Wood-based panel products manufacturer PG Bison will complete a R1.87-billion investment in a new medium-density fibreboard (MDF) Contiroll line in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga, in July.

This will increase PG Bison’s installed capacity to 1 180 m³/day across its two MDF plants.

Site preparation for the MDF expansion project at Mkhondo began in April 2021 and construction and installation started in March this year.

“Supply of locally produced MDF in the Southern African market has been constrained for many years. Our Proudly South African quality products are cost-effective compared to imports,” says PG Bison CEO Gerhard Victor.

“Our locally made products 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. Locally produced products have significantly better lead times than imports, and our customers can meet the growing demand for MDF substrate products well into the future,” he adds.

Localisation is a critical consideration in PG Bison’s investment strategy. As trends evolve, consumers look for newer and more exciting products. PG Bison, therefore, must supply the products that are in demand, or customers downstream turn to imports, he notes.

Further, the new MDF line and the 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, says Victor.

The manufacturing facility will soon be the only one in Africa to house a particleboard line, an MDF line, upgrading facilities, resin manufacturing and paper treaters on one site.

While PG Bison’s Boksburg plant had been the business’s only MDF site for many years, Mkhondo was chosen for investment in another MDF line owing to the site’s proximity to critical raw materials and existing infrastructure. These factors greatly assist in managing input costs and improving overall cost competitiveness, he says.

Victor says the Mkhondo and Boksburg plants are well-placed to serve the growing MDF demand across the company’s local and export markets.