Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, my country's wood-based panel industry has developed rapidly. In 2018, the output of wood-based panels reached 299.09 million m³, continuing to maintain the status of the world's largest producer of wood-based panels. In recent years, the annual output of wood-based panels in my country has been relatively stable, and the entire industry is in the process of eliminating backward production capacity and transforming and upgrading. At present, phased results have been achieved, and the whole has entered a stage of high-quality development. However, the entire industry still has problems such as unreasonable product structure, serious homogeneity, and low added value of products. Based on the current development status of my country's wood-based panel industry, the author deeply analyzes the problems existing in the development of the industry, puts forward suggestions and countermeasures for the future development of products, and provides a reference for the development of my country's wood-based panel industry.
1. Status of the wood-based panel industry
1.1 Output of various wood-based panel products
In 2018, the total output of wood-based panels in my country was 299.09 million m³, a slight rebound from 2017, an increase of 1.43%. Among them, the output of plywood was 178.98 million m³, a year-on-year increase of 4.09%; the output of fiberboard was 61.68 million m³, a year-on-year decrease of 2.05%; the output of particleboard was 27.32 million m³, a year-on-year decrease of 1.66%; the output of other wood-based panels was 31.1 million m³ (among which, blockboard was 16.36 million m³), a year-on-year decrease of 3.30%. In 2018, the output of various types of wood-based panels accounted for 60% of plywood, 21% of fiberboard, 9% of particleboard, and 10% of others (including blockboard).
1.2 Product Format Size
At present, the size of wood-based panels in my country is relatively single. Among them, the size of plywood is mainly 4' × 8' and 3' × 6', the blockboard is mainly 4' × 8', and the fiberboard and particleboard are mainly 4' × 8' and 4' × 9'. Analysis of the reasons for the relatively single size of wood-based panels in my country is mainly related to the development process of wood-based panels. On the one hand, due to the influence of traditional wood-based panel production equipment, multi-laminators dominated in the past, and the platen size of multi-laminators limited the size of my country's wood-based panel products. On the other hand, in the past, the products of the end-users of wood-based panels were relatively standardized, and the demand for special sizes of wood-based panels was relatively small. Therefore, to a certain extent, wood-based panel manufacturers lacked market motivation to develop other sizes of panels. In recent years, the proportion of particleboard and fiberboard produced by continuous presses has gradually increased, and the width of the pressboard has also been innovative. The width specifications of the products have increased, and the length can be adjusted according to the terminal demand.
1.3 Product grade and proportion
At present, my country's wood-based panel industry presents a state of coexistence of high-, medium- and low-grade products. The market share of wood-based panels of various grades shows that the proportion of mid-to-high-end products is not high. The proportion has improved in recent years, and there is still a lot of room for growth. Among them, plywood is more prominent, with about 90% of mid-to-low-end products, followed by blockboard, and about 85% of mid-to-low-end products. Although the proportion of high-end products of particleboard and fiberboard has increased rapidly, the proportion of low-end products is still relatively large. Low-end products of fiberboard account for about 30%, and low-end products of particleboard account for about 40%.
1.4 Product price and profit
The price and profit of wood-based panel products are related to the production cost, quality, specification, performance, function, brand, and management of the product. At present, the overall profit level of wood-based panel products in my country is not high, with an average of about 5%. According to incomplete statistics, the price ranges of fiberboard and particleboard are 1 100～2 100 yuan/m³, 900～1 350 yuan/m³ respectively, the profit rate is about 7%; the price range of plywood and blockboard is 2 000～ 2 400 yuan/m³, 2 000-2 800 yuan/m³, but due to the high cost of raw materials, poor product quality, too single product, low product grade, and other reasons, the profit is relatively low, about 3%.
1.5 Product Application
my country's wood-based panels are mainly used in building decoration, furniture, flooring, doors and windows, packaging materials, etc., see Table 1 for details. Among them, my country's wood-based panels account for the largest proportion in furniture production and interior decoration, and the rest are mainly used in construction, packaging, and container floors. Most of the wood-based panels used in the field of interior decoration and furniture production are wood-based panels after secondary processing and finishing. Among them, plywood and blockboard finishing methods are mainly painting and surface-covered decorative paper, and fiberboard finishing methods are mainly paint, The surface is covered with decorative paper and PVC, the particleboard is mainly covered with decorative paper, and the oriented strand board (OSB) is mainly painted directly or veneer and then painted.
In the 1990s, plywood was mainly used for interior decoration and furniture. However, due to the single specification and few high-quality products of plywood products, the proportion of plywood (including blockboard) in interior decoration has been significantly reduced. It is used in packaging, concrete formwork for construction, floor substrate, container bottom plate, etc. With the development of the impregnated film paper facing plywood or blockboard (commonly known as "ecological board") industry, the proportion of plywood and blockboard in interior decoration, furniture, custom wardrobes, and cabinets has increased in recent years. But the total is still not large.
Fiberboard is mainly used in interior decoration and furniture, cabinets, custom wardrobes, etc., due to its excellent surface secondary processing performance and diversification of format sizes, etc. It is also used in audio and sporting goods. In recent years, with the rapid development of the custom home furnishing industry, my country's particleboard has been unprecedentedly applied in custom home furnishing due to its lightweight, moderate strength, and diversified formats and specifications, and the entire industry once showed rapid growth. OSB is mainly used for interior decoration, packaging, container floor and wooden houses, while in North America and European countries, OSB is mainly used for the construction of wooden houses.
1.6 Product Standards
At present, my country's wood-based panel industry has basically formed a standard system with national standards as the main body, supplemented by industry standards, local standards, group standards and enterprise standards, and has formed a number of important standards in related fields, for the development of wood-based panel industry Provides strong technical support. Table 2 shows the current main wood-based panel product standards in my country.
At present, my country's main wood-based panel products have corresponding national or industry standards. In addition, my country's current standards include GB 18580-2017 "Limits of Formaldehyde Emission in Interior Decoration Materials Wood-based Panels and Their Products", GB/T17657-2013 "Physical and Chemical Properties Test Methods for Wood-based Panels and Decorative Wood-based Panels", GB/T 35601-2017 "Green Product Evaluation of Wood-based Panels and Wooden Floors", GB/T 18259-2018 "Terms of Wood-based Panels and Surface Decoration" and dozens of other method standards and basic standards on performance, test methods and terms.
In response to the national encouragement and strong support for groups or enterprises to independently formulate high-quality and high-demand group or enterprise standard policies, China Forestry Products Industry Association recently promulgated and implemented three group standards related to wood-based panel products, namely T/CNFPIA 1001— 2019 "Formaldehyde emission limit of wood-based panels", T/CNFPIA 3002-2018 "Formaldehyde-free wood-based panels and their products" and T/CNFPIA3005-2019 "Eucalyptus peeled veneer". In addition, large enterprises in the industry have also formulated their own enterprise standards in combination with the characteristics of their own products.
1.7 Product Quality
According to the quality supervision data of wood-based panel products released by the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration and provincial and municipal market supervision departments, as well as the daily testing situation of relevant quality inspection agencies and the quality control of wood-based panel enterprises, analyze the comprehensive pass rate of wood-based panel product quality and the quality of plywood. The comprehensive pass rate is about to 86%, about 87% for blockboard, about 92% for fiberboard, and about 88% for particleboard. The main unqualified items of plywood are formaldehyde release, moisture content, bonding strength, appearance quality, and core board stacking; the main unqualified items of blockboard are dip stripping performance, moisture content, core quality, core board stacking, and processing accuracy; The main unqualified items of particleboard are formaldehyde emission, appearance quality, water absorption thickness expansion rate, and internal bonding strength; fiberboard main unqualified items are water absorption thickness expansion rate, formaldehyde emission, and appearance quality.
The quality of plywood products for concrete formwork used in the construction field is worrying, and the pass rate is about 40%. It is suggested that relevant departments should pay attention. The main unqualified items of plywood products for concrete formwork are the bonding strength and static bending strength. The main reasons for the analysis are that the performance of the adhesive used cannot meet the standard requirements and the product structure is unreasonable.
2. There is a problem
2.1 Unreasonable product structure
First of all, the unreasonable structure of my country's wood-based panel products is mainly manifested in the high proportion of plywood, while the proportion of particleboard is relatively small, accounting for about 9% of the total. Looking at the global wood-based panel pattern, particleboard, fiberboard, and OSB dominate in North America and Europe, and the global production of OSB and particleboard has grown the fastest in recent years, increasing by 25% and 13% respectively between 2014 and 2018.
Secondly, my country's high-end products have a low market share and low product profits, which do not meet the needs of national economic development and cannot meet the needs of the people for a better life and the healthy development of the industry.
2.2 The product specifications are relatively single and do not match the new market demands
The product specifications produced by most wood-based panel enterprises are relatively single, and the transition from "product-centered" to "market demand-centered value creation" has not been initiated, and there is a problem that it is difficult to meet the increasingly personalized and diversified needs of customers. In addition, the phenomenon of low product yield caused by single product specifications has gradually become prominent.
2.3 Serious product homogeneity and low added value
Enterprises lack independent innovation ability, product homogeneity is serious, market share of high-end products is low, added value is low, and product profits are low. Under the current fierce market competition, in order to increase the sales volume and occupy the market share, the enterprises do not hesitate to lower the price and make small profits but quick turnover.
2.4 Insufficient development of product application areas
Some enterprises lack the ability of scientific and technological innovation and fail to actively invest in developing new products and expanding application fields. my country's wood-based panel products are mainly used for general purposes such as furniture and interior decoration. Although there are various classifications for the application environment of products in the standard, most of the leading products are interior decoration and furniture boards used in a dry state.
2.5 Product standards and quality need to be improved
On the one hand, some enterprises have weak quality awareness, do not understand standards, fail to produce in accordance with national or industrial standards, and fail to check raw materials in accordance with standardized operations, etc., resulting in low overall quality of my country's wood-based panel products. On the other hand, the support of high-level standards is not enough, and the development of enterprise standards in the entire industry is not enough. Most enterprises only require products to meet the basic standard requirements. There are few high-quality products in the market, which is in line with the growing demand of the people The need for a better life does not match, nor does it match the level of economic development. Therefore, the overall level of product quality still needs to be further improved.
3. Product development suggestions
3.1 Continue to optimize product structure
With the structural adjustment of my country's wood-based panel industry, the product structure of wood-based panels will be further optimized. On the one hand, although the overall output of particleboard has increased significantly in recent years, the proportion is still relatively low. With the introduction of foreign advanced production lines and the improvement of domestic craftsmanship, the quality of particleboard in my country has been continuously improved and has been re-accepted by the market. Re-selected particleboard as raw material. On the other hand, with the increase in the growth rate of the development of wood-structured buildings, it will definitely drive the development of OSB, and the proportion of particleboard production will increase.
It is suggested that the positioning of wood-based panel products should be developed towards the mid-to-high end, and strive for more than 80% of the mid-to-high-end products. At present, there is still room for improvement in the market share of high-quality plywood and particleboard (especially OSB).
3.2 Adjust product specifications to meet new market demands
Adjustment of specifications needs to be comprehensively considered in terms of end-consumer demand, changes in industrial formats, and improvement in yield. First of all, it is necessary to adjust the product format size according to the end customer's blanking and customize the format size to improve the yield and reduce the waste of resources. This requires enterprises to design the size of the wood-based panel for production with the maximum yield rate according to the different requirements of terminal products such as wooden doors, cabinets, wardrobes, wall panels, and floors. Secondly, it is recommended to develop products with suitable thickness and size according to the use site or functional needs, such as the development and production of thick particleboard and OSB for door leaves, the development of custom furniture backboards and drawer boards, wall panels, wooden door cladding panels, etc. Plywood etc.
3.3 Attach importance to technological innovation and produce high value-added products
Technological innovation has always been one of the important drivers in product development.
First, pay attention to product quality. Improve the performance of products, especially the microscopic properties of products.
Secondly, attach importance to research and development, and develop sound insulation/sound-absorbing wood-based panels, anti-static and electromagnetic shielding wood-based panels, aroma-releasing wood-based panels, flame-retardant wood-based panels, mildew-proof wood-based panels, moisture-proof wood-based panels, antibacterial wood-based panels, and electric heating wood-based panels Panels and other functional wood-based panels to meet the increasingly rich home improvement needs of consumers.
Third, pay attention to market demand and dynamics, attach importance to technological innovation, and develop wood-based panel products that adapt to the market. Increase the market share of fiberboards for routing, and develop thickened fine-surface particleboards that can be used for routing; focus on fiberboards for molding, especially fiberboards for molding floor substrates produced by polyurethane glue (PMDI); focus on veneer and inorganic materials Composite application, composite board of shavings or fibers and inorganic materials; development and production of high-quality plywood, thick veneer plywood, three-layer structure composite plywood, bamboo-wood composite plywood; transportation cost.
Finally, properly extending the industrial chain, paying attention to the processing of wood-based panel veneers, and selling wood-based panels after the veneer is also an important part of adjusting the product structure and increasing the added value of products. It is recommended to learn and learn from the latest global wood-based panel veneer processing technology to develop high value-added products. At the same time, it should also actively promote the innovation and promotion of new products of wood-based panels.
3.4 Efforts to expand the application field of wood-based panels and create development opportunities
The continuous expansion of the use of wood-based panel products will bring new development opportunities for the wood-based panel industry. In the future, we should promote the application of wood-based panels in wood structures, vehicles and ships, outdoor, hospitals, and elderly care industries; pay attention to the high-strength wood-based panel market, including structural plywood (laminated veneer, container floor plywood, etc.) and OSB; Promote the development and application of wood-based panels in background panels, which can be realized through metal film veneer, fabric veneer, leather veneer and special shapes; develop pre-painted decorative veneer, and promote pre-painted decorative veneer in the production of wooden doors and furniture development of the application of reconstituted decorative materials, reconstituted wood/bamboo, layered compressed wood and microwave puffed wood; pay attention to the application market of wood-based panels in the fields of handicrafts and stationery; promote the application of wood-based panels in the packaging industry; Large and high-grade glulam market share, through solid wood panelization, to meet the demand for solid wood products.
Develop and produce particleboard, fiberboard, and plywood for wall panels, ceilings, and pay attention to hollow particleboard for door cores, which are in great demand; increase the production share of veneer wood-based panels, provide product components for end-product companies, and increase decorative veneer decoration. Market share of surface particleboard and fiberboard; increase the market share of formaldehyde-free adhesives for wood-based panels, including particleboard and fiberboard made of PMDI adhesive, fiberboard, plywood and particleboard made of soybean glue, two-component water-based polyurethane adhesive made of plywood; focus on the use of soy-based fiberboard, plywood, and particleboard in food packaging
application.
3.5 Pay attention to standardization and establish and improve the enterprise's own standard system
From the national level, it is necessary to further improve the standardization system of my country's wood-based panels and improve the standard level of my country's wood-based panels. From the enterprise level, it is suggested that enterprises should attach great importance to product standard work, pay attention to the development of standards, and pay attention to the formulation and revision of enterprise standards. Further improvement of quality; for new products developed without national standards or industry standards, enterprises should formulate enterprise product standards in a timely manner, and actively promote the formulation of the group, national, or industry standards; enterprises should refine enterprise product standards according to different uses of products, scientifically Apply wood-based panel products to guide consumption correctly; encourage enterprises to formulate enterprise product standards in line with international standards or standards of developed countries.
3.6 Pay attention to the overall level of product quality and do not ignore the microscopic quality of products
In the context of the high-quality development of the wood-based panel industry, it is necessary to pay attention to product quality in all aspects. In addition to strictly controlling the environmental quality (formaldehyde, TVOC release) and odor issues of wood-based panel products that consumers are generally concerned about, it is also necessary to focus on wood-based panels. The effect of surface quality on finishing. The improvement of the quality of wood-based panel finishes will be the key to industrial transformation and upgrading and structural optimization.
Further, improve the quality of particleboard and fiberboard. First of all, we must pay attention to the microscopic quality of the product itself, and improve the particle quality of particleboard and the fiber quality of fiberboard. Reduce the shavings from the edge of the particleboard during the sawing process, optimize the section density of the particleboard, and improve the edge sealing quality of the particleboard. At the same time, it is recommended to reduce the water absorption thickness expansion rate of particleboard and fiberboard, and improve its dimensional stability, creep resistance, internal bonding strength, especially the internal bonding strength of OSB. It is recommended to improve the uniformity of plywood bonding strength, strictly control the thickness deviation of plywood veneer; further improve the quality of plywood veneer, improve the uniformity of moisture content of plywood veneer, and realize the complete integration of plywood veneer; it is recommended to use high-quality wood High-end plywood is produced from thick veneer as a surface plate. For blockboard, it is recommended to use high-quality wood thick veneer as the surface board, use glulam as the core, and develop new species of wood for the core.