Securing MDF (SupaWood) supply in Southern Africa
Supply of locally produced medium-density fibreboard (MDF) in the Southern African market has been constrained for many years, but PG Bison has been working to change that. We have been investing in our Mkhondo manufacturing facilities and in July 2024, our new R1.875 billion MDF Contiroll line investment in Mkhondo will come online, increasing our installed capacity of MDF up to 1,180 cubic metres per day across our two MDF plants (Boksburg and Mkhondo).
We believe the new MDF line and recently completed particleboard line will position the PG Bison Mkhondo cluster as a globally competitive site for the production of wood-based panel products in Southern Africa. The manufacturing facility will soon be the only one in Africa to house a particleboard line, an MDF line, upgrade facilities, resin manufacturing and paper treaters on one site.
Site preparation for the MDF expansion project at Mkhondo began in April 2021, with construction and installation following in March 2023. Commissioning of the plant will commence in February 2024, resulting in local and international customers having access to an “uninterrupted local supply of MDF” by July 2024.
Proudly South African
“Our Proudly South African products are cost-effective compared to imports,” says Gerhard Victor, PG Bison’s CEO. “They enable our customers to hold lower stock levels, which means better stock turns and improved cash flow, rather than tying up working capital in large tranches of imported products. And the products have significantly better lead times than importing, so our customers can guarantee uninterrupted servicing of their customers’ needs well into the future.”
Localisation has long been a key consideration in PG Bison’s investment strategy. “Trends evolve, end users look for newer and more exciting products,” says Gerhard. “If PG Bison cannot supply the products needed to make those trends a reality, the demand does not go away. Instead, customers downstream turn to imports. And these imports are more likely to be finished products, putting many fabricator and installer jobs within the local industry at risk.”
Investing in the future
While PG Bison’s Boksburg plant has been our only MDF site for many years. However, when the time came to green-light the investment for the next MDF line, Mkhondo was chosen because of its proximity to raw materials, fibre and resin. These factors greatly assist in managing input costs and improving overall competitiveness.
PG Bison will now be able to produce MDF at two sites, as we do with our particleboard. The Mkhondo and Boksburg plants are well-placed to serve the growing MDF demand across our local and export markets.
