Eucalypt laminated veneer lumber
A manufacturing opportunity in Tasmania, Australia
Eucalypt LVL : laminated veneer lumber A manufacturing opportunity in Tasmania The opportunity Production of rotary veneers & their products An opportunity exists in Tasmania to develop projects which will produce rotary veneer and its products such as structural plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for export to Asia Pacific markets. The opportunity has been created following four years of studies by Forestry Tasmania. Projects would utilise regrowth eucalypt and radiata pine peeler billets to create value added products with established markets.
The strategic advantages of this rotary veneer product development opportunity in Tasmania are: • the manufacture of rotary veneer and laminated products with outstanding strength and stiffness properties; • contracting with Forestry Tasmania for long-term and secure wood supply at internationally competitive supply prices; • wood supply from well managed, highly productive forests, with constrained log haul distances and many hundreds of kilometres of all weather, gravel surfaced roads; • participation in a well established forest industry sector with an experienced and skilled workforce and established markets for mill residues; • access to deep water ports for shipping to all markets; and • opportunities for business growth as wood volumes increase over time.
Forestry Tasmania Forestry Tasmania manages 1.6 million hectares of land, including approximately 830,000 hectares of forests available for wood production. The balance is managed for a range of multiple purposes. It currently supplies wood from both plantations and sustainable native forest harvesting. Over recent years, Forestry Tasmania has conducted many mill scale trials to determine the suitability of eucalypt regrowth for rotary peeling and to evaluate rotary veneer products such as structural plywood and LVL. These trials, together with independent studies commissioned by Forestry Tasmania, create confidence that the use of regrowth eucalypt for rotary veneer products is a promising opportunity for forest sector development in Tasmania. Radiata pine from softwood plantations is already widely used in a range of rotary veneer products. Forestry Tasmania offers interested companies their full support in examining this significant investment opportunity. The Tasmanian Government and its development agencies have expressed strong support for the venture.
About this opportunity Resources for rotary peeling To encourage investment in the production of rotary veneers, structural plywood and LVL in Tasmania, Forestry Tasmania offers sustainable annual wood supplies of regrowth eucalypt peeler blocks. Supplementary supplies of radiata pine peeler blocks are also available if required. This wood supply can be sourced by secure, renewable contracts. Additional volumes of eucalypt regrowth peeler blocks from private property forests may be available to an industry proponent by direct negotiation with land-owners or their cooperative associations. The main source of the eucalypt peeler blocks will be the older age classes of the excellent stands of regrowth forest located on State forests in the south, north-east and far north-west of Tasmania. Forestry Tasmania is committed to establishing a large eucalypt plantation estate on selected superior State forest sites, on leased private property and through joint ventures with private landowners. The silvicultural management regimes applied to these productive plantations will underwrite both the sustainable availability of eucalypt peeler blocks and expansion prospects for industries.
Features Wood and wood products The following are estimates of the properties of the proposed resources for rotary peeling. They are based on the assumption of a requirement for blocks of 2.6 metres length.
Eucalypt regrowth peeler blocks:
minimum / maximum (mean) diameters: maximum grain slope: mean basic density: moisture content: shrinkage (to 12 % m.c.):
25 / 70 (35) cms. 1 in 8 530 - 550 kg. / cub.m. saturated radial: 5 - 7 % tangential: 10 - 12 %
Eucalypt regrowth LVL (fabricated from 13 x 2.5 mm. veneers for a nominal 38 mm. thick panel) was evaluated by CSIRO with these results:
average moisture content: average density: bending strength (Fb): modulus of elasticity: tension strength (Ft): compression strength (Fc): shear strength (Fv):
9% 826 kg. / cub.m. 37.5 mPa / 5,440 p.s.i. 21.8 gPa / 3,168,000 p.s.i. 34.4 mPa / 4,990 p.s.i. 25.3 mPa / 3.670 p.s.i. 2.2 mPa / 320 p.s.i.
CSIRO (Australia’s major independent research body) reports have highlighted the outstanding bending and tension strengths obtained. Shear strength can be expected to be significantly improved using lathes that apply greater nosebar pressure to compensate for the higher density of regrowth eucalypt. Radiata pine is acknowledged as having successful applications in rotary peeling, structural plywood and LVL fabrication. The softwood plantation resource offers an opportunity to select billets across a range of dimensions and qualities. However, clear grade veneer yields are likely to be minimal.
The mean basic density of radiata pine in Tasmania is about 440 kg/cubic metre. This is expected to increase as harvests progress into older average age classes. The combination of eucalypt regrowth and radiata pine rotary veneers in the fabrication of structural plywood/LVL offers the opportunity to optimise the density, strength and stiffness properties of the product for individual product applications. Trials in Australia have demonstrated that excellent phenolic formaldehyde bonds can be obtained between veneers of regrowth eucalypt and radiata pine.
Industry development opportunities Depending on the scale of production required, the distribution of Forestry Tasmania’s eucalypt regrowth resources and radiata pine plantations suggests a possibility for the development of three separate rotary veneer/structural veneer products projects: • In the south, located about 60 kilometres south of Hobart (near Geeveston/Huonville), drawing on the resources of State forests in the Huon and Derwent Valleys. A recent review of the detailed inventory data provisionally suggests the annual availability of 120,000 cubic metres of regrowth eucalypt peeler blocks. • In the north, possibly at Bell Bay on the Tamar River, about 55 kilometres north of Launceston, drawing on the resources of State forests in the Bass, Mersey and Eastern Tiers (northern section) forest districts. Provisional annual availability of eucalypt regrowth peeler blocks is estimated at 95,000 cubic metres.
• On the North West Coast, near either Burnie or Smithton, drawing on the resources of State forests in the Murchison and Circular Head forest districts. Provisional annual availability of eucalypt regrowth peeler blocks is estimated at 85,000 cubic metres. In each case, there is opportunity for industry proponents to negotiate supplementary supplies of eucalypt regrowth peeler blocks from private properties and of radiata pine peeler blocks from private property and State forest plantations.
Investing in Tasmania Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state in terms of both land area (68,000 square kilometres) and population (470,000 in 1996). However, the state is richly endowed with forest resources which have played a significant role in its economic development. Today, the forest sector employs about 14 % of the workforce. Forest sector development, with emphasis on global markets, is seen as a key element of the state’s economic progress. The strong construction and industrial manufacturing base which has been a feature of Tasmanian development for nearly 70 years provides a wide range of skills, services and experience which provides the basis for manufacturing diversity. The labour force is stable, industrial disruption minimal and wage costs competitive. Physical and communications infrastructure in Tasmania is well developed. The state has a quality highway network, two major and two minor airports for interstate services, four major shipping ports (for international as well as domestic destinations), a privately owned railroad freight system and high-standard global communication services, including cable, microwave and satellite links. Vital support services are also well developed. Education and research facilities, health services and recreation facilities are of high standard. Service industries have been the principal source of employment growth in recent years, with information technology services playing a major role in creating job opportunities. By Australian standards, Tasmania’s population and its services are substantially decentralised. The state capital Hobart is home to 40 % of the population.
Project development assistance Encouraging investment in job creating manufacturing is a high priority for the Tasmanian Government. It provides support services for prospective developers, including project facilitation and assistance in gaining statutory approvals. The Tasmanian system for statutory approvals is an integrated, consistent and streamlined process in which timeframes are limited by law.
To obtain more information Forestry Tasmania is keen to provide interested parties with additional information. To receive an information package on this investment opportunity, please contact:
Mr. R. L. Gordon, General Manager - Marketing Forestry Tasmania. Postal Address: G.P.O. Box 207 B, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 Australia. Telephone: +61 3 6233 8183 Facsimile: +61 3 6233 8191 www.forestrytas.com.au
