Panels & Furniture Asia January/February 2021

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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CONTENTS 

42 

26 

33 

51 

4 Panels & Furniture Asia | January / February 2021

CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA (ISSUE 1) 

January / February 2021 

6 

Editor’s Note 

8 

News 

Market Report 

18 

2020 rolls into 2021: 

Politics are impactful, but business is business 

20 

Today to 2026: An overview of 

the global wood and furniture market 

22 

Pandemic gins up Russian demand for wooden houses 

Environment Report 

26 

Inside the forests of Papua New Guinea 

Product Highlight 

30 

“All-in” solution for lab board production 

32 

First-of-its-kind 100% UV cured wood coatings 

33 

Moisture measurement reduces costs 

and environmental impact 

Furniture 

Manufacturing 

34 

Innovative solutions for 

batch size one production 

38 

SalvaPush_2000: A wood 

cutting system for Industry 4.0 

Panel 

Manufacturing 

40 

Diamond-tipped saw blades: 

LEUCO increases product lifespan 

with protective coating 

In Person 

42 

Roger&Sons: Giving local trees 

a new lease of life 

Materials 

46 

Tamarack: An Eastern Canadian softwood species 

48 

Global demand for white oak waxes and wanes 

Structural Elements 

51 

Sculptform Showroom: Steam-bent white oak 

creates classy, undulating curves 

Show Preview 

54 

47th China International Furniture Fair Guangzhou 2021 

56 

China International Woodworking Machinery 

& Furniture Raw Materials Fair (Guangzhou) 

/ interzum guangzhou 2021 

Columnists 

58 

Wood preservation treatment using 

the Bethell full-cell process 

62 

Calendar of Events 

63 

List of Advertisers 

Panels & Furniture Asia | January / February 2021 5

FROM THE EDITOR 

New year, renewed hope 

Dear readers, 

Happy new year to one and all! 

This issue bears important market updates 

that could be a good indicator of how the 

global timber industry moves for the rest of 

the year. Judd Johnson, Managing Editor of 

the Hardwood Market Report Publications, 

shares contributing factors behind the rise 

in domestic demand for hardwoods within 

the United States and how it has countered 

supply contractions caused by the COVID-19 

pandemic (p.18). According to Marina Sidorova, 

Publishing Editor of Lesnaya Industriya, Russia 

also sees an increased demand for wooden 

houses – albeit amid fresh challenges (p.22). 

Innovation hasn’t stopped and the woodbased 

panel industry has seen the continuous 

introduction of faster, better and more 

cost-effective technological advances. Here, 

we explore some of the latest products 

in lab board production (p.30), moisture 

measurement (p.33), batch size one production 

(p.34) and cutting systems (p.38 and p.40), 

among others. 

In this edition, we also had the opportunity 

to once again catch up with Roger&Sons, 

a homegrown team of new-age carpenters 

looking to revive the local woodworking 

scene. Much has changed since our last 

conversation in 2017; their latest venture – 

the Local Tree Project – aims to salvage and 

make use of logs from trees that have been 

felled for urban development (p.42). 

It is heartening that our Calendar of Events 

is bursting at the seams with an exciting 

line-up of trade exhibitions scheduled 

slated to be held this year (p.62). After 

a disappointing 2020, with majority of 

the events having been cancelled or 

postponed, organisers are gearing up 

for events that will once again allow the 

convergence of woodworking professionals 

– be it online or in-person. 

Loyal readers may notice that we have 

refreshed the look of our inside pages to 

ring in the new year. The official website 

of Panels & Furniture Asia Group of wood 

magazines (www.panelsfurnitureasia) is 

also set for a full revamp and we’re excited 

to unveil it soon. 

I hope that the new year brings in renewed 

hope and that we may soon see the light 

at the end of the tunnel that 2020 brought 

upon us. 

JO-ANN | Editor 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA 

PABLO SINGAPORE 

Publisher 

William Pang • williampang@pabloasia.com 

Senior Editor 

Pang Yanrong • yanrong@pabloasia.com 

Editor 

Jo-Ann Teo • jo-ann@pabloasia.com 

Business Development Manager 

Pang YanJun • yanjun@pabloasia.com 

Graphic Designer 

Goh Meng Yong • mengyong@pabloasia.com 

Circulation Manager 

Shu Ai Ling • circulation@pabloasia.com 

PABLO BEIJING 

General Manager 

Ellen Gao • pablobeijing@163.com 

PABLO SHANGHAI 

Senior Editor 

Sharon Wu • pabloshanghai@163.net 

HEAD OFFICE 

PABLO PUBLISHING & EXHIBITION PTE LTD 

3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62, #01-23, Link@AMK, 

Singapore 569139 

Tel : +65 6266 5512 

Email: info@pabloasia.com 

www.panelsfurnitureasia.com 

Company Registration No: 200001473N 

Singapore MICA (P) No: 095/08/2020 

REGIONAL OFFICES (CHINA) 

PABLO BEIJING 

Tel : +86 10 6509 7728 

Email : pablobeijing@163.com 

PABLO SHANGHAI 

Tel : +86 21 5238 9737 / 36 

Email : pabloshanghai@163.net 

All rights reserved. Views of writers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher. 

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without prior 

permission in writing from the Publisher and copyright owner. Whilst every care is taken to 

ensure accuracy of the information in this publication, the Publisher accepts no liability for 

damages caused by misinterpretation of information, expressed or implied, within the pages 

of the magazine. All advertisements are accepted on the understanding that the Advertiser is 

authorised to publish the contents of the advertisements, and in this respect, the Advertiser 

shall indemnify the Publisher against all claims or suits for libel, violation of right of privacy 

and copyright infringements. Panels & Furniture Asia is a controlled-circulation magazine 

with two issues a year. It is mailed free-of-charge to readers who meet a set of criteria. 

Paid subscription is available to those who do not fit our terms of control. Please refer to 

subscription form provided in the publication for more details. 

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let's connect! 

Panels & Furniture Asia 

is the official publication of 

Malaysian MDF Manufacturers Association 

 

@panelsfurnitureasia 

Scan to subscribe 

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IN VIETNAM’S 

FURNITURE 

CLUSTER 

www.bifawoodvietnam.com 

18-21 AUGUST 2021 

NEW 

VENUE 

WTC Binh Duong New City EXPO 

Lot A19, Hung Vuong Street, Hoa Phu Ward, 

Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam 

Google Map 

QR code 

Exhibition Site 

WOOD & WOODWORKING MACHINERY EXHIBITION 

Enquiries For International Exhibitors 

Pablo Publishing & Exhibition Pte Ltd 

3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 

#01-23 Link@AMK, 


Tel: (65) 6266 5512 

Email: williampang@pabloasia.com 

info@pabloasia.com 

WeChat 

Jointly organised by 

• BINH DUONG FURNITURE ASSOCIATION (BIFA) • PANELS & FURNITURE Group 

BINH DUONG FURNITURE ASSOCIATION 

Photo: elena rouame, helena lopes, guzman barquin/unsplash

NEWS 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA AND 

PANELS & FURNITURE CHINA 

CELEBRATE 20TH ANNIVERSARY 

Panels & Furniture Asia (PFA) and Panels & 

Furniture China (PFC) are celebrating their 

20th anniversary. In 2000, PFA and PFC were 

founded by William Pang, founder and 

managing director of Panels & Furniture Asia 

Group of wood magazines. 

It is with a vision to provide the wood and 

woodworking industry with timely and 

accurate news, trends and happenings 

that the premium business journals grew 

to become an indispensable tool for the 

industry. 

More than just a magazine, Panels & Furniture 

Group of magazines delivers world-class 

stories such as strong market reports and 

in-depth analyses that help shape trends 

and get people talking in the global timber 

market. With access to powerful business 

and opinion leaders around the world, the 

magazines connect brands across the global 

woodworking landscape. 

Uniquely curious and informed, the premium 

business journals’ readership comprises 

management-level executives from solid 

wood, flooring, furniture, doors, windows 

to wood-based panels and woodworking 

machinery industries. Additionally, many 

architects, builders, designers and engineers 

also use PFA and PFC as resources to influence 

ideas and decisions in building, construction 

and interior design. 

With deep roots in the industry, the magazines 

have also expanded to organise trade shows 

such as BIFA Wood Vietnam, Sylva Wood, 

Malaysian Wood Expo and Hanoi Wood. 

For two decades, PFA and PFC have delivered 

authentic journalism to its readers and will 

continue to so through its world-renowned 

stories and highly recognised events. P 

MTCC RECEIVES PEFC CERTIFICATE 

OF APPRECIATION FOR OUTSTANDING 

FOREST CERTIFICATION EFFORT 

The Malaysian Timber Certification Council 

(MTCC) has been awarded the Certificate of 

Appreciation from the Programme for the 

Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) 

for the greatest increase in PEFC-certified 

forest area. The award was presented at the 

virtual PEFC Awards Ceremony held on 11 

November 2020 in conjunction with PEFC 

International’s 25th General Assembly. The 

Certificate of Appreciation was presented by 

PEFC International Chairman, Peter Latham, 

and PEFC International Secretary General, Ben 

Gunneberg. 

Based in Geneva, PEFC is the world’s biggest 

non-profit, non-governmental organisation for 

forest certification. Since 2009, MTCC has been 

the national governing body that implements 

the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme 

(MTCS) endorsed by PEFC. 

The recognition was given to MTCC for the 

marked increase of 957,583 ha of MTCS/PEFCcertified 

forest area from September 2019 

to September 2020. The total certified forest 

area in 2019 was 4,315,151 ha and increased 

to 5,272,734 ha with the certification of ten 

forest management units (FMUs) in Johor, 

Sabah and Sarawak. This is in addition to the 

existing 20 FMUs, many of which have been 

maintaining their certification for over ten 


CHINESE COMPANIES 

BUYING MORE 

TIMBER VIA BUCE 

NEWS 

In October 2020, companies from China purchased over US$1 

million worth of sawn timber via the Belarusian Universal 

Commodity Exchange (BUCE), exceeding the monthly 

average. BUCE analysts believe that simplification of the 

accreditation procedure contributed to the influx of Chinese 

buyers. 

“Starting from October, Chinese companies have been actively 

participating in exchange trades. One of the reasons – changes 

to the accreditation procedure that made it simpler and less 

time-consuming. As a result, four more buyers joined BUCE 

in October alone, which is quite impressive bearing in mind 

that overall some 13 Chinese residents have become BUCE 

members in 2020,” the BUCE press service reported. 

Besides sawn timber, the list of promising commodities that 

could enjoy steady demand in China includes rapeseed oil, beet 

pulp, meat, sugar and dairy products. The number of requests 

submitted by Chinese businesses willing to buy these products 

has grown significantly of late. P 

years. These include FMUs for the states of Negeri Sembilan, 

Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu, Anap-Muput FMU in 

Sarawak and Segaliud Lokan FMU in Sabah. Despite the overall 

increase, a number of FMUs have their certification suspended 

and withdrawn over the years due to non-conformity with the 

sustainable forest management standard. 

In the award acceptance remarks, MTCC Chairman Kamaruzaman 

Mohamad dedicated the achievement to the concerted effort 

and commitment from the forest managers and stakeholders in 

managing the forest sustainably under the MTCS. 

“We dedicate this award to everyone who has been working 

tirelessly behind the scenes: forest managers in particular, 

and all our stakeholders – civil society and governmental 

organisations, industry, unions and academician – who have 

been supporting our efforts to ensure sustainable forest 

management is implemented, independently assessed 

to the highest standards and continuously monitored for 

improvement. Without this shared vision and commitment to 

sustain our forests for the future, this achievement would not 

have been possible,” he said. Also present at the event was 

MTCC CEO, Yong Teng Koon. 

Apart from certified forest areas, MTCC currently has 382 PEFCcertified 

timber companies under the MTCS. P

NEWS 

LIGNA.21 POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 2021 

LIGNA.21 goes into autumn, 

postponing its original event date 

from May to 27 September to 1 

October 2021. Following intensive 

reflections and discussions, and in 

view of the current developments 

in the global incidence of infections 

in the wake of the COVID-19 

pandemic, Deutsche Messe and the 

German association VDMA have 

jointly decided to postpone LIGNA 

by around five months. 

“Due to the ongoing pandemic, 

increasing restrictions and the 

renewed lockdown, there is great 

uncertainty in the market. We take 

this very seriously,” emphasised Dr 

Andreas Gruchow, Deutsche Messe 

Managing Board member. “The 

decision to postpone LIGNA was a 

very difficult one for us, but it is the 

only consistent measure to give all 

those involved planning security 

and the necessary lead time for 

preparations. The corresponding 

hygiene and protection concept is 

in place, and with the staging of our 

event now in October, it has also 

been proven in practice that events 

in pandemic times can be held 

safely. At LIGNA, we have to take 

into account that entire machine 

parks are designed, assembled and 

presented in live operation with a 

long lead time and at great expense. 

This requires trade show planning 

that takes many months. This can 

only be achieved in conjunction 

with a sufficient number of 

international decision-makers 

on the visitor side. To ensure that 

LIGNA, the world’s leading trade 

show for the sector, can live up 

to this expectation, suppliers and 

users alike must be given sufficient 

planning security for participation 

– and this is significantly higher for 

September/October than for May 

2021.” 

As co-organiser of LIGNA, the VDMA 

also sees the postponement of the 

event date as the only effective 

means of successfully staging the 

world’s most important trade show 

for the international wood industry 

in the interests of all participants. 

“The postponement of LIGNA 

is absolutely necessary. It is the 

world’s most important platform 

for our companies and the 

customers of the woodworking 

and processing industry,” said Dr 

Bernhard Dirr, Managing Director 

of the VDMA Woodworking 

Machinery Association. “The 

industry needs this marketplace. 

With LIGNA in September 2021, we 

want to send out a signal of new 

impetus and investment in the 

global marketplace.” 

“We are already looking forward 

to numerous innovations, 

particularly in the three 

focal themes of LIGNA.21: 

Woodworking Transformation, 

Prefab Building Processes and 

Green Material Processing,” 

added Christian Pfeiffer, Global 

Director, LIGNA & Woodworking 

Shows at Deutsche Messe. “In 

September, LIGNA.21 will be held 

as a hybrid event for the first 

time, underscoring its function 

as a leading industry event and 

presenting the world’s range of 

tools, machinery and equipment 

for woodworking and wood 

processing.” P 

MALAYSIAN TIMBER COUNCIL APPOINTS 

MUHTAR BIN SUHAILI AS NEW CEO 

Muhtar Suhaili has been appointed 

the new Chief Executive Officer 

(CEO) of the Malaysian Timber 

Council (MTC) effective 1 

November 2020. 

Muhtar, who has a Master’s degree 

in Petroleum Technology from 

Curtin University of Technology, 

Australia, and a Bachelor’s degree 

in Mechatronics Engineering from 

the International Islamic University 

of Malaysia, is currently pursuing 

his Doctoral Degree in Business 

Administration. 

Prior to joining MTC, Muhtar was 

the Lead Project Engineer in Shell 

Malaysia where he worked for 

15 years and with Perodua Auto 

Corporation Sdn Bhd prior to 

that. He is also the Chairman of 

Malaysian Palm Oil Certification 

Council. Muhtar has extensive 

knowledge in managing mega 

projects, business planning, 

business improvement initiatives, 

manpower planning and human 

resource development. 

Having work exposure in the 

Netherlands and Germany, he 

also has experience in managing 

engineering design offices. 

“I highly believe with his vast 

experience and knowledge within 

various industries and multinational 

organisations, Muhtar will be 

instrumental in enhancing MTC’s 

efforts in bringing the Malaysian 

timber industry to greater heights,” 

said MTC Chairman Tuan Haji Mazli 

Zakuan Mohd Noor. 

A humanitarian at heart, Muhtar 

has devoted much of his time 

in voluntary social work which 

centres on education and 

healthcare issues, among others. 

He has also presented papers and 

spoken at international arenas 

on industrial development and 

people empowerment, especially 

the youth. P 


NEWS 

ANDRITZ TO SUPPLY SECOND 

MDF PRODUCTION LINE TO 

STARWOOD, TURKEY 

International technology Group 

ANDRITZ has received an order 

from Starwood Orman Urunleri 

Sanayi A.S. to supply a fibre 

production line to its mediumdensity 

fibreboard (MDF) plant 

in İnegöl, Turkey. This will be 

the second fibre production 

line supplied by ANDRITZ to this 

customer. Start-up is scheduled 

for the end of 2021. 

The scope of supply includes 

a complete fibre production 

line including disc chipper, 

chip washing system, and a 

pressurised refining system. 

The latter contains a 60’’ refiner 

and ensures superior fibre 

production with lowest possible 

energy consumption. As raw 

materials, the highly efficient 

chip washing and pressurised 

refining system will have a 

capacity of 32 tons per hour 

and will process 20% to 100% 

pine and 80% to 0% beech 

with 80% moisture content. In 

addition, ANDRITZ will deliver 

another chip washing system 

for an existing MDF production 

line. 

“We’ve already worked with 

ANDRITZ at our plant in Ingeöl 

in 2014, and the cooperation 

was outstanding, which was 

the main reason why we opted 

again for ANDRITZ. They listened 

intently to us to find out what 

ai15821874497_EN_PFA_IMEAS_2020.pdf 1 20/02/20 09:30 

Photo: ANDRITZ 

(L to R) Mehmet Yildiz, President, Starwood; Hüseyin Yildiz, Vice President, 

Starwood; Michael Rupp, Vice President Panelboard, ANDRITZ; and Cihan Ayla, 

Managing Director, Hanex Ltd 

we wanted, and we listened to 

them, learning about the latest 

technological innovations they 

had been working on. The great 

thing about this industry is that we 

can learn from each other as the 

technology advances constantly, 

and ANDRITZ has always been a 

forerunner, providing the most 

modern technological solutions,” 

added Hüseyin Yildiz, Vice 

President at Starwood. 

Starwood is one of the largest 

industrial companies in Turkey 

and produces around 2,000 cubic 

metres of MDF and 3,000 cubic 

metres of chipboard per day. 

Among other business segments, 

the company is specialised in the 

production of thin MDF from 1.5 

mm to 8 mm. Starwood plays a 

major role as a furniture supplier in 

Turkey as well as in other countries 

located in the Middle East. P 

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NEWS 

VIETNAM: PRIVATE SECTOR 

COMMITS TO DEVELOPING 

TIMBER INDUSTRY 

On 9 November 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City, 

representatives of multiple associations 

signed the Commitment on Sustainable and 

Responsible Development of Vietnam’s Wood 

Industry. This Commitment represents a 

comprehensive package of actions toward 

sustainable and responsible development of 

Vietnam’s wood industry sector. 

The associations that signed the commitment 

were the Vietnam Timber & Forest Products 

Association and seven affiliated associations, 

including Binh Duong Furniture Association; 

Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of 

Dong Nai; Forest Products Association of Binh 

Dinh; Handicraft and Wood Industry Association 

of Ho Chi Minh City; Thanh Hoa Timber 

and Forest Product Association; Vietnam 

Plywood Association and Vietnam Wood Chips 

Association. 

Vietnam has emerged as a major wood and 

wood product producer and exporter, and 

the private timber sector players realise that 

timber legality assurance across the entire 

supply chain is vital to business development. 

In September 2021, the government issued 

Decree No.102 regulating the implementation 

of the Vietnam – EU Agreement on Forest Law 

Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/ 

FLEGT). 

With the signing of this Commitment, 

Vietnamese timber enterprises have 

demonstrated determination to support 

government efforts to sustain Vietnam’s 

position as a leading producer and exporter of 

wood products. The document signed commits 

the signatories to: 

• strictly comply with Decree No. 102/2020/ 

ND-CP Decree (VNTLAS Decree) dated 

1 September 2020 of the Government 

on Viet Nam Timber Legality Assurance 

System (VNTLAS), to assure all activities 

relating to importing, exporting, harvesting, 

transporting, buying, selling and processing 

of wood products are legally implemented 

• support the Government of Vietnam in 

enhancing inspection and supervision 

of imported wood, especially tropical 

wood imported from risky/non-active 

geographic areas set out in the VNTLAS 

Decree 

• request all members of the associations 

to strictly comply with the VNTLAS 

Decree; absolutely not to use risky wood 

for manufacturing wood products to 

meet demands from local and overseas 

markets 

• call on the corporate community to 

promote the use of locally planted 

wood and wood imported from low-risk 

sources; priority should be given to wood 

harvested in certified forests 

• promote the development of the 

domestic market in the direction of 

using legally sourced wood, enhance 

wood traceability, transition from risky 

imported wood to locally planted wood 

as well as that of wood products made 

of locally planted wood and low-risk 

imported wood 

• request the Government of Viet Nam 

to issue a public procurement policy 

towards completely eliminating risky 

wood species from public procurement, 

giving priority to products made of 

plantation wood 

• closely collaborate with related 

authorities to detect, prevent and avoid 

commercial fraud and investment 

circumvention in the wood industry 

sector, solicit transparent and 

responsible trade and investment 

operations to generate higher value for 

the wood sector 

• call on the business community and 

relevant stakeholders to join hands 

in building a sustainable forestry, 

enhancing the protection of natural 

forests, conserving biodiversity, 

encouraging the expansion of certified 

forest and supporting the development 

of improved livelihood for forest reliant 

communities 

Photo: Quoc Huynh/Unsplash 

To proceed with the implementation of 

this Commitment, each association will 

develop a road-mapped Action Plan and 

allocate sufficient resources for its effective 

implementation. These Action plans will 

include the following components: 

1. Collaborate with State’s authorities to 

propose, counter-audit and implement 

related mechanisms and policies 

effectively; 

2. Advocate training and provide 

information for member businesses 

and encourage business associations, 

including links with tree growers and 

micro-business households from wood 

villages; 

3. Coordinate with media and 

relevant stakeholders for long-term 

communication campaigns aimed at 

improving images of the wood industry in 

production, trade, markets and products 

development, towards the development 

of a responsible and legal Vietnamese 

timber industry and a sustainable forestry 

sector. 

The leaders of the committed associations 

have reiterated their statement: “WE SAY NO 

TO ILLEGAL TIMBER”. 

As an immediate step in the implementation 

of the Commitment and a joint effort to 

overcome the severe damage caused by the 

natural disaster in the central Vietnam in 

October to November 2020, the signatories 

have decided to establish the Green Vietnam 

Fund. P 

Source: ITTO Tropical Timber Report 


NEWS 

PEFC RECEIVES HIGHEST RATING 

AGAINST ASEAN RAI GUIDELINES 

The Programme for the Endorsement 

of Forest Certification (PEFC) has 

received the highest rating against 

the ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting 

Responsible Investment in Food, 

Agriculture and Forestry (ASEAN RAI) 

launched on 3 November 2020. The ten 

guidelines of the ASEAN RAI are part of 

a broad range of initiatives aiming to 

ensure that investments in the food, 

agriculture and forestry (FAF) sectors 

in the ASEAN region not only comply 

with international frameworks, but 

also remain regionally relevant and 

contextualised. 

Timber Certification Council (MTCC), could easily 

demonstrate alignment with the ASEAN RAI. MTCC 

is the National Governing Body for the Malaysian 

Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), an initiative to 

promote the implementation of sustainable forest 

management that has been endorsed by PEFC 

since 2009. MTCC plays the role as facilitator in the 

development of certification standards, ensuring 

that the development is done in accordance 

with globally-accepted best practices that 

guarantees a transparent, independent and 

inclusive process. MTCC is committed to ensure 

that the MTCS, which is a groundbreaker scheme 

for tropical forest certification scheme in Asia, 

continues to meet and comply with the PEFC 

sustainability benchmarks. P 

12 selected existing FAF industry 

standards and certifications were 

assessed against the ten guidelines. 

Within the forestry industry, PEFC was 

rated 95% while the Forest Stewardship 

Council (FSC) attained 90%. PEFC 

was rated higher due to its regional 

approach. The PEFC Sustainable 

Forest Management principles were 

used for this mapping exercise, where 

the first five principles aligned with 

the ASEAN RAI Guidelines on food 

nutrition, economic development, 

natural resources, climate change, 

and rule of law and governance. The 

sixth PEFC principle (maintenance or 

appropriate enhancement of socioeconomic 

functions and conditions) 

emphasises economic development, 

support to marginalised populations 

(women, young people, indigenous 

people) as well as tenure rights and data 

collection. A partial match was observed 

with Guideline 10 (concerning regional 

approaches) when two of the six PEFC 

principles include specific references 

to regional policy and approaches. 

Overall, the PEFC Sustainable Forest 

Management principles aligned with 9.5 

out of ten of the ASEAN RAI Guidelines. 

With the rating, organisations that are 

already adhering to these selected 

standards, such as the Malaysian

NEWS 

BRAZIL: FOREST SECTOR INVESTMENT WILL 

REACH R$35.5 BILLION BY 2023 

Companies associated with the Brazilian Tree 

Industry (Ibá), which represents the planted 

tree sector, plan to invest R$35.5 billion by 

2023 in forests, new factories, science, and 

technology, according to Ibá's 2020 Annual 

Report, which is now produced in partnership 

with the Brazilian Institute of Economics at 

Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). 

These major investments show the 

sector’s confidence in the green economy 

and consumer preferences for traceable, 

recyclable, and biodegradable products from 

renewable sources that also store carbon 

dioxide. 

“Traceability is imperative for this chain, 

which for over two decades has been not 

only fulfilling but exceeding certification 

requirements... 100% of the raw materials 

from this industry come from planted forests. 

The sector rejects illegal deforestation, and 

actually preserves the most natural areas in 

the country,” said Ibá president Paulo Hartung. 

Investment in research and innovation helps 

to develop more products that are part of 

the circular economy, biodegradable, and 

recyclable, such as more options for green 

fabrics (like viscose made from cellulose) 

and microfibrillated pulp. In 2019, innovation 

accounted for approximately 2% of all 

investment in this segment. 

The annual report shows record gross 

revenues of R$100 billion for this sector, with 

exports contributing US$10.3 billion to the 

trade balance. It represents 1.2% of Brazilian 

GDP and generates 1.3 million jobs and 

opportunities for 3.75 million Brazilians across 

the country. 

The planted tree sector works in over 1,000 

municipalities and has 9 million ha of planted 

Photo: sergio souza/Unsplash 

trees, with another 5.9 million ha set aside for 

conservation. These areas have the combined 

potential to store 4.48 billion tons of CO2eq. 

These companies also are certified for the 

traceability and responsible origin of their 

products, through internationally recognised 

systems like FSC, PEFC, and ISO. The new 

report cites 7.4 million ha of certified areas, an 

area larger than Denmark. P 

AHEC LAUNCHES 

NEW SPECIES AND 

GRADING GUIDE 

The American Hardwood Export Council’s 

(AHEC) Europe team has spent the year 

reimagining AHEC’s technical publications. The 

result brings together the species and grading 

guides into a single “Guide to Sustainable 

American Hardwoods”, complete with lavishly 

illustrated application case studies. The 

new design combines all of the technical 

information on species, applications and the 

NHLA grading rules with updated illustrated 

case studies to provide a publication that is 

informative, educational and inspirational. Its 

aim is to provide one publication that meets 

the needs of a broad target audience, from 

timber traders, through end-users to specifiers. 

The 100-page book contains new information 

on sustainability, detailing the Seneca Creek 

legality risk assessment, the American 

Hardwood Environmental Profile (AHEP) and 

the map showing forest distribution, growth 

and timber removal. Further highlighting 

renewability, each species section gives the 

time taken by the forest to regrow a cubic 

metre, derived from AHEC’s online life cycle 

assessment tool. 

Alongside detailed technical performance 

data, the species section features applications 

of the timber. These range from furniture in 

cherry, maple and red oak created for AHEC’s 

latest design project Connected, to the 40,000 

sqm of red oak used for cladding, flooring and 

glulam screening in Bloomberg’s European 

headquarters in London. There are also new 

sections on thermal modification of American 

hardwoods and cross laminated timber (CLT). It 

is designed in a way that will allow each AHEC 

region to drop in their own case studies so 

that the publication can be printed locally and 

tailored to individual markets as well as being 

offered in a wide range of global languages. 

The book is available to view and download 

online and copies can be pre-ordered through 

the AHEC website. Physical copies have been 

distributed in early December and other 

languages will become available this year. P 


WOODWORKING MACHINERY MARKET TO GROW 

BY US$679.38 MILLION AMID ONGOING RECESSION 

NEWS 

• Woodworking machines are mainly used 

in the furniture industry. The wooden 

furniture and household wooden 

furniture are the basic products that 

are developed using woodworking 

machinery. 

• In residential spaces, furniture is used for 

its usability and aesthetics. Specifically, 

the demand for portable wooden 

furniture is increasing due to the trend of 

shifting homes. 

• Market growth in this segment will be 

slower than the growth of the market in 

the construction and others segments. 

Graphic: BusinessWire 

Technavio’s new woodworking machines 

market report titled Global Woodworking 

Machines Market 2020-2024 indicates neutral 

growth in the short term as the business 

impact of COVID-19 spreads. 

“One of the primary growth drivers for 

this market is the adoption of automated 

woodworking machines,” said a senior analyst 

for the Industrials industry at Technavio. 

As the markets recover, Technavio expects 

the woodworking machines market size to 

grow by US$679.38 million during the period 

2020-2024. 

WOODWORKING MACHINES MARKET 

SEGMENT HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2020 

• The woodworking machines market is 

expected to post a year-over-year growth 

rate of 1.19%. 

REGIONAL ANALYSIS 

• 34% of the growth will originate from the 

Asia Pacific (APAC) region. 

• Factors such as economic advancements 

and population explosion will 

significantly drive woodworking 

machines market growth in this region 

over the forecast period. 

• China and India are the key markets for 

woodworking machines in APAC. Market 

growth in this region will be faster than 

the growth of the market in other regions. 

Source: BusinessWire 

The increasing focus toward ensuring 

flexibility and highly personalised products 

in the woodworking industry has increased 

the need for highly specialised woodworking 

machinery in the production process. This 

leads to the integration of automation 

technologies into traditional woodworking 

machinery. With the use of automated and 

IoT-enabled equipment, this integration is 

gaining prominence among all functions 

within and outside the company floor. 

Automated standalone machines are also 

flexible enough to find easy integration 

with other machinery and monitoring 

systems in the wood industry with the 

help of software; this enables the large 

industrial plants to partially shift toward 

the automated production process hence 

ensuring high performance and flexibility of 

production process with low human resource 

requirement. 

Photo: Andrew Ruiz/Unsplash 


NEWS 

IPCO APPOINTS 

ROBERT HERMANS 

AS NEW CEO 

“I am very excited to take on the role as 

CEO of IPCO and I’m convinced that we 

together can take IPCO to new levels by 

developing and building on the company’s 

unique strengths and opportunities in the 

market place,” said Hermans. 

The Board of Directors at IPCO has appointed 

Robert Hermans as the new chief executive 

officer (CEO) starting May 2021 at the latest. 

Hermans is currently Executive Vice President 

and deputy CEO of Gunnebo AB and in charge 

of the business unit Entrance Control. 

“We are happy to welcome Robert Hermans 

as the new CEO. Robert Hermans is highly 

regarded as a leader and has a solid 

industrial experience of developing and 

growing organisations and businesses. He 

has the characteristics needed to secure 

IPCO’s continued development. The Board 

of Directors and FAM strongly believe in IPCO 

and will support Robert Hermans in reaching 

these goals,” said Håkan Buskhe, Chairman 

of IPCO. 

Hermans is a Swedish national with 

an extensive international experience 

having lived and worked in France, 

South Africa, Switzerland and the UK 

for almost 20 years. He is 52 years old 

and has a Master of Science in Business 

Administration from Uppsala University 

and an MBA from Stockholm School of 

Economics. P 

DOMOTEX 2021 

TO BE HELD AS 

FULLY DIGITAL 

EVENT 

After initially being postponed from January 

to May 2021, DOMOTEX will no longer take 

place as a hybrid trade show format this year 

due to the current global COVID-19 situation. 

Organisers have announced that the pandemic 

makes it impossible to plan and organise 

a physical presence on site in Hannover, 

Germany, as the world’s leading trade show 

for carpets and floor coverings. Currently, 

an alternative digital business platform is 

planned in the form of DOMOTEX DIGITAL 

DAY on 20 May 2021. The focus element of 

this platform is a digital conference that will 

address current and forward-looking topics in 

the international flooring industry. 

“Trade shows like DOMOTEX, which are 

characterised by a very high level of 

internationality on both sides, amongst 

exhibitors as well as visitors, have a long 

planning period. Following the recent surge 

in global coronavirus cases, accompanied by 

lockdowns, worldwide travel warnings and 

restrictions and quarantine requirements, 

we now have had to make this decision. 

Unfortunately, for the first time in its 32- 

year history, we will not be able to organise 

DOMOTEX in 2021 as a physical trade show 

on our exhibition grounds in Hannover. 

Even a hybrid DOMOTEX is not realistic in 

the current situation, as it would require a 

certain proportion of physical exhibitors and 

visitors on-site, combined with travel from 

all parts of the world. We have therefore 

decided to organise DOMOTEX as a purely 

digital event, in order to give our customers 

the necessary planning security from now 

on,” said Dr Andreas Gruchow, Member of the 

Management Board of Deutsche Messe AG, 

commenting on the final decision. 

With the new format DOMOTEX 

DIGITAL DAY, Deutsche Messe is 

acknowledging the importance of 

rapidly increasing online channels in 

the flooring industry. The digital event 

will therefore also put a special focus 

on digitalisation aspects. 

DOMOTEX 2021 will take place as a 

digital-only event on 20 May. The next 

hybrid DOMOTEX is scheduled for 13 

to 16 January 2022 at the Hannover 

Exhibition Grounds. P 


W O O D & W O O D W O R K I N G 

20-22 JANUARY 2021 

HANOIWOOD 2022 

河内木工机械展 

NEW DATE: 

22-24 FEBRUARY 2022 

Venue: 

International Centre of Exhibition 

(I.C.E ), Hanoi 

91 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem 

District, Hanoi , Vietnam 

QR Code to exhibition 

location on Google Map 

JOINTLY ORGANISED BY 

F A I R 

M A C H I N E R Y T R A D E 

Pablo Shanghai 

Contact: Rain Ma 

Mobile: (86) 182 1755 3837 

Email: 2229204646@qq.com 

BINH DUONG FURNITURE ASSOCIATION 

PANELS & FURNITURE GROUP 

VIETNAM TIMBER AND 

FOREST PRODUCT ASSOCIATION 

PLEASE CONTACT: 


3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 #01-23 Link@AMK 


Tel: (65) 6266 5512 Mobile: (65) 9621 4283 

Email: williampang@pabloasia.com

MARKET REPORT 

2020 rolls into 2021: 

Politics are impactful, 

but business is business 

By Judd Johnson, Managing Editor, Hardwood Market Report Publications 

Rather than speculating about possible effects 

on international trade from the November 

2020 US presidential election, this article will 

better serve its purpose by concentrating on 

business – specifically, current trends in US 

hardwood supply and demand, and factors 

influencing supply and demand. 

First, the US/China trade war. From the 

second half of 2018 until now, the volume 

of US hardwood lumber traded to China fell 

to approximately half of that in 2017. This 

occurred despite that fact that US sales prices 

decreased by more than the tariffs levied by 

the Chinese government. 

US sawmills shifted production to other 

products. Market outlets capable of accepting 

additional volume at that time traditionally 

use lower grade lumber and industrial lumber 

and timbers. For example, sawmills sold #1C 

and even Fas Red Oak to US Oak strip flooring 

manufacturers, which use #2A&3A Oak as 

primary raw materials. The problem with this 

business is that sawmills could not attain full 

value for #1C and Fas. 

On the positive side, US hardwood activity 

with China began to increase in Q4 2019. The 

Chinese government announced in mid- 

February 2020 that tariffs on US hardwoods 

would be suspended for a year. There was 

already a growing sense that US/China 

business was gaining momentum at that 

time. This reprieve from tariffs added even 

more encouragement about improving trade 

volumes and price recovery. 

Also, at that time, the world was aware China 

was contending with a new coronavirus. It 

was initially perceived to be a problem in 

China and for China to resolve, not unlike the 

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and 

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), 

which were mostly confined geographically. 

Obviously, this perception was wrong. 

The effects from the COVID-19 pandemic on 

US hardwood production were immediate and 

substantial. Contraction of this magnitude 

(-25.6% loss in volume in 2020 from 2019) is 

comparable to that only of a major economic 

downturn such as the Great Recession (-29.2% 

in 2009 from 2008). Coupled with the weakened 

financial position from the trade war, many 

US hardwood lumber concentration yards and 

sawmills were forced to close. 

Government efforts to mitigate the pandemic 

caused downturns in US domestic markets. 

Reportedly, some market sectors lost as 

much as 50% of their sales due to shutdowns 

of customers’ businesses that were deemed 

“non-essential”. Even though most of those 

companies have since returned to work, sawmill 

production was sharply reduced at that time 

and has been very slow to recover (Figure 1). 

Once again, US hardwood sawmills needed 

to pivot production to other products. This 

time, many shifted to softwoods. Because of 

resistance in hardwood lumber markets and 

better opportunities with softwoods, each 

Eastern US hardwood lumber producing region 

(Northern, Appalachian and Southern) has 

experienced meaningful production shifts to 

softwoods since the COVID-19 outbreak. 

DOMESTIC US DEMAND FOR HARDWOODS ON 

THE RISE 

The pandemic is restricting human activity 

worldwide, but it is not stopping human activity. 

Ironically, COVID-19 has actually strengthened 

Sawmills also processed more logs into 

crossties. Ties were readily saleable then and 

often priced higher than lumber that otherwise 

would be produced from those same logs. 

However, this was also a case of diminishing 

returns, as sawmills could not recover their 

costs for high-valued sawlogs from producing 

ties or other industrial products. It was not a 

sustainable solution. 

The impact on Eastern US hardwood sawmill 

output from the US/China trade war was 

moderate, given the circumstances. The 

production makeup changed substantially, 

but volumes decreased only 1.5% in 2018 and 

7.2% in 2019. However, the financial impact on 

US hardwood sawmills from the trade war and 

China’s slower economy is severe and lasting. 

Figure 1. Eastern US hardwood sawmill production 


MARKET REPORT 

Figure 2. Population of the US by generation 

Figure 3. Eastern US hardwood sawmill production 

some human needs and desires that have 

benefitted US hardwoods in many ways. 

As US state and local government restrictions 

eased, retail activity for home furnishings 

surged. The upturn is attributed to consumers 

being shut in for a period of time, as well as 

those who are still working remotely from home. 

Along with pent-up demand, there also 

are indications that higher-valued home 

furnishings and interior fittings are more 

important to US consumers than before. Since 

they spend much more time in their homes, 

homeowners want nice surroundings and are 

willing to invest in upgrades. This trend is seen 

in retail statistics, as well as in the historically 

elevated amounts of spending for remodeling 

houses. 

Increasing new residential construction is 

another significant development in demand 

for US hardwoods and hardwood products. 

Construction of new single-family housing in 

the US had been below static demand since 

the Great Recession, creating what is now 

a chronic and, in certain cities and states, 

severe shortage of housing. That is beginning 

to change. Construction of new single-family 

houses since August 2020 reached what 

economists say is a level equal to static 

demand in the US (approximately 1.1 million 

units annually). 

This good news on US housing demand gets 

better. As US residential construction recovers 

to a level of traditional static demand, it is 

important to note that the US population of 

potential home buyers is increasing. Moreover, 

it is increasing to historically high levels. 

Consequently, the static level of housing 

demand for the US Baby Boom generation 

and Generation X is not sufficient for the 

Millennial generation or for the one behind 

that: Generation Z (Figure 2). 

The higher level of housing demand effects 

a higher level of demand for all components 

that go into home construction. It effects 

demand for interior finishes and furnishings 

the same way. Consider the influence by 

Baby Boomers on demand for US hardwood 

lumber by viewing the Eastern US hardwood 

sawmill production graph (Figure 3). The peak 

of sawmill production was near the peak of 

home-buying activity by that generation. Now, 

consider the possibilities of the Millennial 

generation, which is 19% larger than the Baby 

Boom generation, and Generation Z, which 

currently is 16% larger. 

There is no way to know for certain if either 

of these generations will follow the same 

pattern of homeownership as Baby Boomers. 

But studies have shown homeownership is a 

priority for Millennials, and at the most basic 

level, people must have shelter. 

In closing, the duration of the monumental 

decline in Eastern US hardwood sawmill 

production has left hardwood lumber 

supplies thin. At the same time, business 

is recovering worldwide after the initial 

pandemic shutdowns. There is an added 

element of demand stemming from 

repressed consumer activity during the 

shutdowns. 

More substantially are the two successive, 

historically large populations of up-andcoming 

homebuyers in the US that could 

elevate housing demand and everything 

that goes with it. Considering the potentials 

from this unfolding event, this may be the 

first time since 1999 when business for US 

hardwoods is influenced by net increases 

in demand rather than the continual 

contraction experienced these past 20 

years. 

Much of that demand for US hardwoods 

will come from international markets 

manufacturing goods for US housing. The 

US hardwood industry has proven time 

and again that it has the resources and 

resourcefulness to adapt to the market’s 

needs. This potential upturn in demand will 

be no exception. P 

Hardwood Market Report (HMR) is the leading source of pricing and market information 

for North American hardwoods. It has provided reliable, expert analysis of pricing and 

market trends to hardwood companies throughout the world since 1922. Sample copies 

and subscription services for HMR and all other HMR publications are available online at 

www.hmr.com. 


MARKET REPORT 

Today to 2026: 

An overview of 

the global wood & 

furniture market 

According to a study conducted by 

market research and consulting firm 

Global Market Insights (GMI), the global 

market size of windows and door frames is 

set to surpass US$134 billion by 2026. GMI 

highlights contributing factors behind 

this growth, the impact of COVID-19 

on the wood and furniture industries, 

and forecasts for the coming years. 

Photo: Nataliya Vaitkevich / Pexels 

The increase in new construction 

projects, as well as renovation made 

to existing sites, will contribute to 

the growth of the furniture market. 

A rising population will augment 

the demand for new construction 

serving residential, commercial 

and commodity requirements. 

Commercialisation, improving 

situation of public finances and public 

funding in Indonesia, Thailand, India 

and China will create a huge demand 

for window and door profiles over 

the forecast period. The introduction 

of modern technologies, such as the 

use of uPVC (unplasticized polyvinyl 

chloride) and smart windows, will also 

support the demand for these systems 

due to their total recyclability, lower 

weight, lesser maintenance and good 

thermal insulation. 

The Asia-Pacific region’s windows 

and doors market was valued at 

US$44 billion in 2019 and is projected 

to surpass US$60 billion by 2026 on 

account of massive construction 

spending scheduled during the 

forecast timeframe. A paradigm shift 

in the manufacturing sector from 

the west to the east, primarily due to 

availability of abundant raw material 

suppliers and skilled workforce, will 

complement industry growth in the 

region. Globally, the windows and 

doors market was valued at US$104 

billion in 2019 and is projected to 

reach US$134 billion by 2026. Robust 

spending on home remodeling in the 

US and Europe, along with increasing 

commercial infrastructure in Eastern 

Europe, Latin America and the Middle 

East, will positively impact the global 

windows and doors market. 

WOOD INDUSTRY 

The wood industry is a mature market 

due to its wide application spectrum 

across multiple sectors including 

furniture, energy/fuel, construction 

material, paper/pulp, and tools/ 

weapons, etc. Wood derivates, in the 

form of cellulose, are majorly used 

and have indispensable application 

in various verticals including food, 


MARKET REPORT 

Photo: Blaz Erzetic / Unsplash 

pharmaceuticals and textiles, among 

others. Hence, strong growth indicators 

in the abovementioned sectors will 

subsequently boost the wood market 

in the coming years. 

In 2020, the global wood sector was 

adversely affected by the COVID-19 

pandemic, majorly due to irregular raw 

material supply, partially due to trade 

restrictions and the total shutdown of 

logistics in major economies. However, 

with the easing of restrictions, the 

production and consumption of 

wood pellets for energy production 

is expected to increase. Moreover, 

positive growth indicators contributed 

by “green” buildings are good 

opportunities for the wood and 

furniture sector, as the demand 

for wood will increase due to the 

expansion of sustainable construction 

aimed at limiting environmental risks. 

For instance, the government of the 

Russian Federation has approved 

large-scale incentives for the purchase 

of wooden houses. The 2018 provision 

will subsidise mortgage rates to 

individuals purchasing prefabricated 

wooden houses from manufacturers. 

The wood and furniture sectors 

are moderately regulated and thus 

witnesses challenges that may 

slightly and negatively impact smooth 

business trade and operations across 

international borders. The belowmentioned 

trends are some of the 

challenges prevailing in the wooden 

sectors: 

• China and the US levied customs 

duties of 25% on imports of wood 

and wood-based products. Hence, 

the American timber industry 

experienced a hard hit, with 60% 

of its exports going to China. US 

timber exports to China dropped 

from US$1.7 billion to US$1 billion 

between 2017 and 2018 primarily 

due to the decrease in hardwood 

supply, which accounted for the 

largest share of US wood exports to 

China. 

• US customs duties on imports of 

softwood lumber from Canada 

have had a heavy impact on the 

Canadian lumber industry, with 

Canada exporting 70% of its 

exports of softwood lumber to the 

US. 

• In North America, tariffs will 

continue to have a negative impact 

on the wood industry, whether due 

to trade tensions between the US 

and China or levied on Canadian 

timber by the US. 

• The complexities around Brexit 

and the difficulties faced by the 

construction industry in some 

countries, such as Great Britain 

and Italy, are likely to impact the 

sector in Europe. 

• In Latin America, 2019 was a tough 

year for the industry as production 

of wood and wood-based products 

decreased. The developments in 

the wood industry in Brazil, Mexico 

and Argentina represent the 

challenges faced by the sector over 

the past year. Between January 

and September 2019, wood 

product manufacturing in Brazil 

dropped by 5% compared to the 

previous year. 

Nevertheless, the woodworking sector 

is likely to exhibit gains of close to 4% 

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 

between 2020 and 2026 on account of 

the following factors: 

• The wooden furniture market will 

grow at a CAGR of over 5% and 

shall exceed revenue generation of 

US$525 billion in 2026. Moreover, 

wood accounts for approximately 

65% demand share in the overall 

furniture market. 

• There is an increasing use of paper 

and board/pulp-based sustainable 

packaging solutions (eg, 

corrugated boxes, molded pulp, 

paper honeycomb, paperboards, 

etc). 

• The cellulose market size was 

valued at over US$210 billion in 

2019 and is estimated to exhibit 

2.9% CAGR from 2020 to 2026. 

The rising paper production, 

along with increasing adoption 

of cellulose fiber in the textile 

industry in emerging economics, is 

expected to subsequently drive the 

wood market. 

• Wood has one of the highest 

recycling rates among all 

materials that are used in bulk. 

The global average recycling rate 

falls in the range of 55% to 60% 

and some developed regions such 

as Europe have a recycling rate of 

more than 70%. P 


MARKET REPORT 

Pandemic gins up 

Russian demand 

for wooden houses 

By Marina Sidorova 

During a meeting on the development and 

decriminalisation of the timber complex, 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the 

wooden construction of prefabricated houses 

offered great development opportunities. 

The Russian leader also demanded that any 

obstacles interfering with the development of 

this segment be obliterated. 

“All legal barriers must be eliminated in order 

to develop this field,” stressed the President. 

“This is important to be able to resolve housing 

problems of citizens that will have additional 

opportunities to build their own houses as well 

as to develop the building industry, to create 

new jobs at wood processing enterprises.” 

Photo: Pavel Neznanov / Unsplash 

De-urbanisation became a new trend in 

2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has egged 

urban dwellers towards possibly resettling in 

country houses. And more and more prefer 

wooden houses. 

In 2020, the Russian market for wooden 

house construction continued growing. The 

number of requests for the construction of 

wooden houses in March to April 2020 grew 

by 30% compared to the same period in 

2019. The overall production, construction 

and sale of timber houses grew by 10% to 

15% within six months. In 2019, the wooden 

house construction segment in the total house 

building sector increased by 1.4 percentage 

points to 22.4%, as the Rosstat (Russian 

Statistics Agency) declares. This has been 

the highest estimate since 2014. Experts 

from the Wood Housing Association of the 

Russian Federation claim that this growth is 

driven mainly by deferred demand; because 

of the pandemic, under restrictions and 

self-isolation, most people who planned to 

purchase real estate assets in the next few 

years began to think, among other things, of 

building a cottage as an alternative to buying 

an apartment, giving preference to timber 

houses. 

“The present-day situation in the wooden 

housing market shapes quite well,” said 

Vadim Fidarov, Director for government 

relations of the Wood Housing Association 

of the Russian Federation, a member of the 

Timber Processing Business Committee at 

the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 

the Russian Federation. “Most enterprises 

and building contractors are overloaded 

for the next several months, while some of 

them accept orders for the next year already. 

It is hard to say yet if the number of orders 

decreases in the autumn and winter of 2021.” 

The unstable currency exchange rate has been 

putting a crimp in the extraordinary demand of 

low-height housing construction too. 

MORTGAGE SERVICES: EXPENSIVE AND 

INOPERATIVE 

The unavailability of acceptable loan-based 

financing for construction of wooden houses is 

one of the barriers. The banks grant loans for 

these purposes with considerable reluctance 

because they think that a wooden house is a 

high-risk investment. To boost the demand for 

wooden houses, the Ministry of Industry and 

Trade has set up a subsidisation programme 

for purchasing prefabricated wooden houses, 

reimbursing bank costs from the federal 

budget resources. In April 2020, the Ministry of 

Industry and Trade introduced amendments in 

the regulations on subsidisation of mortgage 

credits for the construction of wooden houses. 

Restrictions on total revenues and other claims 

on contractors and vendors were removed. 

Before this, the manufacturer’s revenue had 

to be at least 200 million rubles. The ministry 

guaranteed a lump sum subsidy of 10% of 

the house value, while before they assumed 

to renew the concessional lending period 

each year, but the state did not guarantee 

the extension. Besides, the person does not 

get money in their hand but instead the bank 

delivers the loan amount to the contractor 

(vendor). 

The new version of the regulations allows for 

funding the initial instalment of up to 350,000 

rubles in loans for purchasing prefabricated 

wooden houses that cost less than 3.5 million 

rubles. Fidarov explained that 3.5 million 

rubles is not a loan amount but the maximum 

contractual cost of the house or prefabricated 

house. The programme grants a subsidy of 10% 

of this amount as the initial instalment. 


MARKET REPORT 

The banks must deliver requests for 

participation in this programme to the Ministry 

of Industry and Trade from 15 May to 15 

June. Yet, the Wooden Housing Association 

of the Russian Federation reports that none 

of the banks has stated their willingness to 

participate in the programme. 

“By now, none of the banks has signed the 

agreement with the Ministry of Industry 

and Trade. So, unfortunately, de facto, the 

programme that many purchasers have been 

waiting for eagerly has not gotten rolling 

yet, even though it should be noted that the 

Ministry of Industry and Trade has been calling 

up the banks to discuss this document since 

it was drafted,” explained Fidarov. “Besides, 

even with subsidies, the rates of interest of 

loans from the Russian banks for construction 

or purchasing of a country house are not low at 

all – about 15%. For reference, the average rate 

of mortgage loans for 20 years in the United 

States is 3%. Still, the Ministry of Industry and 

Trade has been seeking ways to rearrange the 

programme.” 

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK 

Daria Strelchenko, Head of the Moscow 

Office of “Rus” Company Group, believes that 

the development of the wooden housing 

construction in Russia is affected by the 

outdated regulatory system which should have 

been updated a long time ago. There is no 

systematic state support for wooden housing 

construction either. 

“It affects not only individual housing 

construction (IHC), but construction of 

commercial, sports, recreation and public 

facilities too. One of the ways in which the 

government could lend support would be 

Photo: Artem Maltsev / Unsplash 

introduction of quotas for use of timber in the 

total amount of construction (eg, for sports 

facilities),” said Strelchenko. “Such solutions 

could significantly strengthen the positioning 

of timber positions as a construction material.” 

In March 2020, the Ministry of Industry and 

Trade put out for public consultation a draft of 

the government programme, “Development of 

individual housing construction in the Russian 

Federation”, which provides for stimulation 

of comprehensive development, launching 

IHC mortgage loans, industrial approaches to 

production and construction, application of 

prefabricated houses, arrangements on the 

IHC market standardisation, improvement 

of quality and saleability of private houses, 

reduction of credit investor risks, IHC 

stimulation by engaging specialist contractors, 

and market expansion by drawing into 

circulation new land parcels. President Putin 

ordered such a programme as far back as 

February 2019. By 2024, the yearly amount of 

IHC must exceed 40 million sqm. However, due 

to the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme 

may see fundamental changes or have its 

approval postponed. 

At the same time, the Ministry of Construction, 

Housing and Utilities, DOM.RF and Strelka 

Design Bureau have drawn up standards 

for the overall development of territories 

assuming an integrated construction approach. 

The standard offers ready-made solutions 

for planning residential quarters, housing 

estates, public spaces and apartments. The 

document provides for three models in urban 

development: low-rise, mid-rise buildings and 

central areas. Thus, according to the standard, 

the quarter surface shall not exceed 5 ha, the 

maximum building height is nine floors, the 

minimum building height is four floors, while 

the ceiling height in apartments shall be at 

least 2.8 metres. 

Denis Filippov, DOM.RF’s Fund Director 

General, says that the company has already 

begun to apply the standard in actual practice. 

“For example, all the requests for residential 

quarters offered for lease undergo expert 

review for compliance with the key 

principles of the standard, and we provide 

recommendations on eventual improvement. 

Such projects will have a profound effect on 

the increase of the Urban Environment Quality 

Index, which is necessary within the framework 

of the “housing and urban environment” 

national project,” said Filippov. According to 

him, the pandemic has fuelled the growing 

interest in the projects that comply with the 

standard of comprehensive development of 

territories. 

“When working remotely, people do not want 

to leave their quarters, but wish to be able to 

solve all their domestic problems in the near 

vicinity. Thus, the introduction of the standard 

of comprehensive development of territories 

has become a real hot issue, because it will 

make it possible to arrange a comfortable and 

liveable urban environment,” commented 

Filippov. 

“Thanks to the standards of comprehensive 

development of territories worked out by the 

Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities, 

offering construction of low-rise and mid-rise 

wooden houses, we have a great opportunity 

to promote the wooden housing construction 

in this country,” stated Viktor Evtukhov, State 

Secretary/Deputy Minister of Industry and 

Trade of the Russian Federation. 

Another factor holding down the use of 

timber for construction is insufficient research 

activities on the application of new woodbased 

materials despite how the application 

of such materials (eg, cross-laminated timber 

[CLT] panels, laminated veneer lumber [LVL] 

beams, Massiv-Holz-Mauer [MHM], fibre mat 

load-carrying boards and laminated wood 

construction) could significantly improve 

the wooden housing construction in terms 

of durability, reliability, fire safety and the 

admissible number of floors. 

“Wooden constructions are great to use in 

earthquake zones,” explained Fidarov. “But 

serious investigations have been carried out in 

this field for decades. Insufficient researches 

in this sphere precondition an excessive 

consumption of timber.” The problem is that, 

without precise physical and mechanical 

properties of some materials, constructions 

and their load-carrying capacities, designers 

have to be overcautious and over design, 

directly affecting the final cost of houses. By 

now, high-rise wooden housing construction 

has been governed by the two code 


MARKET REPORT 

specifications: “Multi-apartment buildings of 

wooden constructions: Design and construction 

regulations” and “Public buildings of wooden 

constructions”. 

“This is really a great leap forward because 

these regulations allow for construction of 

wooden houses of up to 28 metres,” said 

Fidarov. 

Three more code specifications will be ready 

this year: “Residential and public buildings with 

wooden frameworks: Design and construction 

regulations”, “Buildings and constructions 

of laminated timber beams: Design and 

construction regulations” and “Round-log 

residential and public buildings: Design and 

construction regulations”. In 2020, the Technical 

Standardization Committee TK465 admitted 

to examination a respective application for 

design justification of the Wooden Housing 

Association. The documents will be developed 

by the specialist experts of the Saint-Petersburg 

State University of Architecture and Civil 

Engineering, Wooden Housing Association and 

the Kucherenko Central Scientific Research 

Institute for Building Structures. The new 

code specifications, “Residential and public 

buildings with wooden frameworks: Design 

and construction regulations”, will be applied 

on a wider scale either in regard to various 

frame technologies or types of buildings 

including multi-apartment houses and public 

buildings. “Buildings and constructions 

of laminated timber beams: Design and 

construction regulations” and “Round-log 

residential and public buildings: Design and 

construction regulations”, will be entirely new 

for Russia and will help establish new quality 

standards in construction. Thus, they will serve 

as benchmarks either for wooden housing 

purchasers, or producers and builders. Experts 

from the Wooden Housing Association believe 

that application of the new construction 

rules will help increase the marketability and 

attraction value of constructed buildings for 

banks and insurance companies. 

“We have sent some proposals on the 

development of wooden housing construction 

to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and to the 

Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities,” 

said Fidarov. “They relate to technical standards 

and regulations; use of designs; creation of 

a catalogue of standard wooden houses and 

buildings for complex construction; mortgage 

mechanisms; increasing marketability of 

wooden houses; and intensive practical 

application of design and construction of longspan 

laminated timber in the construction of 

public facilities, pavilions, swimming pools, 

playing courts, drill halls, etc. The fire resistance 

of such constructions is higher than that of 

metals; upon reaching some temperature, 

metals begin melting and lose their loadcarrying 

capabilities. While timber charrs, they 

retain their load carrying capabilities two or 

four times as long as metal structures.” 

ACE IN THE HOLE 

Strelchenko believes that another problem in 

the construction of wooden housing is a low 

level of awareness among potential customers 

about the advantages of modern industrial 

wooden structures and materials. She thinks 

that producers should run broader promotional 

campaigns, while governmental agencies 

should promote construction of wood-based 

public and social facilities. 

“There are some reasons as to why the wooden 

housing construction in Russia is not so 

popular as it is in the Western world,” said State 

Secretary Evtukhov in his report to the National 

Forest Forum. “One of them is the promotion 

of mass wooden housing construction. In such 

countries as Finland and Sweden, there are 

entire residential quarters of high-rise wooden 

houses that are in heavy demand although their 

price is the same as concrete constructions. In 

the Nordic countries, multi-storey prefabricated 

wooden houses are highly demanded by the 

people; they are quickly erectable, eco-friendly, 

comfortable, attractive and provided with a 

well-developed infrastructure. So, one of the 

main present tasks is to bring to the knowledge 

of our citizens the advantages of living in 

wooden houses.” 

According to Fidarov, the popularity of 

wooden buildings may rise if used in the 

sphere of domestic tourism. For example, 

they could be reasonably used in hard-toreach 

places, on weak soils or recreational 

forest reserve lands. But to have more wooden 

buildings, another problem must be resolved: it 

is necessary to engage designers and architects 

who, for now, hold timber in low regard. Few 

architects and designers know how to work 

with wood. 

“Today, the training of design engineers on how 

to work with wood is neglected,” said Fidarov. 

“Many of them do not know how to work with 

wooden constructions. Much is to be done to 

incorporate such training in the educational 

system, while acting companies should work 

out an advanced training and retraining 

system.” 

Sergey Albitsky, construction expert of 

political group ONF (All-Russia People’s Front) 

Archangelsk Branch, believes that wood 

processing technologists should be engaged 

at the design stage so that they can give smart 

recommendations on details and processes. 

PILOT PROJECTS 

As Evtukhov says, construction of wooden 

country residential quarters will have a 

significant effect on the demand in this industry. 

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 

today mid-rise multi-storey wooden houses 

have been built in Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, 

Tver, Kostroma, Orenburg, Omsk regions and 

the Republic of Sakha. 101 municipal wooden 

buildings have been constructed in Voronezh 

since 2014. 

Currently, the first project using mass wooden 

construction is under way in Pomorye, including 

the subsidisation of loans for purchasing such 

houses. Albitsky reports that 96 of 147 houses 

built in the Arkhangelsk region under the 

resettlement programme are wooden. 

“The timber application in construction is very 

broad,” said Boris Labudin, DEng, professor 

at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University. 

“Beside living houses, timber can be used for 

construction of industrial and public facilities, 

service buildings and rural health posts.” 

Such projects exist already, yet until now 

these are more likely rare cases than mass 

construction events. For example, a 52-metre 

walking bridge constructed using laminated 

timber has been built in Kemerovo with a 

clear bearing arch span of 51.56 metres and 

axial arch height of 8.87 metres. The main 

load carrying beams of the superstructure are 

wooden three-pinned arches. 1.1-metre-high 

bridge railings will be made of larch. Etalon 

Group intends to build a city quarter of CLTpanels 

in Moscow. House design activities are 

also under way. P 


5 th Edition 

ASIA’S SPECIALISED 

WOOD MATERIALS 

WOOD PRODUCTS 

TRADE SHOW 

by Panels & Furniture Group of wood magazinesw w w . s y l v a w o o d e x p o . c o m 

28 th -30 th JUNE 2021 

SHANGHAI 

CHINA 

VENUE: 

99 XING YI ROAD 

SHANGHAI CHINA 

JOINTLY ORGANISED BY 

WeChat 

China Timber & 

Wood Products 

Distribution Association 

Shanghai 

Timber Trade 

Association 

Shanghai Pablo 

Exhibition Co., Ltd. 

Enquiries For International Exhibitors 


Tel: +(65) 6266 5512 

Email: williampang@pabloasia.com 

ENDORSED BY 

American 

Hardwood 

Export Council 

French 

Timber 

Softwood 

Export Council 

Canada Wood 

Thai Timber 

Association 

Malaysian 

Timber 

Council 

National 

Hardwood Lumber 

Association

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 

Inside the forests of 

Papua New Guinea 

By Jo-Ann Teo 

According to 2020 data, PNG has a population 

of around 8,947,000, of which approximately 

13% live in urbanised areas. Around 98% of 

the population is Melanesian, while the rest 

are Micronesian, Polynesian, Chinese and 

Western. According to Ethnologue, PNG has 

839 living indigenous languages, and the 

official languages include English, Tok Pisin 

and Hiri Motu. 

Vector by: https://freevectormaps.com 

Papua New Guinea is one of the most 

culturally diverse countries in the world 

yet one of the least explored. This article 

provides readers with an introduction to 

this island country, and summarises the 

findings of a Chinese company’s research 

endeavours to in a bid to develop 780,000 

ha of land for large-scale agricultural and 

forestry utilisation. 

NATURAL RESOURCES 

PNG is the world’s third largest island 

country, and is culturally and geographically 

one of the least explored. With such a vast 

number of natural resources, researchers 

believe that there are many species of 

flora and fauna waiting to be discovered. 

The country has an abundance of mineral 

resources such as copper, gold, chromium, 

nickel, submarine natural gas and oil, as well 

as forest resources. 

According to the Global Forest Resources 

Assessment 2020 by the Food and Agriculture 

Organization of the United Nations, PNG is 

among the top ten countries in the world 

with the highest percentage of forest area 

compared to total land area, with almost 35.86 

million hectares (76%). 1 

Copyright © Free Vector Maps.com 

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an Oceanian 

island country located in the southwestern 

Pacific Ocean, to the north of Australia and 

east of Indonesia’s Irian Jaya Province. Made 

up of the eastern half of New Guinea; the 

Bismarck Archipelago; Bougainville Island; 

Buka Island; as well as hundreds of small 

offshore islands and atolls, PNG has a total 

surface area of approximately 462,840 km 2 . Its 

capital and largest city, Port Moresby, sits on the 

southwestern coast of the island of New Guinea. 

Photo: JulesR / Pixabay 

Sitting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Papua New Guinea 

is home to a large number of active volcanoes 



Photo: ianknabel66 / Pixabay 

A large number of the rural population lives primitively in tribes, and their main mode of transport is by boat 

CLIMATE AND WEATHER 

Apart from mountain climate in areas with 

an altitude above 1,000 m, PNG experiences 

a tropical rainforest climate, and is hot 

and humid all year round. The dry season 

runs from May to October, with August 

onwards being the peak fire season, and 

the rainy season runs from November to 

April. Daily temperatures remain mostly 

the same throughout the year, hovering 

between a maximum of 23 degrees Celsius 

and minimum of 30 degrees Celsius. The 

daily maximum and minimum temperatures 

rarely exceed 35 and 20 degrees Celsius, 

respectively, and the average annual rainfall 

is around 2,500mm. 

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE 

PNG has a dual-economy model that is 

typical of developing countries. The mining of 

natural resources leads the capital-intensive 

and export-oriented economy, while selfsufficiency 

of a majority of the population 

keeps the internal economy running. The PNG 

government has been actively introducing 

new policies to promote economic 

development, and according to World Bank 

data, their gross domestic product climbed 

to an all-time high of US$24.829 billion in 

2019. 2 However, the country’s economic 

and social development still lags behind 

many of its neighbours in the Asia-Pacific 

region, with 56.6% of their population living 

in multidimensional poverty. 3 With a 2019 

Human Development Index value of 0.555, 

PNG ranks 155 out of 189 on the United 

Nations Development Programme’s latest 

Human Development Report. 4 

Due to poor infrastructure, land transportation 

is largely undeveloped both in rural and urban 

areas, and the main transportation methods 

are by air and water. Surrounded by water from 

three directions and with approximately 5,152 

kilometres of coastline, PNG is well connected 

by sea to other regions and countries such as 

Australia, Japan, Singapore, China and Taiwan. 

CHINA-PNG COOPERATION 

In 2013, China’s President Xi Jinping 

announced the Belt and Road Initiative – a 

massive infrastructure and development 

programme aimed at strengthening economic 

relations between China and its neighbouring 

countries. Thanks to increased political and 

economic cooperation between PNG and 

China, trade between the two has grown and 

flourished over the past decades. Convenient 

access to each another via sea transport 

routes, coupled with PNG’s rapid economic 

development, was a warm invitation for 

Chinese enterprises looking to venture where 

natural resources are available in abundance. 

In July 2016, Peter O’Neill, then prime minister 

of PNG, paid an official visit to China, during 

which both countries agreed to strengthen 

cooperation in many areas such as trade, 

agriculture, tourism, civil aviation and forestry, 

among others, under China’s Belt and Road 

Initiative and PNG’s Development Strategic 

Plan 2010-2030. 5 

The two countries seem to complement each 

other in terms of forest resources management 

and utilisation. According to figures in China’s 

9th National Forestry Survey (2014–2018), 

China’s forested area spans just 22.96%. 6 With 

the implementation of the national forest 

protection programme, timber production 

dropped drastically and is not expected to rise. 

China relies heavily on timber imports and is 

the world’s largest importer of wood products. 

With PNG’s abundance of natural resources, 

and China having a wealth of experience in 

managing, monitoring and conserving forest 

resources, it is fitting that both countries work 

together to leverage on their strengths. 

RESEARCH EFFORTS 

Background 

In 2016, Shenzhen VivaFounder Investment 

Holdings Limited (hereon referred to as 

Shenzhen VivaFounder) and PNG’s Tangoy 

Holdings Limited signed an agreement to 

sustainably develop 780,000 ha of forestland 

in West Sepik Province for large-scale 

agricultural and forestry utilisation. Under a 

joint venture company Tangoy VivaFounder 

Holdings Limited, the project involved four 

main sectors: 7 

1. Forest resource management, including 

logging and board processing 

2. Forest resource development, including 

the harvesting and processing of several 

medicinal materials and spices (eg, 

sandalwood, dendrobium, vanilla beans, 

etc) 

3. Construction of plantations and industrial 

parks 

4. Construction of relevant infrastructure, 

including roads, bridges, ports, storage and 

power, etc 

The Academy of Forest Inventory and Planning 

of China’s State Forestry Administration was 



appointed to conduct an investigation on 

PNG’s forest resources, develop a master 

plan for the development and utilisation of 

forest resources and agriculture, as well as a 

feasibility study report on logging and wood 

processing. 

Using both remote sensing interpretation 

and regionalisation, as well as on-site 

field investigations, data on tree species 

composition, distribution, commercial use, 

growing stock volume, and logging and 

utilisation license status of forest land within 

the project area was collected. 

Forest type 

Total area 

Area % 

Total forest stock 

volume 

Stock 

volume 

% 

Stock 

volume 

per hectare 

Total 25.96 100 5839 100 236.5 

Low-altitude forest on plains and fans 6.73 25.94 2028 34.91 301.2 

Low-altitude forest on uplands 10.72 41.30 2868 49.37 267.5 

Lower montane forest 2.38 9.16 496 8.09 208.8 

Woodlands 1.88 7.23 162 2.98 86.3 

Swamp forest 2.98 11.47 285 4.65 95.7 

Others 1.27 4.90 – – – 

Unit: 10,000 ha, 10,000 m 3 , m 3 /ha 

Table 1. Area and forest stock volume of each land type within the project site 

(Source: The Academy of Forestry Inventory and Planning, State Forestry Administration, November 2016) 

Project and investigation area 

Situated in West Sepik Province – the 

northwesternmost province of PNG – the 

project area is a seven-hour journey by both 

car and boat from the province’s capital, 

Vanimo. Upon arrival, getting around via land 

is difficult due to the numerous swamps and 

rivers, and lack of developed roads. To the 

north and west of the project area lies the 

Sepik River basin, where water transport is 

relatively advanced and is the main method of 

getting around. 

Villagers in the mountains still live primitively 

in tribes, and industrial and agricultural 

production is scarce. Locals rely on spices, 

wood and aquatic products as main sources 

of income, but most still live below the 

international poverty line. 

The investigation area (3.88°S – 4.61°S, 

141.00°E – 141.79°E) named District 1 spanned 

259,556 ha within the project area. 

Investigation method 

Using the latest medium- and high-resolution 

remote sensing images, elevation data and 

forest resource distribution maps obtained 

from the PNG Forestry Authority, land area 

in the investigation area was classified into a 

vector database according to vegetation, terrain 

and river distribution. Using object-oriented 

classification software, the images obtained 

via remote sensing were interpreted by colour, 

texture, land covering and terrain type. 

A stratified sampling technique was then 

created and sample strips were identified, 

and research teams ventured into the forest 

to record important information such as tree 

species, diameter at breast height (DBH), 

tree height and timber production rate to 

determine the canopy density and average 

tree height. 

Results 

Using the data collected, researchers were able 

to determine the estimated stock volume for 

each forest area and type (Table 1). 

Researchers found 139 tree species within 

the project site, nine of which collectively 

accounted for 38.86% of the total stock 

volume. Kwila (intsia bijuga) had the highest 

stock volume of 11.97%, followed by Taun 

(pometia pinnata) with 9.63% and Terminalia 

(terminalia chebula) with 3.05%. The total 

stock volume of trees with a DBH of over 50 cm 

was 25.96 million m 3 , or 44.46% of the total. 

Bearing in mind buffer zones set up by the 

PNG government to protect soil and water 

erosion from logging near rivers, the research 

team found that the total forest area ready 

to be harvested within the project site was 

200,900 ha (77.42%), with a total stock volume 

of 46.8121 million m 3 (80.17%). A majority 

(85,200 ha or 42.42%) of harvestable trees 

were located in the low-altitude forest on 

uplands. 

IN A NUTSHELL 

Although the investigation area covered was 

just the tip of the iceberg compared to the 

entire PNG, these findings have provided an 

indication on the prospects of timber supply 

within the country, and how countries can 

share information, resources and technology 

for mutual benefit and education. P 

Author’s note: 

Information on the research efforts commissioned by Shenzhen VivaFounder was extracted from the Forest Resources Investigation Report for the 

China-PNG Comprehensive Agricultural and Forestry Development and Construction Project, published by the Academy of Forestry Inventory and 

Planning of China’s State Forestry Administration in November 2016. 

References 

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 

Nations (FAO) 2020. Global Forest Resources 

Assessment 2020: Main report, Rome, . 

2. The World Bank 2020, Papua New Guinea, Gross 

Domestic Product. 

3. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative 

(OPHI) 2020, Global MPI Country Briefing 2020: Papua 

New Guinea (East Asia and the Pacific). 

4. United Nations Development Programme 2020, Briefing 

note for countries on the 2020 Human Development 

Report: Papua New Guinea. 

5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of 

China 2016, Joint Press Release Between the People’s 

Republic of China and The Independent State of Papua 

New Guinea. 

6. China Statistical Yearbook 2019, Forest Resources by 

Region, National Bureau of Statistics of China. 

7. Shenzhen VivaFounder Investment Holdings Limited, 

Company Profile, < http://www.vivafounder.com/about. 

html>. 


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LABORATORY 

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IBX700 

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Moisture is a very significant factor 

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Various physical measuring principles 

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The two-parameter microwave 

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Customers can flexibly choose the 

required units as needed, or link 

up the different workstations to 

form a complete Industry 4.0 smart 

production line in which boards 

need not reach the factory floor 

when processed. This module-based 

intelligent application integration 

solution has been implemented 

in many regions. It is extremely 

cost-effective, stable and efficient, 

and is practicable and easy to 

implement, thereby enhancing 

the manufacturing strength and 

competitiveness of furniture 

manufacturers. 



SOFTWARE: 

FinCADCAM→OMS→APS→MES→WMS 

The software mainly comprises five 

major modules that complement 

each other. Sales stores use 

FinCADCAM to retrieve the cabinet 

style from the design library 

according to customer needs, and 

perform the scene rendering to 

retrieve the order and create the 

order file. The order management 

system (OMS) controls the order 

process and data decision analysis 

in real time. After the order is 

submitted for production, the 

advanced planning and scheduling 

software (APS) performs intelligent 

production scheduling and sends 

the scheduling results to the 

manufacturing execution system 

(MES) that provides the production 

department with lean information 

solutions for the production process. 

These include workshop task 

allocation, production optimisation, 

production scheduling, production 

monitoring, order sorting and 

packaging. Lastly, the warehouse 

management system (WMS) 

performs storage management for 

finished products, and meanwhile 

reports the production and storage 

progress to the OMS at the sales end, 

forming a complete closed loop. 

HARDWARE: INTELLIGENT 

WORKSTATION = SOFTWARE- 

DRIVE MACHINERY + ROBOTS + 

CONVEYORS 

Intelligent Nesting Workstation 

With Nanxing Machinery’s heavyduty 

CNC cutting device NCG2T2C4, 

three Kawasaki robots and 

conveying appliances are orderly 

organised through FinChinaSoft’s 

automatic control system 

(“Supervisor”) to coordinate 

processing and complete 

feeding, cutting, blanking, and 

labelling. The master control 

interfaces with the MES to 

exchange panel-processing 

data, and receives scheduling 

data from the APS for real-time 

calculations to promptly adjust and 

match the production capacity. With 

a flexible and timely production 

system, customers can truly use 

software to steer the machinery and 

achieve human-machine intelligent 

production, or have it connected 

to their own production system for 

independent use. 

Fully integrated robotic arms and 

machinery allow simultaneous 

processing of eight spindles and 

four stations, and can complete 

the fully automatic and continuous 

process of feeding, cutting, blanking 

and labelling of 400 pieces of 

large 4 ft by 9 ft boards per shift, 

reducing the waiting time. Despite 

having an approximate production 

capacity equivalent to three and a 

half traditional electronic saws or 

four engraving machines, it only 

occupies an area of one and a half 



electronic saws and requires six 

fewer workers – a result of robots 

replacing manual labour in highintensity 

repetitive work. Moreover, in 

the aspect of processing, the milling 

cutter can eliminate the subsequent 

edge-banding and squaring process, 

with high processing quality and 

stability, and a low error rate. Due to 

optimisation, the board utilisation 

rate is greatly improved, leading to 

cost savings. 

The intelligent cutting workstation 

solution allows convenient 

connection to other processes. It 

can be connected to automatic- and 

rail-guided vehicles, and warehouse 

system of raw materials for automatic 

distributing, feeding and cutting. It can 

also be connected to the edge-banding 

machine and the warehouse system of 

finished products for cutting, edgebanding, 

drilling, sorting, packaging 

and storage, with boards not reaching 

the floor throughout the entire 

continuous machining process. 

Intelligent CNC Drilling Workstation 

This solution is an industrial 

drilling unit tailored for automation 

transformation of large-scale wholehouse 

customisation manufacturers. It 

can be used independently or adjusted 

appropriately for different sites to 

faciliatate larger-batch production. 

The workstation integrates the 

scanning system, Nanxing Machinery’s 

six-sided CNC drilling machine 

NCB612D and NCG3312DA PTP CNC, 

Kawasaki robots and conveying devices 

through FinChinaSoft’s “Supervisor”. 

NCB612D is responsible for the 

processing of special non-standard 

boards and those that require sixsided 

drilling, and the PTP with dual 

working stations and servomotor are 

responsible for processing relatively 

standard boards. The robots are 

responsible for the transfer and 

buffering of boards; the whole line 

does not require human intervention. 

After the master control reads the 

workpiece information via the scan at 

the start, it automatically, based on 

the principle of maximum production, 

allocates the most appropriate 

processing line according to the 

current status of equipment use and 

processing technique, and calls the 

processing programme in real time to 

the corresponding ones to complete 

the processing. If the processing area 

is busy, the boards are automatically 

transported to the buffering table for 

waiting. The cooperation between 

robots and machinery can realise 

intelligent, efficient and flexible drilling 

of workpieces. This can greatly improve 

equipment utilisation and production 

efficiency, reduce workpiece handling 

frequency, increase the qualification 

rate of products, and eliminate the 

inefficiency and errors caused by 

manual operations. 

The deepening of intelligent 

manufacturing in the furniture 

industry is an inevitable trend due to 

the rapid development of information 

technology and the ever-changing 

market demand. Nanxing Machinery’s 

Smart Workstation integrates 

mechanical equipment, robots and 

conveying devices with one another 

through “Supervisor”. One just needs 

to upload the APS information and 

MES processing data to “Supervisor” 

to steer the entire workstation in an 

orderly manner. 

This module-based intelligent 

application integration solution is 

a cost-effective choice for furniture 

enterprises to upgrade from 

stand-alone production or simple 

automatic production lines to 

intelligent production, to maximise 

the production capacity under limited 

conditions. P 


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SalvaPush_2000 

A wood cutting 

system for Industry 4.0 

The panel processing industry’s 

evolution to a fully digital 

environment has seen technology 

improve by leaps and bounds. 

Panels & Furniture Asia finds 

out more about Salvamac 

Group’s SalvaPush_2000 

optimising saw and its 

application within 

the industry. 



Launched in early 2020 by Salvamac’s 

Cross-Cutting Division, which focuses 

on the cutting and optimisation of 

wood, SalvaPush_2000 is the group’s 

flagship cross-cutting optimising saw. 

SalvaPush_2000 is greatly suited to 

cut single wood pieces with length 

optimisation, as well as to cut boards 

using a prefixed cutting cycle. It can be 

applied for use in a range of solid wood 

market segments such as windows and 

doors; furniture; beams and houses; 

flooring; sofas; glue panels and lamellar 

wood; and children’s toys, among 

others. 

The machine can be easily integrated 

with other machinery and data within 

a factory as it can receive cutting lists 

directly from the office, and connect 

to multi-blade machines or moulders 

via automatic loading and unloading 

systems. The instantaneous graphics 

and a large touch screen, complemented 

with digital communication among 

all electric components, allows easy and 

fast data entry. 

TOWARDS INDUSTRY 4.0 

Besides easy integration with the 

company’s management, the recent 

developments in barcode data 

importing and the related “just-intime” 

management systems (from the 

development of the customer’s order to 

the finished product) make it a unique 

solution for single-batch production 

processes. An operator is able to easily 

manage a single piece by loading the 

pieces after reading the relative barcode, 

and leaving the management to the 

“supervisor” – an additional software 

that manages the entire data process. 

Flexible and advanced technological 

solutions allow, in fact, both upstream 

and downstream communication with 

the company software. 

The application of SalvaPush_2000 

in the construction component and 

special pallet sectors fully confirms 

the recent developments. The new 

exclusive mechanical solutions are also 

present in both the cutting and pushing 

systems. 

A special system, with a 55-milimetrewide 

toothed belt and 33 strips of 

hard steel, allows high precision and 

capacity. The aluminium beam is 

big and solid; at a height of 135 mm 

and with of 120 mm, it is fixed in a 

steel structure in two parts for better 

solidity and reliability. The beam is 

also covered and protected by a special 

steel cover. All this guarantees a long 

machine life with no dust and service 

issues. 

CASE IN POINT 

The production of sofas is sometimes 

is a complicated process due to the 

variety of models offered. A small 

batch size or even Batch Size 1 is also 

not uncommon; it is thus necessary 

to work job by job. Compared to older 

and more traditional cutting systems, 

the SalvaPush_2000 has become 

a cost-cutting machine for a major 

producer in Albania that exports about 

95% of his production. The yield of 

the wood has increased about 9%, the 

number of operators needed is about 

half than before, and they no longer 

need skilled operators – cutting can be 

done in complete safety and statistical 

data can be easily generated. 

Creator Christian Salvador defines 

SalvaPush_2000 as a real revolution in 

the market approach. 

“Our network and its strength will 

allow us to introduce new products for 

the solid wood industry, but at a price 

that allows more companies to choose 

the technological path. The strategy is 

clear: to optimise the process and use 

every possible ‘country advantage’ to 

produce machines with the highest 

quality and affordable prices for the 

customer,” shared Salvador 

LOOKING FORWARD 

The market growth of Salvamac 

is increasing steadily and, despite 

the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, has 

increased another 50%. At the moment, 

the company’s main markets are in 

Europe, America and Australia. Moving 

forward, the next goal for 2021 to 2022 

is to develop the Asian market, starting 

from West Asia and gradually moving 

towards the East Asia regions. P 


PANEL MANUFACTURING 

Diamond-tipped 

saw blades: LEUCO 

increases product lifespan 

with protective coating 

Staple for the manufacturing industry are high-quality products 

that have a long service life to ensure longevity and save costs. 

New and certainly trend-setting for the entire industry are 

diamond-tipped panel-sizing circular saw blades that feature a 

special protective topcoat, introduced by LEUCO’s research and 

development department. 


PANEL MANUFACTURING 

LEUCO, one of the world’s largest suppliers of carbide 

and diamond-tipped machine tools for wood and 

plastic processing, provides a glimpse into their 

diamond-tipped panel-sizing circular saw blade 

family. To ensure smooth cuts of wood-based panels, 

the laser ornaments of the blades are arranged in a 

special vibration-damping sequence and also given 

a damping filling. Hence, users are guaranteed a 

higher cutting performance and quality in a low-noise 

environment, over the entire life cycle of the saw 

blade. 

In addition, the diamond-tipped cutting edges are 

treated with LEUCO’s special topcoat. The coating, 

applied to the tooth flanks, reduces the adhesion of 

dirt and extends the already long service life of the 

diamond by up to 50%. 

Markus Erkenbrecher, Product Manager for 

Saw Blades at LEUCO, answers some questions 

customers occasionally have about this product 

range. 

Most of the panel sizing saw blades used in the 

industry segment are tungsten carbide-tipped. 

When does it make sense to use a diamond-tipped 

saw blade on a panel sizing saw? 

When cutting “common” wood-based panels, the 

decision regarding whether to use a tungstencarbide 

tipped saw blade or a diamond-tipped saw 

blade depends on the amount of material to be cut. 

We make an exception in the case of materials with a 

high percentage of recycled content and recommend 

the use of tungsten-carbide-tipped saw blades when 

a high throughput is needed. For abrasive materials, 

such as panels containing cement or glass fibres, 

there are actually no alternatives to a diamondtipped 

saw blade. 

Who will benefit from this new option of a 

diamond-tipped saw blade with an additional 

coating? 

Users that process a large amount of homogenous 

materials (eg, medium density fibreboard), solidcore 

materials or materials containing adhesives 

that melt when heated. Due to the additional 

coating, the blade edges’ life can be extended 

considerably thanks to the additional coating. 

Which tooth geometry should users of diamondtipped 

saw blades choose? 

For finish cuts in unfinished and plastic-coated 

composite wood boards, individually or in 

packages of up to 80 millimetres, users should 

select the tooth geometry with the tooth group 

configuration “G6”. If the user wishes to achieve 

finish-cut quality in fibre-containing wood-based 

panels such veneer plywood and lightweight 

panels, the tooth group configuration “G3” offers 

the optimal tooth shape. 

For finish cuts in high-pressure laminates and solidcore 

materials, the best results are obtained with 

the hollow back and triple chip tooth combination 

– “HR-TR”. The geometry is only available with a 

“topcoat” coating. 

What is the coating for? Is the coating retained 

during resharpening? 

The coating increases the hardness of the cutting 

edge while reducing sticking and adhesion. 

This effect is retained for the most part after 

resharpening. 

Can I have my existing diamond-tipped saw 

blade coated? How is an order processed? Does 

the situation involve a normal saw blade that is 

to be coated at a later date? 

Since the diamond-tipped saw blades from 

LEUCO are nickel-plated, they can no longer be 

coated. Ordering such a saw blade is quite simple. 

In the LEUCO catalogue, look for the product 

dimension that fits your requirements and quote 

the corresponding product identification number. 

Common dimensions are available from stock, 

while others are produced as needed. P 


IN PERSON 

Roger&Sons: 

Giving local trees 

a new lease of life 

In the January/February 2017 edition of Panels & Furniture 

Asia, we spoke to Roger&Sons (R&S) about their endeavour to 

revive Singapore’s carpentry trade. In this edition, we speak to 

Morgan Yeo, Director of R&S, to glean insights on their team’s 

key accomplishments and future directions, as well as their 

road to salvaging local logs via the Local Tree Project. 

(L to R) Morgan Yeo, Director of Roger & Sons, and his brothers 

Lincoln, Creative Director, and Ryan, Operations Director 


IN PERSON 

Formerly known as JR&P Industries, 

R&S is owned and managed by 

brothers Morgan, Lincoln and Ryan Yeo 

who stepped up to the plate after their 

father’s passing in 2014. With a vision 

to continue the legacy of their father 

Mr Roger Yeo, a carpenter of 26 years, 

the trio set out to revive the old-school 

trade of woodworking in Singapore. 

The rebranding of “JR&P Industries” 

to “Roger&Sons” was indeed a fitting 

tribute to the late Mr Yeo, and marked 

a promising start to a new era of 

woodworking professionals. 

The R&S team has grown in leaps and 

bounds since our last conversation 

over three years ago. With an 

expanded team, new premises and 

forward-looking initiatives in 

sustainability, research and education, 

the team hopes to increase knowledge 

and appreciation of the local 

woodworking scene. 

BRINGING WOODWORKING TO THE 

PEOPLE 

Having grown to a team of 21 

comprising the management, 

industrial designers and carpenters, 

one of R&S’ most significant 

milestones was the opening of their 

1,800 sqft showroom/workshop in 

March 2019, which was a welcome 

addition to their 4,000 sqft workshop 

space in Woodlands. Located in the 

heartlands at 115 King George’s 

Avenue, the team now conducts 

educational workshops to bring 

woodworking to the general public, 

as well as market their very own retail 

line. In mid-2020, R&S celebrated 

a soft launch for some products 

designed for local customers. 

R&D FOR BETTER RESOURCE 

UTILISATION 

In 2020, R&S began their venture into 

research and development (R&D) and 

intends to integrate this into their 

business by working with key subject 

matter experts in various fields. 

Having partnered a local vendor, their 

current efforts go into developing an 

eco-friendly resin to stabilise local 

wood species that will allow the 

creation of more unique objects and 

furniture. 

When asked about the motivation 

behind wanting to spend time and 

effort on R&D, Morgan shared that 

it will eventually help them better 

utilise and efficiently work with local 

resources. 

“Even though Singapore is a small 

country, we still have plenty of 

resources,” said Morgan. “If managed 

properly and correctly, these resources 

can be put to good use instead of being 

disposed of or incinerated.” 

EDUCATION FOR A BRIGHTER 

FUTURE 

Another area in which R&S is 

developing is that of education. 

Besides constantly upgrading their 

own skills, the team truly believes that 

passing their knowledge on will help 

to shape the future of the industry. 

They conduct workshops for the 

general public, as well as corporate 

and private classes, and also work 

with various tertiary schools to bring 

students to different manufacturing 

plants/factories in Singapore. 

“We believe that as the general 

public is educated more about 

woodworking, they will grow and 

learn to appreciate the craft,” said 

Morgan. “This will definitely benefit 

the industry.” 

“We can create furniture and objects 

that last for generations. It is now 

our aim to educate and convince 

people to be more responsible 

in their spending habits and look 

at items that last longer, instead 

of fast fashion, trendy or cheap 

items/furniture that are constantly 

discarded and replaced.” 

To introduce the 

art of woodworking 

to the general 

population, 

R&S conducts 

workshops that 

require little to no 

experience 


IN PERSON 

1 2 

3 

Legend 

1 These benches were made from trunks of rain trees that were 

felled to make way for new developments at Tan Tock Seng 

Hospital 

2 Abandoned logs from locally felled trees are given a new lease 

of life by the Local Tree Project 

3 A close-up view of a table made from khaya 

4 A product of the Local Tree Project, this stone dining table is 

made from local angsana felled for urban development 

4 

THE LOCAL TREE PROJECT 

Another major milestone was the 

launch of the Local Tree Project, an 

ethical furniture initiative that salvages 

local trees that have been felled for 

urban development. Over three years 

ago, Tan Tock Seng Hospital contacted 

R&S to turn some of the trees, which 

were felled for a new development, 

into outdoor furniture. R&S took 

the project on and started learning 

about how to process these wood 

species. Talking to several sawmills 

and landscape companies, the team 

found that over the years, Singapore 

has cut down thousands of trees for 

urban development. The logs, mainly 

of local species suar, tembusu, khaya 

and angsana, are currently sitting in 

the sawmills, waiting to be turned into 

mulch or pallet wood. 

“These beautiful logs were going to 

waste,” lamented Morgan. “We wanted 

to change the situation and maximise 

their potential. Instead of always 

opting for imports, why not utilise what 

we have in our backyard? We saw the 

potential and the value in trying to 

work with these forgotten trees.” 

Salvaging these trees and turning them 

into durable and future-proof products 

was R&S’ first step in moving towards 

being a more sustainable company. 

Through R&D, the team is also 

discovering how to utilise lesser-used 

log parts such as the bark, sawdust and 

branches. 

Prior to the birth of the Local Tree 

Project in 2019, the timber species 

used in their wood products were 

sourced regionally from Malaysia and 

Indonesia. These included kapur, 

chengal, nyatoh and meranti. Ash, 

beech, white oak and walnut were 

sourced from America and Europe, and 

pine was sourced from New Zealand. 

Based on their individual qualities 

and properties, local wood species are 

durable and have great potential to be 

converted into long-lasting products. 

According to Morgan, suar (or rain tree) 

is great for bigger items like tables, 

while angsana is good for indoor 

furniture and smaller objects. Khaya, 

which is relatively easier to work with, 

is great for both outdoor and indoor 

furniture as well as smaller items. The 

strength and density of tembusu is 

perfect for chopping boards. 

R&S hopes that the Local Tree Project 

will spark interest in Singapore’s 

trees and create conversations about 

sustainable living and purchasing. 

“We hope that this initiative will 

change how the industry works 

sustainably and positively, as well as 

educate Singaporeans, especially our 

future generation,” said Morgan. P 


MATERIALS 

Tamarack: An 

Eastern Canadian 

Softwood Species 

Tamarack is a softwood species that has proven its versatility 

over the years. Not only can you find it almost everywhere in 

Quebec, it is also a wood of great quality. 

1 

WHAT IS TAMARACK? 

Larix laricina, also known as tamarack 

or eastern larch and in the Frenchspeaking 

regions of Canada as mélèze 

laricin, is one of some ten species 

globally in the genus Larix. Larix is 

the only genus among softwoods 

that shed their leaves (needles) in the 

winter. 

SPECIFICATIONS 

Tamarack can generate relatively 

large diameter trunks and its 

mechanical properties are 

superior to several other softwood 

species in Eastern Canada. In 

general, tamarack wood density is 

higher than eastern spruces, pines, 

and fir. 

Legend 

1 Larix laricina, 

commonly known 

as tamarack 

2 Tamarack flooring 

3 Tamarack flooring 

Photo: NRCan 

2 

Photo: Marché du bois 

This tree is a medium-sized boreal 

coniferous and deciduous tree reaching 

10 to 20 metres (33 to 66 feet) tall, 

with a trunk up to 60 centimetres 

(24 inches) in diameter. Tamaracks 

and larches (Larix species) 

are deciduous conifers. The bark is 

tight, flaky and pink, but under the 

flaking bark, it can appear reddish. 

The leaves are needle-like, 2 to 

3 centimetres (¾ to 1¼ inches) short, 

light blue-green, turning bright yellow 

before they fall in the autumn, leaving 

the pale pinkish-brown shoots bare 

until the next spring. The needles are 

produced spirally on long shoots, and 

in dense clusters on long woody spur 

shoots. 

This tree is found in cold and humid 

environments where it grows in pure or 

mixed stands. It can be seen all across 

the Quebec region. In mixed stands, 

black spruce is usually tamarack’s most 

common associate. 

According to the National 

Lumber Grades Authority (NLGA), 

it belongs to the Northern 

Species group. However, in tests 

carried out by FPInnovations, 

the modulus of elasticity of the 

tamarack at 11,000 MPa (Grade 

No. 1 and No. 2) is considerably 

higher than the average of this 

species group at 7,000 MPa. 

Tamarack has good natural 

durability. However, preservative 

treatments are necessary for uses 

in conditions favourable for decay. 

PRINCIPAL USAGE 

The strength properties of 

the tamarack make it a good 

species for various structural 

applications, from regular 

light-frame construction to 

heavier posts and beams. The 

full potential of its strength 

properties is best used in the 


MATERIALS 

3 

production of Machine Stress Rated (MSR) Lumber. This 

species of wood has traditionally been used for decks, 

bridges and piers, docks, railway ties, barn, and stable 

floors. Nowadays, the beauty of its grain is coming to 

its full value when used in interiors as wall cladding or 

flooring. 

INNOVATIVE USES 

Larch Wood Canada Inc. has developed a unique line of 

cutting boards and countertops out of tamarack. 

Usually, cutting boards of this quality are made of 

hardwood, but Larch Wood has proven its properties 

were up to the standards. The company controls the full 

production process from log to the final product. The bold 

tamarack end-grain and varied patterns make it a unique 

and high-quality product. P 

Photo: Maxi-Forêt 

This article was first published on the Quebec Wood Export 

Bureau’s (QWEB) official website and is reproduced here 

with permission. QWEB members are softwood specialists 

in North America. They work with multiple species and have 

developed unique expertise in cutting and transforming 

softwoods. 

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Pablo Publishing & Exhibition Pte Ltd | www.panelsfurnitureasia.com | Tel: +65 6266 5512 | Email: info@pabloasia.com 

PFA-HPHorizontal-Missing-2020.indd 1 

4/1/21 12:11 PM

MATERIALS 

Global demand for white 

oak waxes and wanes 

Compiled and translated by Xu Meiqi 

White oak accounts for 17% of 

hardwood sawn timber of the eastern 

United States (US). This kind of wood 

is dense, heavy, hard and relatively 

waterproof, and has traditionally been 

made into floors in dwelling houses, 

floor panels of truck trailers, and barrels 

for whiskey and red wine. It is also 

superior material for making furniture, 

wooden gates, architectural wood 

mouldings and panelling. In general, 

the grain pattern of white oak is not as 

conspicuous as that of red oak, and it is 

lighter in colour. 

Every year from 1990 to 2007, white oak 

ranked first in volume among America’s 

exported hardwood timber species to 

markets except Canada. Since then, the 

export volume of red oak has exceeded 

white oak, largely due to the relatively 

low production of white oak than that 

of red oak. Besides, the US has always 

been in huge demand for sawn timber 

and barrels domestically. In 2018, sales 

of white oak to Europe continued to 

take the lead. Its shipments to Europe 

were twice those of tulipwood and 

eight-fold those of ash, walnut wood 

and red oak. However, China, Vietnam 

and Canada have recently become 

relatively large markets of white oak 

sawn timber globally, accounting 

for 58% of all US white oak export in 

2018. From June 2019 to the end of 

March 2020, the shipments of white 

oak to China levelled off, except for 

an upsurge in January and a seasonal 

decline in December 2019. Conversely, 

since September 2019, the monthly 

shipments of white oak to Vietnam 

have fallen by an average of 17% 

compared to the first eight months in 

2018. The first quarter saw a shrinking 

demand for white oak in Indonesia, 

Photo: Msact / English Wikipedia 

but shipments of white oak to Malaysia 

was on the rise. Since the spring of 

2019, Japan’s demand for white oak has 

gradually grown, but is still lower than 

that of 2017 and 2018. 

Prior to the economic stagnation 

caused by the COVID-19 global 

pandemic, the export of white oak to 

some of the largest markets in Europe 

tended to go up. However, by the end 

of March 2020, several countries had 

been in a state of lockdown. Therefore, 

it was predicted that the worst-case 

scenario of white oak export would 

probably come to light in the forthcoming 

trade data of April and May. However, data 

indicated that the shipments of white 

oak in April and May were not as bad as 

expected. In fact, when it came to the 

white oak’s shipments to Europe in April 

and May, almost half voiced positive views 

in Hardwood Review’s questionnaires 

designed for exporters. One of them said, 

“Europe needs more white oak”. 

On the other hand, the demand for white 

oak in some smaller Latin American 

markets, hit hard by the pandemic, is 

faltering. Actually, in the past two to 


MATERIALS 

three years, the shipments of white 

oak to the secondary Latin American 

market have reduced considerably. As 

a result, the export of timber species 

has become more diversified, and 

exporters of white oak depend more 

on sales to Mexico. 

OVERVIEW OF EXPORT 

TO GLOBAL MARKETS 

The annual export of white oak hit 

an all-time high in 2017 and 2018, yet 

experienced a decline of 17% last year 

and had been down by another 12% 

up to the end of March 2020, leading to 

its lowest annual export volume since 

2013. Since last summer, the monthly 

export of white oak has remained 

basically stable. Compared to timber 

species that are more dependent on 

China (eg, red oak, ash and cherry 

wood), the export of white oak is 

less susceptible to the aftershocks of 

plummeting Chinese demand owing to 

its extensive global demand. 

EUROPE 

Historically speaking, white oak 

accounted for roughly half of all US 

hardwood sawn timber export to 

Europe, next only to tulipwood. In 

the past few years, the export of red 

oak and ash to Europe showed an 

increase. Over the past two years, 

the monthly export of white oak to 

Europe has tended downwards, but has 

strengthened since end-2019, despite 

several factors that may weaken the 

market. 

UNITED KINGDOM 

In 2014, the annual shipments of white 

oak to the United Kingdom (UK) almost 

doubled and have been heading 

upward ever since. Since December, 

the monthly shipments of white oak to 

the UK have been edging up, with the 

shipments in March being the highest 

in three years. Specifically, white 

oak export continued to climb when 

COVID-19 first started to spread. At the 

end of February, the first confirmed 

case of COVID-19 was reported in the 

UK, and in mid-March, the country 

went into a state of lockdown. 

It is worth remembering that analysts 

predicted that Brexit would greatly 

undermine the UK economy, and thus 

British buyers estimated a decline in 

Britain’s demand for US white oak over 

the long haul. However, since 2016, the 

monthly export to the UK has remained 

much the same, whether in times of 

Britain’s referendum on leaving the EU, 

or the official coming-into-effect of the 

Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in January 

2020. 

ITALY 

From mid-2017 to mid-2018, the export 

of white oak to Italy remained mostly 

stable, but its shipments fluctuated and 

on the whole declined in the following 

12 months. However, during the 

second half of last year, the shipments 

rebounded to “normal” and have since 

then levelled at a monthly average 

of 1,100 cubic meters (470 thousand 

board feet [MBF]). Italy was among 

the first countries battered by the 

novel coronavirus, and has been the 

most ravaged nation as far as the case 

fatality rate is concerned. Analysts said 

that compared with other European 

countries, this would slow the pace 

of its economic recovery all the more 

(Reuters). The export of white oak to 

Italy reduced by 14% in March, which 

probably indicated that the virus has 

first taken its toll on the demand for 

white oak. 

Before COVID-19, debt-ridden Italy had 

already put downward pressure on the 

euro. The Italian government is virtually 

unpredictable; their administrations 

have come and gone multiple times over 

the past few years. Since the end of the 

Second World War, Italian governments 

have changed over 60 times. By the end 

of March 2020, the export of white oak to 

Italy had grown by 3%. 

GERMANY 

Over the past two decades, the export 

of white oak to Germany has undergone 

a moderate rise, although shipments 

fell by 18% last year. In March 2020, the 

monthly export to Germany marked the 

third straight month of gains. However, 

this was the first time growth lasted 

for three consecutive months since 

mid-2018. Shipments to Germany thus 

far in 2020 saw a year-on-year increase 

of 6%. 

Germany is the largest country 

in Europe. However, it had only a 

lacklustre performance before being 

afflicted by COVID-19, especially 

in the manufacturing sector. In the 

fourth quarter of 2019, Germany’s 

economy contracted slightly. Then, 

in the first quarter of 2020, the 

country’s economy officially sunk 

into a recession due to a shrinking 

by a wide margin inflicted upon by 

the pandemic, the first time since the 

global financial crisis in the late 2000s. 

But compared to other European 

countries, Germany’s economic 

contraction in the first quarter was 

not too abysmal, which was because 

Germany allowed its factories and 

construction sites to remain open. 

Such efforts served as an underpinning 

of the demand for white oak. 

Photo: Jan Kopřiva / Unsplash 


MATERIALS 

SPAIN 

The export of white oak to Spain 

has been stable for most of the past 

three years, except for the traditional 

seasonal declines in January and July. 

The 2020 export in the first quarter 

decreased by 3% compared with 2019, 

whereas Spain’s economy shrank by 

5%. Spain acted more slowly than Italy 

in resuming the economy, saying that 

it would rather bear the economic 

consequences of a long-term lockdown 

than run the risk in seeing soaring new 

cases, which will lead to the launch of 

new restrictive measures. 

LATIN AMERICA 

Monthly shipments of white oak to 

Latin America have tended to climb 

slightly over the past two years, yet 

it was not a linear upward trend. 

Nevertheless, white oak still took 

a small share in all the hardwood’s 

export to this region, accounting for 

only 4% of the region’s total shipments 

by the end of March. As of the end of 

March 2020, the export of white oak to 

Latin America has seen an uptick of 5%, 

among which the export to Mexico has 

risen by 40%, although the combined 

export to all other markets in the 

region dropped by 39%. 

MEXICO 

White oak has never been among the top 

of American timber species exported to 

Mexico. The proportion of the country’s 

demand for white oak in Latin America 

was down about ten percentage points 

compared with the late 1990s. However, 

there was a remarkable increase in 

the shipments of white oak to Mexico 

in the second half of last year, and 

the country’s demand for white oak 

hit a new high in 13 years. Since last 

summer when the export of white oak to 

Mexico reached a pinnacle, its monthly 

shipments have now shown a tendency 

of decline. But by the end of March 2020, 

the monthly shipments to the country 

had still exceeded the average monthly 

shipments in 2017 and 2018. 

ARGENTINA 

However, over the years, white oak 

has been the most exported timber 

species to other Latin American markets 

(including Argentina). In actuality, 

Argentina had mainly imported white 

oak until 2016, with very few other 

timber species involved. But after the 

spring of that year, almost no white oak 

was shipped to Argentina. The monthly 

export of white oak to Argentina has 

been on and off ever since. By contrast, 

Photo: Alexander Schimmeck /Unsplash 

Argentina’s demand for American red 

oak sawn timber has been on a steady 

increase over the last few years. 

CHILE 

At the beginning of 2000, white oak 

obviously became the most-shipped 

American hardwood sawn timber to 

Chile. For most of the time from 2008 

to 2017, Chile’s demand for white oak 

tended to go up. Since the fall of 2018, 

the monthly export of white oak to Chile 

has had a historical decline. The export 

of red oak to Chile, by comparison, 

doubled from a low level, which was 

propelled by a strong performance in 

shipments in November and December. 

HONDURAS 

From 2018 to 2019, almost no American 

white oak was shipped to Honduras. 

Its annual shipments to the country 

actually averaged at 1,600 cubic meters 

(680 MBF). However, there has been 

no record of white oak’s shipments 

to Honduras since October 2019. 

Comparatively speaking, shipments 

of soft maple wood and red oak to 

Honduras in 2020 have been incessant, 

among which the red oak’s shipments 

since last fall has increased. 

GUATEMALA 

In 2017, Guatemala’s demand for 

American white oak scaled new 

heights, and the shipments of white 

oak to the country stayed high in 2018 

and 2019. In the first quarter of 2020, 

the export of white oak to Guatemala 

doubled, making the country an 

alternative in the secondary Latin 

American market in which the demand 

for white oak has been shrinking. P 

Xu Meiqi is the 

former deputy 

director at the 

Shanghai Furniture 

Research Institute; 

former editor-inchief 

of Furniture; professor-level senior 

engineer; and Master of Engineering 

from Nanjing Technological College of 

Forest Products (now known as Nanjing 

Forestry University). 


STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS 

Sculptform Showroom: 

Steam-bent white oak creates 

classy, undulating curves 

Location: 

Melbourne, Australia 

Client: 

Sculptform 

Architecture / Interior Design: 

Woods Bagot 

Woods Bagot Design Team: 

Bruno Mendes, Sue Fenton, 

Krisi Patras and David Ley 

Completed: 

May 2020 

Photography: 

Peter Bennetts 

Sculptform – a producer of feature wall, 

ceiling and facade systems – has opened 

a showroom in Melbourne’s city centre. 

The creative concept for the collaborationfocused 

and events-oriented space takes 

visitors on a physical loop around a 

central workshop and creativity incubator. 

What people engage with is something 

that can’t be found online – a physically 

immersive connection to Sculptform’s 

products and the processes of production. 



Key to the overall design concept 

was the central workshop, 

affectionately referred to as 

the “Co-lab”. This space allows 

architects to closely interact 

with the timber and aluminium 

options for their designs. Fully 

equipped with facilities to trim 

and coat timber samples and 

even quickly assemble and alter 

prototypes in real time, the Co-lab 

is Sculptform’s answer to the evergrowing 

demand for customisable 

systems that push the boundaries 

of design. 

Sculptform was to be both 

supplier and contractor delivering 

the project and the ambitious 

concept for continuity and flow 

challenged them to develop new 

capabilities in steam-bent timber 

battens, resulting in crafted spatial 

forms such as the undulating 

curved ceiling. To achieve the 

curved shapes in one piece of 

timber while maintaining the 

grain patterns and natural look, 

the lengths of timber needed 

themselves to curve to meet the 

shape of the substrates. 

To produce these results, 

Sculptform took the traditional 

art of steam-bending timber and 

applied it on a larger, commercial 

scale. The process allows 

designers to use spectacular 

curved forms in natural timber 

while ensuring their concepts 

remain practical and buildable. 

of Sculptform’s Timber 

Click-on Battens system, using a 

patented clip connection to hold the 

timber in place. These connections 

serve in the place of traditional 

fixings, allowing for far greater speed 

and accuracy during the installation 

process. These patented connection 

technologies are Sculptform’s 

differentiator in the lining systems 

market and are the platform all their 

highly customisable systems are 

built upon. 

White oak was used throughout 

the project – on everything from 

the curved forms to the flooring 

– developing a consistency in 

design language and showcasing 

Sculptform’s capabilities to clients 

without sacrificing the overall design 

with the need to show the full range 

of timber species and profiles. 

Sculptform’s business is based 

on turning creative concepts into 

tangible architectural solutions – 

and no more so than for their own 

showroom, which reflects what 

defines them as creatives and what 

they’re known for in the design 

industry. P 

Through a process of steaming and 

heating in Sculptform’s Australian 

factory, the properties of the 

timber are altered, making it more 

malleable and highly disposed to 

bending. It is then placed in curved 

formers for a determined period 

while the timber cools and its 

properties return to their natural 

state, completing the process. 

The timber maintains its curved 

form and can be installed as part 




SHOW PREVIEW 

47th China 

International Furniture 

Fair Guangzhou 2021 

18 to 21 March 2021 

Home furniture; home 

decorations and textiles; 

outdoor and leisure furniture 


Office furniture; commercial 

furniture; hotel furniture; 

furniture machinery 

and raw materials 

Focusing on design trends, global 

trade and the entire supply chain, 

the China International Furniture Fair 

(CIFF) Guangzhou is repositioning 

itself to aid the sector’s development 

in the context of a global pandemic. 

The 47th edition of this major furniture 

design event in China aims to promote 

the value of design and create a new 

business model in touch with current 

events. The model is based on synergy 

between China’s internal market and 

the continued growth of exports, 

as well as integration of offline and 

online promotion strategies to offer an 

optimised and more comprehensive 

exhibition portfolio that adequately 

represents the entire furniture industry. 

KEY INFORMATION 

CIFF Guangzhou 2021 will be held 

in two phases. The first phase, 

scheduled for 18 to 21 March, is 

dedicated to home furniture; home 

decoration and textiles; as well as 

outdoor and leisure furniture. The 

second phase, which will run from 

28 to 31 March, will focus on office 

furniture; commercial furniture; hotel 

furniture; and machinery and raw 

materials for the furniture industry. 

Covering a total area of 750,000 

square metres, the China Import and 

Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, 

China, is expected to host 4,000 

companies and 300,000 trade 

visitors. 


SHOW PREVIEW 

CONTINUED SUCCESS 

The last two 2020 editions of CIFF, held 

in July in Guangzhou and in September 

in Shanghai, were held successfully 

despite the on-going COVID-19 

pandemic. CIFF thus affirms its status 

as an important business event on the 

Asian market, at which top brands will 

present new products with attractive 

designs and innovative concepts in line 

with the latest trends. 

During the first phase, in the Home 

Furniture sector, the latest innovations 

in home furnishing will be showcased, 

namely international design trends; 

modern and contemporary furniture; 

upholstery; and a variety of living and 

night area solutions. Homedecor & 

Hometextile will focus on new interior 

design trends in furnishings, lighting, 

paintings, decorative elements, and 

artificial flowers, while Outdoor & 

Leisure will feature outdoor furniture 

such as garden tables, chairs, and 

equipment and seasonal decorations. 

The Office Show, the largest trade 

fair in the world dedicated to 

the workplace environment, will 

headline during the second phase. 

It will feature systems and chairs 

for the workplace; trends for the 

smart office; solutions for public and 

commercial spaces and schools; as 

well as furniture for medical care 

and for the needs of the elderly. At 

the same time, China International 

Furniture Machinery & Furniture Raw 

Materials Fair (CIFM) and interzum 

Guangzhou 2021 will host leading 

Chinese and international brands, 

who will offer the latest technologies, 

machinery, materials, surfaces 

and essential components for the 

furniture industry. 

OVER TWENTY THEMED EVENTS 

Design exhibitions, seminars and 

conferences will be held, including 

the second edition of “Design Spring” 

Contemporary Chinese Furniture Design 

Fair, 2030+ International Future Office 

Exhibition, Global Furniture Industry 

Trend Conference, The Design Dream 

Show, Ten Parallel Space Exhibition- 

“Easy Party”, Guangzhou’s Day & Night 

New Consumer Trendy Play, TOP 

DESIGN 100, CMF Trend Lab, My Dad 

Is a Designer, and many others. These 

fringe events will enrich the fair and 

provide interesting insights, moments 

of encounter and useful ideas for 

inspiration and reflection. 

The 47th CIFF Guangzhou 2021 is 

greatly anticipated to respond to the 

international markets’ new needs, 

understand global furnishing trends and 

seize concrete business opportunities. P 


SHOW PREVIEW 

China International Woodworking 

Machinery & Furniture Raw 

Materials Fair (Guangzhou) / 

interzum guangzhou 2021 


Following the rescheduling of 

last year’s event to July 2020 due 

to the COVID-19 situation, the 

China International Woodworking 

Machinery & Furniture Raw Materials 

Fair (Guangzhou) (CIFM) / interzum 

guangzhou will be held from 28 to 31 

March 2021 and will once again take 

place at the China Import and Export 

Fair Complex in Guangzhou, China. 

The pared down 2020 edition, resulting 

from travel restrictions imposed by 

various countries, did not douse the 

enthusiasm of the furniture production 

industry and instead registered some 

heartening results. Co-located with the 

China International Furniture Fair, the 

combined exhibition occupied an area 

of 300,000 square meters and received 

a total of 145,363 visitors. Some 1,607 

exhibitors from 16 countries and 

regions participated in full force. 

According to media data, the highend 

customisation market in China 

will reach RMB800 billion in 2020. 

Leading companies are expanding 

distribution channels, staking new 

retail spaces at major malls, and 

acquiring or investing in design and 

renovation firms. Dedicated to highquality 

custom furniture suppliers, 

CIFM / interzum guangzhou 2021 will 

bring together premium hardware 

accessories and wood panel brand 

enterprises at home and abroad to 

meet various buyer needs. 

UNFALTERING INDUSTRY SUPPORT 

CIFM/interzum guangzhou is poised 

to feature more smart production 

equipment and components, 

as well as raw and auxiliary 

materials, and continue to 

promote innovation and inspire 

the industry. International brands 

have expressed their anticipation 

for the 2021 show and jumped on 

the opportunity to snap up booth 

spaces. 

Online visitor pre-registration has 

kickstarted. Visitors who complete 

the pre-registration will receive 

free fast-tracked entry, a show 

catalogue, a PIAZZA drink voucher 

and free admission to the happy 

hour during the event. 

To learn more about 

interzum guangzhou, visit 

www.interzum-guangzhou.com. P 


Asia’s 

Leading 

Event

WOOD CLINIC 

Hello, Mr Shen! 

We are a supplier of building materials in Indonesia and we 

often find rot and pests on the timber in our warehouses. In 

your column published in Panels and Furniture Asia, I read 

about the high-temperature kiln drying of wood and the 

treatment of carbonised wood. We plan to build a kiln of 20 

cubic meters to test the high-temperature drying of wood and 

the treatment of carbonised wood, and we hope to solve the 

problems of pests and rotting wood. In the future, we plan 

to increase preservation equipment for wood treatment to 

meet the needs of customers. We hope that you may provide 

information about wood preservation for our reference. 

Thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Chen Zhiping, Indonesia 

20 June 2020 

Wood preservation 

treatment using the 

Bethell full-cell process 

Mr Chen, thank you for your letter. 

First of all, it is necessary to consider 

the causes of wood damage, which are 

mainly divided into two categories: 

pests (eg, longicorn beetles, beetles 

and termites) and decaying fungi (eg, 

brown rot fungi, white rot fungi and soft 

rot fungi). 

Secondly, the role of preservatives 

is also related to its durability, 

penetration effect and penetration 

uniformity. 

Thirdly, the preservation treatment 

methods include spraying; soaking; 

cold soaking; hot soaking; hot and 

cold soaking; vacuum soaking; and the 

Bethell full-cell process, among others. 

Finally, it is necessary to choose a wood 

preservative treatment method that is 

harmless and in line with the needs of 

the users. 

BETHELL FULL-CELL PROCESS 

The Bethell full-cell process is currently 

the most common wood preservation 

treatment thanks to its yield, quality 

and suitability for a wide range of wood. 

It involves a cylindrical pressure tank 

with a diameter of about 1.5 meters 

and a length of about 15.5 meters, and 

a capacity of about 9 to 10 cubic meters 

of wood. 

Things to note during preparation 

• The moisture content of air-dried 

wood is 20% to 25%. 

• Ideally, the wood placed in the 

pressure tank for treatment 

should be of the same species and 

specifications. 

• The presence of bark may affect 

the penetration of preservatives 

into the wood tissues. Bark that 

fall off may also cause a jam in the 

pressure tank pipes or pumps. 

• The width and height of the 

material pile should be smaller 

than the inlet (circumference) of the 

pressure tank to avoid damaging 

the surface coating. 

• For wood surfaces that have a low 

penetration rate, it is necessary to 

carve cracks to facilitate better 

penetration of preservatives into 

the wood tissues. 

• High-density hardwoods, or 

extracts with antiseptic effect in 

cells, do not need preservative 

treatment. An example is 

ironwood (ulin) in Malaysia and 

Indonesia. 

• Moths can often be seen in wet 

sapwood, but after air drying, the 

wood will maintain its integrity 

even for a hundred years. 

Procedure (see Figure 1) 

1. Vacuumise the wood in the 

pressure tank until the pressure 

reaches 0.85bar. Maintain the 

pressure for about 30 minutes 

(too much vacuum pressure or 

vacuum time may cause the wood 

to become deformed). 

2. Remove moisture on the wood 

surface and air in the cell cavity to 

facilitate the better penetration 

of preservatives into the wood 

tissue. 

3. After 30 minutes, open the valve 


WOOD CLINIC 

and suck the preservatives from 

the preservative storage pool. After 

filling the pressure tank, pump the 

vacuum pump to close the valve. 

4. Open the pressure pump and 

increase the pressure to 14bar, 

maintaining it for one hour or 

longer as appropriate. 

5. After the pressure-holding phase 

ends, open the valve of the 

pressure tank to discharge the 

remaining preservatives to the 

storage pool. 

6. Start the vacuum pump to drain the 

wet preservatives from the wood 

surface and immediately complete 

the full-cell process within 15 

minutes. 

7. Confirm that all remaining 

preservatives in the pressure tank 

have been drained into the storage 

pool before opening the door of the 

pressure tank to unload the wood 

for air drying. 

Selection of preservatives 

There are many kinds of preservatives in 

the market and they should be selected 

according to their environmental 

hazard level. One possibility is Copper 

Chromium Arsenic (CCA). Chromium 

is a fixing agent in CCA preservatives 

and can prolong the effectiveness of 

preservatives in wood tissues. Copper 

and arsenic play a role in preventing 

decaying fungi and moths. 

Basic safety matters 

1. Preservative treatment workshop 

a. Workshop ventilation 

equipment: the workshop 

should have good ventilation 

equipment, especially at the 

entrance of the preservative 

pressure tank or the mixer for 

diluting preservatives. The 

equipment can pump the gas 

volatilised by preservatives 

away from the workshop. 

b. Wastewater treatment: there 

should be a facility for treating 

the wastewater recovery tank. 

c. Safety dike: a safety dike should 

be set around the pressure tank 

to prevent the preservative from 

leaking all over the ground. 

d. Emergency shower room: set up 

an emergency shower room at 

an appropriate location. 

e. Eye washing equipment: set 

up eye-washing facilities in 

appropriate working areas. 

If CCA gets into contact with 

the eyes, wash immediately 

for about 15 minutes to avoid 

damaging the cornea. 

f. Hand washing equipment: 

there should be a sink near the 

working area. 

g. Back-up water tank: a back-up 

图一、全细胞防腐处理的程序如示意图一。a. 啟动抽真空泵 water , a1 tank 直空 is necessary 保压时 in 間 case ,b. 吸入防腐剖 

, c. 啟动加压力泵压力达 14bar, d. 保压時間 , e. 减压 , f.CCA 防腐 

of 

剂 

a temporary 

回收 , g. 

shortage 

抽真空 

of 

, 

tap 

g1 真空时間 , 

water. 

h. 觧除真空压力。 

15 

d 

12 

Pressure (bar) 

9 

6 

3 

0 

-1 

a 

a 1 

c 

b 

Time (hour) 

g 

e 

f 

g 1 

h 

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the Bethell full-cell process 

Legend 

a. Start the vacuum pump 

a 1 . Vacuum duration 

b. Add preservatives 

c. Open the pressure pump and 

increase the pressure to 14bar 

d. Pressurisation duration 

e. Decompression 

f. CCA preservative 

recovery 

g. Vacuumise 

g 1 . Vacuum duration 

h. Release the vacuum pressure 

1 


WOOD CLINIC 

2. Employee safety precautions 

a. Goggles, masks, rubber 

boots and protective clothing 

should be worn when 

necessary. 

b. Prepare a bucket of clean 

water beside the mixer for 

emergency use. 

c. Hands stained with CCA 

preservatives must be 

thoroughly cleaned before 

eating or smoking. 

3. Symptoms of CCA poisoning 

a. Itchy and hot eyes 

b. Fever, itching and sneezing 

c. Hot sensations in mouth and 

throat 

d. Headache, tiredness and 

sleepiness 

e. Nausea and vomiting 

f. Rashes and itchy skin (see 

Figure 2) that require a 

recovery period of at least a 

month 

Quality evaluation 

To evaluate the quality of the 

preserved wood, use an unloaded 

piece as a sample. 

1. In the middle, or 500 mm away 

from the ends, cut the sample 

into three parts with a thickness 

of 20 mm. 

2. The wood treated with CCA will 

turn green. 

3. Spray chemical reagent Chrome 

Azurol S on the ends of the three 

newly sawn samples. 

4. The cross section with CCA 

preservative will turn an obvious 

blue, while the end without CCA 

preservative will turn red. 

HAZARD CLASSIFICATION 

The standards of wood preservation 

hazard classification in 

different countries and regions are 

basically the same (see Table 1 and 

Figure 3). 

Hazard 

rating 

H2 

H3 

H4 

H5 

H6 

Product 

environment 

Not touching soil but 

may occasionally 

get wet 

Outdoors; often wet 

without touching 

the soil 

Outdoors; often 

touching soil or fresh 

water 

Outdoors; directly 

touching water and 

soil 

Long-time 

immersion in sea 

water 

Typical use 

Figure 3. 

Environmental 

hazard rating (H2 

to H6) and the use 

of preserved wood 

(see Table 1 for 

translations) 

External walls, window 

frames, rafters 

Flower frame beams, 

outdoor tables and 

chairs, eaves boards 

Fences, garden steps, 

swimming pool floors 

Park wooden bridges, 

retaining walls 

Wharf pillars 

Table 1. Environmental hazard rating and 

application of wood preservation 

Figure 2. After diluting the CCA preservative, the employee only 

packaged it with a single layer of plastic. This caused a rash and itch 

that needed a recovery period of one month. 

I hope you are satisfied with the above 

information about wood preservation. 

P 


EVENT CALENDAR 

Events Calendar 2021 

MARCH, 09 – 11 

Dubai WoodShow 2021 

Dubai, United 

Arab Emirates 

MARCH, 10 – 13 MARCH, 28 – 31 

Vietnam International Furniture 

& Home Accessories 

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 

MARCH, 18 – 21 

47th CIFF Guangzhou 2021 

(Phase 1) 

Guangzhou, China 

MARCH, 11 – 14 

Indonesia International 

Furniture Expo 2021 

Jakarta, Indonesia 

MARCH, 24 – 26 

Domotex asia / China Floor 2021 

Shanghai, China 

47th CIFF Guangzhou 2021 

(Phase 2) 

Guangzhou, China 

Photo: wael hneini / Unsplash 

MARCH, 28 – 31 APRIL, 14 – 16 MAY, 04 – 07 

MAY, 20 

CIFM / interzum 

guangzhou 2021 

Guangzhou, 

China 

Photo: jason yuen / Unsplash 

Carrefour International du Bois 

Nantes, France 

IWPA 65th World of Wood 

Annual Convention 

San Diego, 

United States of America 

Photo: lucas davies / Unsplash 

GABON WOOD SHOW 2021 

Gabon, Central Africa 

Interzum Cologne 2021 

Cologne, Germany 

MAY, 13 – 16 

Qingdao International 

Furniture Fair 

Qingdao, China 

Domotex Digital Day 

Hannover, Germany 

MAY, 26 – 28 JUNE, 10 – 12 

JUNE, 24 – 26 

JUNE, 30 – JULY, 02 

AfriWood 2021, Kenya, Africa 

JUNE, 28 – 30 

MAY, 31 – JUNE, 2 

INDEX Dubai 2021 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

AUGUST, 18 – 21 

JUNE, 15 – 17 

ASEAN Super 8 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

SEPTEMBER, 01 – 04 

Malaysian International 

Furniture Fair 

Kuala Lumpur, 

Malaysia 

SYLVA WOOD 2021 


Salone del Mobile Milano 

Milan, Italy 

ArchXpo 2021, Singapore 

SEPTEMBER, 05 – 10 SEPTEMBER, 07 – 11 

FMC China 2021 


Photo: mike enerio / Unsplash 

BIFA Wood Vietnam 2021 

Binh Duong, Vietnam 

Photo: azlan baharudin / Unsplash 


CIFF SHANGHAI 2021 / 

WMF 2021 



The Big 5 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

SEPTEMBER, 15 – 18 SEPTEMBER, 27 – OCTOBER, 01 OCTOBER, 07 – 10 

DECEMBER, 10 – 13 

VietnamWood 2021 

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 

Mokkiten Japan 2021 

Nagoya, Japan 


OCTOBER, 12 – 15 

NHLA Convention 2021 

Florida, USA 

LIGNA 2021, Hannover, Germany 

IFMAC & WOODMAC 2021 

Jakarta, Indonesia 

MyanmarWood 2021 

Yangon, Myanmar 

Photo: peter gonzalez / Unsplash 

Photo: sigma415 / Unsplash 


INDEX OF 

ADVERTISERS 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA • January / February 2021 

COMPANY 

American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) 

PAGE 

IFC 

Baillie Lumber 9 

BIFA Wood Vietnam 2021 7 

Heavy Duty Helical Planer Cutter 

Heads with Changeable Knives 

Knife: 

14 x 14 x 2 x 30º 

14 x 14 x 2 x 37º 

China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) 2021 

Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd 

FC 

OBC 

Furniture Leadership Awards International 29 

Global Timber 37 

Heavy Duty Helical Planer Cutter 


Knife: 

30 x 12 x 1.5 x 35º 

Hanoi Wood 2022 17 

IMEAS spa 11 

Interzum Guangzhou 2021 57 

Kuang Yung Machinery Co., Ltd 13 

Lesnaya Industriya Journal 45 

Helical Planer Cutter Heads 

with Changeable Knives 

Knife: 

15 x 15 x 2.5 x 30º 

15 x 15 x 2.5 x 37º 

Nanxing Machinery Co., Ltd 2 - 3 

Northwest Hardwoods 1 

Panels & Furniture Asia's House Ad 47 

Sichuan Hero Woodworking New Technology Co., Ltd 64 

Sylvawood Expo 2021 25 

Technik Associates, Inc. 

IBC 

Tong Fong Cutters Co., Ltd 63 

Adjustable Planer Cutter Heads 

with HSS or TCT Knives 

Safety Corrugate Cutter Heads 

with HSS Knives 

Spindle Shaper Planer Cutter 


Knife: 

30 x 12 x 1.5 x 35º 

50 x 12 x 1.5 x 35º 

60 x 12 x 1.5 x 35º 

Yalian Machinery Co., Ltd 61 

Changeable Knives 

-TCT 

Single/Double Surface Planers Helical Planer 

Cutter Heads with Changeable Knives 

Knife: 14 x 14 x 2.0 x 30º 

15 x 15 x 2.5 x 30º 

15 x 15 x 2.5 x 37º 

30 x 12 x 1.5 x 35º 

30 x 12 x 2.5 x 35º 

14.6 x 14.6 x 2.5 x 30º 

Scan to download eBook 

PFA January/February 2021

Try Canadian Wood 

Liên Hệ Canada Wood 

Western Hemlock | Gỗ Độc Cần Bờ Tây 

Ready-to-use lumber • High strength to weight ratio 

Excellent treatability 

Gỗ xẻ sử dụng ngay • Độ bền và chịu lực cao trên tỷ trọng gỗ 

Dễ dàng xử lý chống mối mọt và độ bền 

www.canadianwood.com.vn

Panels & Furniture Asia January/February 2021

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