China Wood Products Prices
1-15th July 2004

Dollar Exchange Rates of 8th July 2004
China Yuan 8.28
Report from China    

Wooden Door Industry 

In China, wooden doors have become more and more popular for new house building and in interior decoration and home improvement. Currently there are solid wooden doors manufactured from sawnwood, laminated lumber and wood-based panels and many styles are available. 

The market for wooden doors and window frames has gone through three stages since the time when the economy began to open up in the 1980s. In the first stage the emphasis was on traditional wooden doors and window frames. At this time almost all the doors and windows in the country were made of wood. Also at that most of the door frames and window frames were built on site and the door was installed and painted on-site.  

A clear second stage in the evolution of the sector was the emergence of the metal door and window in the late 1980s. The Chinese government introduced strict measures to reduce timber use in construction and advocated using steel, aluminum and plastic instead of timber.  

Both solid and hollow steel doors and windows developed rapidly under the new industrial policy. Aluminum and colour panel doors and windows developed quickly. While metal windows captured the overwhelming bulk of the market for windows at this time wooden doors kept about 50% of the door market. 

The third stage in the evolution of China's door and window market was the arrival of plastic and the so-called  'pluralistic' period. Fro the time plastic doors and window frames were introduced in the 1990s, the market for PVC plastic doors and windows grew at a rate of about 20% per year and the number of installed doors and windows exceeded 160 million square metres per year. 

The 'pluralistic' development of aluminum, plastic, wood, steel and glass doors and windows came at a time when the real estate and home improvement sectors were booming and, overall at this time, the proportion of wooden windows was actually small. Today, and in stark contrast to just a few years ago, the market for wooden doors and windows is booming and analysts say that the  proportion of wood to others may exceed two-thirds in current construction and interior improvement.  

Local experts have expressed the view that China's wooden door industry has entered a new era and the prospects are bright because the products are unique and of high quality and the construction sector continues to grow. 

According to government plans by 2010 the national urbanization rate will be more than 45% and  the per capita housing area will reach 25 square metres. Currently, some 700 million square metres of built-up area is completed per year in China and it is estimated that around 500 million of doors and windows will be consumed, four times of consumption of doors and windows in the U market.  

Imports Through Zhangjiagang Port Down  

It has been reported that recent high prices for international freight has caused a sharp drop in log imports.  Zhangjiagang Port, located in Jiangsu Province, is the largest distribution centre for imported timber in China.  

According to the recently released statistics from China's Customs, log imports through Zhangjiagang Port were 606,600 cubic metres in the first quarter of this year, down by 33%. 

Imported logs were mainly from Malaysia (231 000 cubic metres) and Papua New Guinea (203 500 cubic metres) about the same level as last year. However, imports of logs from Africa were only 148,500 cubic metres, a year on year decrease of 226,000 cubic merers.  

According to local experts, transportation difficulties and a reduced flow of major species (such as Okoume) contributed to the decline in imports.  

DareGlobal ups MDF/HDF Production  

It has been reported that DareGlobal, whose aim is to become a world-class wood products manufacturer, has invested Yuan 3 billion to build a number of wood-based panel production enterprises. A recent company release describes the following operating production lines:  

·         80 000 cubic metres MDF/HDF production line with imported and domestic equipment in Fu'ning of Jiangsu Province and Fuyang of Anhui Province  

·         200 000 cubic metres MDF/HDF production lines with German Siempeikamp equipement in Heze of Shandong Province, Danyang of Jiangsu Province, Fuzhou of Jiangxi and Maoming of Guangdong Province. 

The company says that by the end of 2004, the MDF/HDF production capacity of the DareGlobal Group will be 1.5 million cubic metres putting it in the top rank in Asia.  

The Group is reportedly planning to build a 400 000 cubic metre particleboard line and a 300 000 cubic metre oriented structural board (OSB) line.  

Guangzhou City Imported Timber Market 

Shanghai Furen Wholesale Market 

Hebei Shijiangzhuang Wholesale Market

 Shandong De Zhou Timber market  

Tian Jin City Huan Bo Hai timber Market