State of the World's Forests 2012.pdf - D'Dline 2020

in timber harvesting, manufacturing and consumption.There is already evidence of considerable progress inwood product industries. Examples include:• use of small-scale equipment and low-impact practicesin logging operations;• wood-saving manufacturing equipment (thin blades)and technologies (laser guides), and completeutilization of wood raw materials, including through theuse of waste to generate heat and power;• product developments that utilize smaller, lower-qualitytrees while improving the performance of engineeredwood products, such as laminated beams and flooring;• use of recovered and recycled paper, paperboard and wood.Wood product manufacturers face many challenges,including changes in consumer preferences and globaldemographics, competition for resources, competingmaterials, and changes in the ownership of the foreststhat provide raw material. Forest industries typicallyrequire large capital investments and it is difficult forthem to adjust rapidly to changing economic conditions.Nevertheless, the overall outlook for the forest industryis generally good. Production and consumptionare expected to grow, while new investment andproduction are expected to continue shifting towardsthe more rapidly growing emerging economies.In developed country markets, wood products will benefitfrom a greater focus on meeting high environmentalperformance standards, and new wood-based productssuch as bioenergy, biochemicals and biomaterials will bea basis for overall industry growth (FAO, 2011c).Innovations in forest productsThe rate of innovation in global telecommunicationsis widely known. However, too few people are awarethat manufactured forest products are also undergoinga transformation, which is leading the transition of theforest sector in the green economy (Tissari, Nilssonand Oinonen, in press). Innovations in forest productstend to fall into two broad groups: subtle, evolutionaryinnovations involving gradual changes to processesthat are well established; and abrupt, revolutionaryinnovations creating new products and processes thathave never been seen before, such as using wood in themanufacture of electronics.Composite or “engineered” wood products are changingrapidly. Among the engineered wood products that aresubstitutes for solid wood are glulam beams, laminatedveneer lumber, parallel strand lumber, I-beams withoriented strand-board webs, and edge-glued, solid woodpanels. One of the most recent innovations, crosslaminatedtimber, is producing wood products withsuperior strength and dimensional stability, enabling thedevelopment of new construction techniques forhigh-rise buildings.Production technology in the plywood sector is alsochanging rapidly – especially in Asia – enabling theuse of smaller logs, including from planted forests.New manufacturing processes are faster, more fullyautomated and capable of greater quality control.Innovations include laminated veneer board andlong-stick board. The most recent type of plywoodcontains a flexible core layer, creating a wood-basedpanel that can easily be bent into a variety of shapes andused in new processes and products.■■Wood technology laboratory. Innovations in forestproducts fall into two broad groups: subtle, evolutionaryinnovations involving gradual changes to wellestablishedprocesses; and abrupt, revolutionaryinnovations creating new products and processesIndonesia, the world’s largest exporter of hardwoodplywood, has invested in improved processing thatadds value to end products, for example by using directcoating to produce “colour-tone plywood” and mouldedor curved plywood products. Plywood is also being usedfor large-scale structures such as tank supports on thelarge commercial vessels that transport liquefiednatural gas.Many advances are being made in reconstituted panels,especially oriented strand board in North America andmedium-density fibreboard in Europe. Improvementsinclude increased strength, a wider range of densities,improved packaging, and greater product diversificationthrough a larger variety of surface treatments.FAO/R. Faidutti/CFU00021534 | Chapter 3