US Dollar Exchange Rates of 29th
July 2011
China Yuan 6.444
Report from China
New US Emission standards impact Chinese woodbased panel industry
The US Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood
Products Act was signed into law on 7 July 2010 and came
into effect on 3 January 2011. Basically this adopts
standards established by the California Air Resources
Board (CARB). This act limits formaldehyde emission to a
level far below that of China and many other countries.
Products covered by this act include hardwood plywood,
MDF, particleboard and finished goods containing these
products; it excludes hardboard, structural plywood,
structural panels, structural composite lumber, oriented
strandboard, prefabricated wood, glue laminated lumber,
finger jointed lumber, wood packaging and composite
wood products.
The act clearly defines emission limits of formaldehyde
which are apparently lower than Chinese levels.
China is a major exporter of wood-based panel. In 2010,
output of wood-based panels amounted to 154 million
cubic metres (of which, output of plywood was 71.4
million cubic metres, accounting for 46.5% and
fiberboard, 43.5 million cubic metres, amounting to
28.4%).
Of the total plywood output, 10.6% or 7.55 million cubic
metres were exported and 5.6% or 1.93 million cubic
metres of fiberboard were also exported.
The timber industry in China says this act will have a
severe negative effect on China’s plywood sector,
especially on the medium and small-sized companies.
Manufacturers say that to meet the new emission standards
production costs will rise as they will need to invest in
training, equipment and technological improvements.
The Secretary General of China’s Technical Committee of
Wood-based Panel Standardization suggested that since
the United States is the largest market for Chinese
furniture and plywood (one third of China’s furniture and
one fourth of its plywood is exported to USA), China
should upgrade its plywood enterprises.
Enterprises should be encouraged to adopt new
technologies and improve product quality so as to
maintain its share of the US panel and wood products
market.
Analysts report that at the end of June more than 400
Chinese enterprises had achieved California CARB
certification for products destined for the United States.
Policy changes to economise on wood use
The National Development and Reform Commission has
just released the latest “Catalogue Guiding Adjustment of
Industrial Structure” detailing the scope of wood-saving
products and processes which will attract government
assistance.
The previous policy document included investments such
as development of products from small diameter logs and
residues, technical development of composite wood
materials, production and integrated utilization of bamboobased
engineering materials and these have been
maintained in the latest document.
Some new items have been added such as the technical
development of structural wood-based panel, production
and integrated utilization of composite wood material,
production of plastic and wood composite materials,
recycling wood residues and economizing on wood use.
The document identifies some industries which are to be
discouraged and these include the production of disposable
wood products (including disposable chopsticks) and
wood packaging from high value timber as well as wood
and bamboo process which are not effectively integrated.
Timber supply from Myanmar to China stops due to armed conflict
According to timber traders, the road on the China-
Myanmar border was closed in June due to armed conflict
in the area.
Consequently, timber from Myanmar cannot be
transported to China so traders are facing rapid depletion
of stocks of timbers from Myanmar. Analysts say that the
security situation is bad and that it is likely that the road
on the China-Myanmar frontier will not be open until
October.
Logs imports through Fujian Putian Port
According to Fujian Putian Entry-Exit Inspection and
Quarantine Bureau, in the first half of 2011 logs imports
through Putian Port were 118 900 cubic metres valued at
US$18.52 million, up 58 percent in volume and 64 percent
in value from the same period in 2010. Imported logs
through the port are mainly from Canada and Australia.
The log and timber import business between Canada and
China improved after an agreement on hygiene
requirements for Canadian BC Province logs to China was
signed since July 2010.
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