Kronospan hopes its business will stagnate in 2009

“The year 2008 was a much better one than 2007, but in the final two months, stagnation affected all sectors. There is blockage, and everybody is very cautious.  No one is moving ahead or back, especially on the construction market,” the Public Relations Manager of Kronospan Brasov, Oana Bodea, told Business Standard.

The Austrian Kronospan group finalized the construction of a second factory in Brasov, in which it invested some €200 mln, where it will produce oriented strand board (OSB), used in construction. The factory could begin production in May. Although this is a relatively new material, the OSB market has evolved rapidly, but is presently at less than one third of its potential. “We are leaders on the local OSB market, and registered net sales worth €18 million in 2008,” said Bodea.

The local consumption of wood-based panels is below 40 cubic meters per 1,000 inhabitants, while in Nordic countries, for instance, this amounts to 125 cubic meters per 1,000 inhabitants.