Wood processing industries have long been the strength of Finnish economy. Among them woodbased panel industry (WBP) has concentrated on birch plywood since early 1900’s and on softwood plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) since 1990’s, being currently market leaders in Europe.
Instead, the position and size of chipboard (particleboard) and fibreboard industries has declined since 1980’s owing to the lack of price competitiveness in export markets, limited domestic markets and strong import and stagnating investments and RTDI activity. Their raw material basis is nowadays solely in by-products of saw and plywood mills, such as saw dust, planer shavings, grinding dust, residual wood chips and bark, instead of more expensive small-diameter thinning woods and less used hardwoods during 1960’s to 1980’s (BS 2017). Recently, oversupply of the side streams of saw and plywood mills and other woodworking industries has lowered considerably the raw material price of WBP mills and calls for new markets and uses for these by-products. In parallel, continuous growth and more versatility in the European WBP markets, advanced technology development among machine and chemical manufacturers, specific product segments including engineered panel products and green building with lifecycle approach may provide potential for renaissance of Finnish WBP industry.
The main purpose of this paper is to review the current status and evaluate the future potential of Finnish wood based panel industries. The analysis includes historical prospects, current scope and structure, raw material and product trends, mill operations, fabrication lines and adhesives systems. One part of the work is to evaluate the challenges faced and opportunities found for the development of Finnish WBP industries.
Keywords: wood-based panels
Authors
Anuj Kumar
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
Erkki Verkasalo
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