Wood-based panels industry still growing; Strongest prospects are for particle board
Forecasts for the future of the wood-based panels industry are basically optimistic in spite of a continuing economic recession in many of the industrially advanced countries.
This was the consensus at the New Delhi World Consultation on Wood-based Panels in February. The Consultation was sponsored by FAO and the Indian government, and attended by 450 people from 50 countries and seven international organizations.
Economic forecasts were among the major studies presented by FAO and discussed. FAO forecast that wood-based panels consumption was likely to rise to between 225 and 310 million cubic metres by 1990. The high end of this forecast, with a predicted average annual rate of growth of 7% between 1973 and 1990, could be realized, according to the report, if major industrial nations recover from the current economic recession within a year or so and resume the growth rhythms of the 1960s and early 1970s. The lower consumption estimate, of 5.1 % annual growth, was based on a slower economic recovery.
The forecast indicated that in any event consumption of particle board will continue to grow faster than that of plywood and fibreboard. It was felt that by 1980 particle board may account for two fifths of the world market for wood-based panel. In comparison, particle board accounted for one third of that market in 1973 and a negligible share 25 years ago in 1950.
Plywood, which had 50% of the market in 1973, might decline to about 45% by 1980 according to the FAO survey. Fibreboard was foreseen as dropping to between 15 and 19% of the market by 1980.
FAO's estimate of 1975 world production capacity for all three types of wood-based panels combined was 123 million cubic metres. This represented an increase of 43.6 million cubic metres over the 1970 capacity of 79.4 million.
FAO calculated the average annual rates of growth of capacity in the industry over the past five years at about 14% for particle board, a little more than 7% for plywood and about 7% for fibreboard. This gave wood-based panels as a whole an annual production capacity growth rate of 9%.
It was generally agreed that the growth of the panels industry had been slowed down by the current recession but that it was suffering no worse in this respect than competing sectors.
It was generally agreed that three factors have played a principal role in the strong growth of the wood-based panels industry over the past 20 years: (1) continued product diversification and the growth of new markets connected with this; (2) broadening of the raw material base which has resulted in better utilization of forests; and, (3) a widespread condition of sustained, overall economic growth especially in industrialized countries.
The Consultation made recommendations aimed at improving various aspects and areas of the wood-based panels industry. Here are some of them:
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FAD-BRAZIL CONFERENCE ON THE TROPICAL MOIST FOREST POSTPONED INDEFINITELY The international conference on tropical moist forests which was to be sponsored jointly by FAO and the Government of Brazil has been indefinitely postponed. The meeting, which was to have been held in Brazil from 29 September to 10 October 1975, was postponed because it was not feasible for the Brazilian government to host it at that time. It was to have been a major international examination of the best ways in which tropical forests of the world should be utilized and to what extent such forests lend themselves to management. FAO plans to use the position papers prepared for the meeting at the Fourth Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry Development in the Tropics, which is to take place in March 1976. |
Raw materials: It was felt that growth in consumption of wood-based panels, particularly plywood, will depend increasingly on the resources of tropical forests. Therefore, it was recommended that there be more processing of logs locally in tropical forests and that integrated production be encouraged for the purpose of fuller utilization of wood. The need for extensive new plantation programmes and increased use of plantation wood in tropical countries was emphasized. Developing countries were urged to adopt technology existing in more industrialized countries in order to enable them to use logs of smaller girth for plywood.
Raw material supplies could also be stretched, it was felt, through use of non-wood fibrous material where economically available.
Marketing: Tropical countries were urged to take advantage of the rapidly growing international trade in veneers. But it was felt that developing countries had only limited opportunities in the particle board - and also partly in the fibreboard - export trade, unless they were in a position to make their output into more finished, higher priced products which would be able to withstand freight costs.
Developing countries were urged to strengthen institutional aspects of marketing in general.
Rationalization of the whole range of panel standards was called for both at national and international levels. Product standards, it was agreed, should be oriented more to the "end uses" to which products are actually put, both in developed and developing countries.
Technology: The Consultation stressed the importance of speeding up transfer of technology between developed and developing countries. In particular, it recommended greater exchange of experience and information about non-petroleum based chemicals for binders and adhesives, which are essential in panels production. It recommended that more use be made of resins originating in forests of developing countries, such as tannin resins. The high cost of imported petrochemical adhesives was recognized as a serious obstacle to wood-based panels production in developing countries, faced with shortages of industrial development capital in general and foreign exchange in particular.
The Consultation also stressed the need for development of technology for the utilization of mixed tropical forests, where there may be hundreds of species per hectare.
In discussions of technology for developing countries, it was recognized that many of these countries faced unemployment problems and therefore welcomed in particular industrial technology which could be labour intensive and at the same time not sacrifice product quality.
New products: Economic and technical aspects of a number of new products were discussed, including boards made with oriented fibres or particles, cement-bonded particle board, and thin boards produced by the continuous method. It was noted that certain new products were undergoing accelerated development, among these waferboard and medium-density fibreboard.
Economics of investment: The Consultation stressed the need for more attention to be given to labour-intensive operations for developing countries. These should not only provide employment but can also be more profitable, and should be considered as part of good engineering practices. The Consultation recommended that an industry party be created by FAO to investigate the opportunities for small-size mills for developing countries. Concerning feasibility studies in general, the Consultation emphasized the importance of their being professionally executed and FAO was asked to intensify its activities in this field.
Other recommendations included more regional training centres for wood-based panels production in developing countries and the need for projects which would demonstrate and encourage the use of panels in the building industry, especially low-cost housing. The need for preservative and fire-retardant treatments of panels was also stressed.
Finally, it was recommended that consultations be held every five instead of every ten years.
At the conclusion of the Consultation there was a meeting of the FAO Committee on Wood-based Panel Products, an intergovernmental body consisting of delegates and observers from 22 countries. This group reviewed and endorsed the recommendations of the Consultation.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE WORLD CONSULTATION ON WOOD-BASED PANELS The proceedings of the World Consultation on Wood-based Panels held in February 1975 in New Delhi are now in preparation, and information about their price and how to obtain them will appear in a forthcoming issue of unasylva. As now conceived, the proceedings will contain: - Basic papers of the Consultation. These were based for the most part on the 147 background papers prepared for the meeting. The basic papers cover production, consumption and trade; raw materials; marketing; technologies and techniques in both manufacture and use of wood-based panels; economics of investment and production. - The final report of the Consultation. - Appendixes. |
Sixth International, Fundamental Paper, Science Symposium
The sixth in the series of International Fundamental Paper Science Symposia is now being planned by the Fundamental Research Committee of the Technical Section, British Paper and Board Industry Federation.
The Symposium will be held at Oxford from 18 to 23 September 1977, and is being organized in association with TAPPI'S Paper Physics Committee and the Research Section of the Canadian Technical Section.
Increased pulp and paper production capacity forecast by FAO
World production capacity for pulp and paper is currently increasing at a steady rate but the outlook beyond 1977 is uncertain, according to an FAO forecast. FAO presented the annual forecast in May to its Advisory Committee on Pulp and Paper, consisting of members from 24 countries who serve in their private capacity
The Committee called particular attention to the pulp and paper needs of developing countries. Noting that 96% of all paper and paperboard is produced in developed countries, the Committee recommended that special attention be given by governments, industry and international funding agencies to opportunities for building more pulp and paper mills in developing countries. Members of the Committee from developing countries endorsed in particular the need for international soft loans to stimulate this building. Also, members of the Committee from developing countries foresaw shortages of paper and paperboard of all grades by 1979. In particular, the Committee felt, investment should be encouraged for mills to produce printing and writing grades of paper in developing countries.
FAO gave the Committee a five-year capacity forecast, from 1974 to 1979. However, due to unsettled economic conditions in many of the industrial countries where most pulp and paper is produced, FAO and the Committee agreed that the forecast of capacity for 1978 and 1979 could not reflect recent changes in corporation and government plans and therefore was subject to revision.
The 1975 production capacity for pulp, according to the FAO estimate, is 137.5 million metric tons. Capacity for paper and paperboard was put at 174.6 millions tons. These estimates represent increases of 5.3 and 7.5 million tons and annual rates of growth of 4 and 4.5% for pulp and paper respectively over 1974 capacity. The 1975 rates are slightly behind the average annual rate of growth for these products during the five-year period 1969 to 1974.
The forecast for 1976 was for capacity to reach 143.7 million tons for pulp and 183.1 million tons for paper, representing annual rates of growth of 4.5 and 4.9%.
The 1977 forecast was 149.5 million tons of capacity for pulp and 190.1 million tons for paper, with growth rates of 4 and 3.8% respectively.
The FAO forecast is based on figures received, for the most part, from national pulp and paper trade associations reporting future plans of member companies. It takes three to five years for pulp and paper mills to go from planning to production. Therefore, future production capacity is largely determined by decisions related to the market and general economic climate several years back. Boom conditions in the industry during late 1973 and the first part of 1974 caused plans for 1978-79 to be optimistic, but these are being modified because of the current decline in the market for pulp and paper.
Nigeria to set up two paper mills
In an effort to reduce its growing paper import bill, Nigeria will establish two new pulp and paper mills during the 1975-80 development period. D.A. Iyamabo, Director of the Federal Department of Forestry Research, who announced the decision, said large wood plantations of about 16000 acres (6400 hectares) would be created to provide essential raw materials for the additional mills. Planning for these mills was assisted by the Finnish government. Nigeria's only paper mill, in Jebba in the north, would also be expanded to handle the increasing demand.
Joint U.S.S.R. - United States forestry research agreement
Research on ways to control forest fires with chemicals was included in an agreement approved by the Joint U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. Commission on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Forestry. Other items agreed upon for joint forestry research, at the conclusion of a meeting of foresters from both countries held last October in the United States, concerned integrated control of forest insects and diseases, classification of forest ecosystems and determination of their biological productivity potential, development of improved technological processes of tree harvesting, reforestation and afforestation.
Southeast Asian timber marketing discussed in the Philippines
Southeast Asia's forest production has expanded rapidly in recent years. By 1973 export earnings from forestry in the region totalled about US$1000 million, two thirds of which were accounted for by log exports. Last November an international symposium in Manila dealt with ways in which these earnings may be increased in the future.
The meeting, jointly sponsored by the Philippine government, the German Foundation for International Development and FAO, dealt with research and marketing of timber products throughout southeast Asia. Subjects discussed included product development and diversification for local and foreign markets, broadening the raw material base, especially for pulp and paper production, and ways to increase cooperation among countries in the region with wood and wood products industries.
The report of the symposium will be submitted to the FAO Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission.
The week-long meeting was held in Manila and Los Baños, and followed by a four-day tour of forestry in Mindanao. Eighteen participants came from Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and seven observers from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua-New Guinea and the United States. J. de la Rosa, President of the Philippines Chamber of Wood Industries, directed the symposium. He was assisted by H. Grutzner, of the German Foundation for International Development, and T. Erfurth, of FAO. The meeting continued the work of the International Meeting on the Properties, Uses and Marketing of Tropical Timber held in the summer of 1973 at the German Foundation's headquarters in Berlin.
Subjects covered during the symposium included:
- The potential of southeast Asian forest resources for industry and trade development.- The use properties of southeast Asian timbers.
- Recent experience and research results on improving industrial use and final application of wood and wood products.
- Possibilities for exchanging research results and for coordinating research activities.
- Product development: its multiple impact on national and international trade in and use of products from the tropical moist forests.
- The choice and effective application of promotional measures to advance the wider use of wood products.
- Promoting research and marketing of timbers.
Sweden's Forest Service to reduce felling
The Swedish Forest Service, which runs the state-owned forests - about one fifth of the country's total forest area - is to reduce the volume of fellings by an average of 1 % annually over the five-year period 1975-79. This measure is intended to ameliorate the effects of a drop in timber resources which is expected to occur in about three decades.
Fellings will accordingly decline from the annual average of 6.76 million cubic metres under bark for the years 1970 to 1974 to 6.31 million by 1978/79.
In order to offset the effect of the reduced volume of fellings, the Service will be investing a total of Kr. 450 million (US$100 million) in silvicultural measures over the coming five years. This represents a sizable increase over the Kr. 172 million spent in the preceding half decade.
Plantings will be increased in 1975-79. A major innovation in the Service's silvicultural programme will be the planting of Pinus contorta, a hardy North American pine, in 10% of its forest cultivation area in central and northern Sweden. Tests have shown that this pine gives a good yield after only 40-60 years, growing twice as fast as indigenous pine.
Minas Gerais in Brazil reforests vast tracts of marginal land
Minas Gerais has assumed the lead in reforestation projects among Brazilian states with a plan to reforest 3.75 million acres (1.5 million hectares) of land by 1980. This figure represents a 280% increase from 1973. There are, all told, some 56 million acres (22 million hectares) of marginal land in Minas Gerais which can be profitably reforested. The state especially needs the timber now as charcoal is the only cheap fuel which can be used to smelt the area's large iron supplies. (O Globo, Brazil)
Forest expansion in east Africa
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Overseas Development has agreed to provide £51850 toward the cost of a research scheme in Africa aimed at improving the productive capacity of forests in the east African community.
Existing forests in east Africa are insufficient to meet the present demand for timber and wood products, and wood fuel. Expansion, however, on the highly productive land at high altitude where existing forests have already been established, is extremely difficult, given the increasing pressure for agricultural land. This project is therefore aimed at the establishment of tropical pine forests at lower altitudes on less fertile soil.
A tree breeder and a silviculturist have been assigned to east Africa for three years to assist in the establishment of these new forests. Consultancy visits by staff from the Commonwealth Forestry Institute will support them.
unasylva - an international journal of forestry and forest industries
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