The oriented strand board (OSB) market was valued at about US $15.13 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach US $27.05 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 5.9% from 2025 to 2033, new figures from Business Research Insights show
OSB is an engineered wood product made from strands of wood that have been oriented due to the strength they provide. It is extensively used in the construction industry for sheathing, flooring and roofing because of certain characteristics such as low cost and strength.
Compared to plywood, OSB is a great material because it also performs the same, but costs far less to produce. This material is generated from adhesive bonding and high temperatures to come up with a large flat surface. The CSIRO-developed Scrimber is another example.
Consulting editor Jim Bowden reflects in his report in July 2007.
As production reaches record levels and the US housing market comes off the boil, producers of oriented strand board are looking to Australia and New Zealand as a prime new market.
Record production in North America and Europe could spill over to Australasian markets as a substitute for plywood and laminated veneer (LVL) products, according to industry observers.
OSB is used in residential and commercial construction for walls, roof panels, sub floors, single-layer floors, structural insulated panels, floor joists and rim board. In North America, it has captured 75% of the structural panel market and in Europe 75% of OSB is used in the construction industry.
It is now possible for manufacturers of wood products world-wide to use strand technology to produce high quality products that can compete with and complement solid wood, laminated veneer lumber, plywood and other materials for a wide range of building applications and other end uses.
Australia uses very little OSB, but is a significant user of LVL, for which OSL is a potential substitute.
Production capacity in North America exceeded 24 million cub m in 2006 and plans are under way to add considerably to OSB capacity in conjunction with a capability to produce oriented strand lumber (OSL) and other value-added products. .
The industry has been driven by a buoyant housing market, and a willingness of end users to substitute OSB in place of structural plywood. But there are signs that the housing industry in the US has reached a peak, and this could have a significant impact on consumption, prices and profitability – and a search for new export markets – over the next five years.
Forestry analyst Bernie Neufeld of BIS Shrapnel says manufacturers world-wide are facing increasing pressure to provide high quality forest products at a lower cost, while declining log quality is making the production of hig- performance solid wood products, laminated veneer products and laminated panels such as plywood more difficult.
Over the past three decades, manufacturers have increasingly used wood fibre strands to produce board products, and more recently strand lumber and a wide range of related value-added products.
“The growth in the production and consumption of OSB in North America and in Europe as a substitute for plywood has been rapid over the past decade,” Neufeld said.
“Manufacturers are increasingly focusing their attention on adapting strand technology to produce oriented strand lumber, rim board, flooring panels, moisture resistant panels, external cladding, packaging materials and a wide range of other value-added products.”
More recently, OSB production facilities have been established in South America, where production capacity exceeded 600,000 cub m in 2006, and there is considerable scope for expansion.
There are also plans for producing oriented strand board in Australia from eucalypts, in conjunction with oriented strand lumber. In most countries strand lumber is made from softwood species.
The eucalypt raw material will add significantly to the quality characteristics of OSB and OSLand sets the stage for the production of these products in other countries that have eucalypt resources.
“While OSB and OSL are in the early stages of production in Asia, consumption of OSB there has increased over the past few years,” Neufeld observes.
“The depletion of resources in the region, which is highly reliant on tropical hardwood plywood and imported timber, make it a natural target for establishing production facilities and expanding consumption of OSB and OSL.”
- To read more about the push for OSB to overtake plywood for popularity, click here for Wood Central’s special feature in February 2024.
