on-year, with the overall trade situation steadily improving.
There are obvious differences in global regional demand: demand in Southeast Asia increased by 15%-18% year-on-year, and demand in the Middle East rose by 12%-15% month-on-month. Both regions were driven by strong terminal stockpiling demand, with order volumes climbing steadily; EU demand fell by 6%-9% month-on-month, mainly dragged down by high inventory backlogs and rising carbon costs in the local market, resulting in underwhelming demand performance.
Export flow shows a concentrated trend, with the top 3 importers accounting for over 45% combined, becoming the core positions for China’s MFC exports and supporting the steady advancement of the overall export scale. Feb Outlook: Affected by enterprise shutdowns and holidays during the Spring Festival, the industry operating rate will drop to 65%-70%, and shipments are expected to decrease by 10%-15% month-on-month; it is expected that in March, as the holiday ends and enterprises fully resume production, downstream stockpiling demand will restart, shipments are expected to rebound significantly, and the trade situation will gradually pick up
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January 2026 PET MDF Trade Situation
