Transcript STATUS OF RUBBERWOOD PROCESSING AND UTILIZATION IN INDIA – A COUNTRY REPORT Dr.

STATUS OF RUBBERWOOD PROCESSING AND
UTILIZATION IN INDIA – A COUNTRY REPORT
Dr. T. K. Dhamodaran
Scientist (Wood Science & Technology)
Forest Utilization Programme Division
KERALA FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Peechi – 680 653, Thrissur District, Kerala State, India
Ph: 91 487 2690282
Mobile: 09995186346
Fax: 91 487 2690391
e-Mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
• Emergence of Rubberwood Utilization concept in India:
1980s.
• Earlier uses: Domestic and Industrial firewood, low cost
packing cases where high durability is not required
• Later, timber shortage and escalation of timber prices –
emerged the concept of utilizing rubberwood for thick
packing cases, pallets, furniture, plywood, panel boards
and re-constituted board products
• Perishable nature of the timber – attack from sapstaining & decay fungi in green condition and insect
borers in partially dry to dry timber – need for developing
appropriate processing techniques to enhance durability.
• Research inputs on Rubberwood processing and
utilization in India – Prominent role of KFRI – Concerted
R & D efforts
Production Potential
Global Scenario
Estimated deforestation rate in developing countries:
16.8million ha/annum.
0.96 million ha of tropical rain forests can be conserved with
the utilization of economically available rubberwood on an
annual basis
An additional 0.3 million ha of tropical rain forests can be
further saved per annum, if all the available physical
potential of rubberwood were used.
In terms of money, rubberwood finished products generate
about US$ 1.5 Billion per annum in the world market.
Production Potential ---Contd…
• World Growing stock of Rubberwood: 866 million
m3 – Only 75% of this is utilized for industrial
applications due to infrastructural and local
constraints, size of holdings, quality of logs, etc.
• Logs of dia > 15 cms – for sawmilling & plywood
sector;
• Logs of dia 15-5 cms - for fuel wood sector
• Annual world physical production of rubberwood
during 1998: 41 million m3 (11 million m3 for
sawmilling & plywood industry)
• Estimated production potential for 2016-2021: 52
million m3 (14 million m3 log out put for
sawing/peeling)
Production Potential -- Contd…
In the backdrop of ITTO’S decision to allow only tropical timber originated
from sustainably managed sources (SMS) for international trade,
Rubberwood is getting acceptance all over the world.
• Indian Scenario
• Hon. Supreme Court banned clear felling of trees from the natural
forests
• Search for a renewable source of wood leads to the identification of
rubberwood, a product of sustainably managed plantations as an ecofriendly alternative to natural forest-based timber.
• Low cost coupled with plentiful availability – Warranted attention to
develop preservative treatment techniques to overcome its inherent
property of low durability
• Success in developing preservative treatment for rubberwood in India
opened up its large scale potential for commercial exploitation in the
country.
Production Potential
Indian Scenario -- Contd…
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INDIA – The 4th largest natural Rubber producing country in the world!
Area under rubber cultivation: 5,83,000 ha
Growth rate: 4.65%
Current average estimated production of rubberwood/ha:
SH:150 m3 (5300 CFT)
Estates: 180 m3
Felling age:
SH: 22 years; 265 trees/ha in felling stage
Estates: 29 years; 245 trees/ha in felling stage
Average yield of timber/tree: 0.73 m3 for estate grown & 0.57 m3 for SH
60:40 Proportion of stem wood and branch wood from both sector
Availability: 1.6 million m3/year (87% from SHs)
Production Potential
Indian Scenario -- Contd…
• Projected production of Rubberwood in India for 2000-2015
• Slight declining trend due to slowdown in earlier planting area.
• As the country is timber deficit, importing wood and wood products
worth Rs. 15720 millions/annum underlines the need of a scientific
approach in the commercial utilization of available production potential.
• Estimated annual requirement of timber: 40 million m3
• Domestic availability of timber: 29.25 million m3
• Rubberwood (stem wood) has the potential to offer around 25 of the
country’s timber requirement
• It has a further potential to conserve more than 20,000 ha of tropical
rain forests on an annual basis
• Therefore, it is essential to streamline the policies required for
maximum value-addition to this precious by-product of the rubber
plantations
Commercial Utilization
• Stem wood share: 60%- Utilized by sawmilling & plywood
sector
• Sawn logs to furniture, panel boards, pallets, packing
cases, etc.
• Branch wood (40% share) is utilized for household &
Industrial firewood – Not utilized for potential value-added
sector (re-constituted boards)
• In 2006-07, out of the available 1.1 million m3, 45% gone for
packing case sector, 29% for plywood, 21% for treated
wood; safety matches and others 5%.
• Shift of planting material to high latex- low timber yielding
varieties as well as staggered and delayed replanting
caused a declining trend of wood availability (from 0.63
million m3 in 2002-03 to 0.22 million m3 in ’07).
Price trend
• For trees over a girth of 675 mm (Weight: 0.5 Tonne/tree)
– price remain more or less steady during 1998-2000 (Rs.
400/tree); escalated to Rs. 1250/tree- in 2008.
• Price of SAWN TIMBER remain steady during 2002-’08
Rs. 375- 475/CFT.
• Current Situation: High price for latex (Rs. 130 - 70/kg) –
Reluctance for felling – Shortage of timber – escallation of
per tree price
• 88% of area in SHs, 91% of production from small
growers; 10.1 lakh growers, 275 large growers.
• Source of additional revenue – cheaper than competing
woods (30-40% lower than teak)
PROCESSING
• Primary processing - conversion, sawmilling & veneering
• - Dominant role of intermediaries (felling & logging
contractors, suppliers, transporting agencies, sawmillers,
etc.) - Indirect procurement system – Affects log quality
assurance mechanism
• Lower level of vertical integration in the industry –Noncompliance of any single product manufacturing or
products of specified dimensions – Resulting more
wastage of wood – Absence of strong and enough panelbased or reconstituted wood products manufacturing
base – Waste utilization ?
Sawing
• Practice of allowing more ‘tolerance’ in the
thickness of sawn planks – up to 64% sawn
timber recovery in the sawmilling & packing
case industry
• General reluctance of sawmillers to process logs
for high quality sawn timber desired for secondary
processing – due to low recovery rate of 50% and
inadequate supply of logs with higher girth class
required for this specific sector.
Sawing …
• Low installed capacity utilization: 3-8 m3/ 8 hr. shift/day
compared to 10 m3 in Malaysia.
• 90% of the sales from sawmills are for packing cases;
10% for planks suitable for secondary processing.
Veneering
• Veneering industries operate in a large scale (consuming
logs of 4000-6000 tones/year)
• Only 20% of the units have plywood manufacturing
facilities, remaining units produce only dry peels.
• Veneering units depends more on intermediaries who
controls more than 50% of the volume of veneer sales.
• Major stock of rubberwood veneers are utilized for low
quality plywood and for core veneers.
Preservative Treatment – State of Art in India
• Freshly cut logs of average girth 60-80 cms & length 270
cms; wood with a mean basic density of 550 kg/m3.
• High MC; susceptible to sap-staining fungi (mainly
Botryodiplodia theobromae) causing extensive
discoloration – affecting aesthetic quality of products and
thereby affecting price – Remedial measures: use of
NaPCP/anti-sapstain chemicals; bituminous end coats to
logs to prevent rapid drying (to control development of
drying defects leading wood wastage) till further
conversion in sawmills.
• Permanent preservative treatment of sawn sizes – Simple
dip diffusion & VPI treatments – Use of CCB/Boron
chemicals –BIS:401-1982 - KFRI Contributions.
Drying/Seasoning of Treated Timber
• Standards & Procedures
• BIS: 1993,2001
• BIS: 1141: 1993
• Treated RSKD and finished sizes for furniture
components & other value-added products for
Secondary Processing
Secondary Processing
• The amazing workability – suitable foe secondary
processing
• Workability not adversely affected by treatment & drying
• Good sawing & machining properties; can be planed,
grooved and sanded easily
• Attractive grain patterns, good luster, ability to accept any
dye or stain – makes it ideal for home or office furniture,
flooring and paneling material
• Wastes can be utilized for particle boards, MDF boards,
wood cement boards, etc.
• Processed rubberwood from India compares favorably
well with the rubberwood from any other countries.
Secondary Processing ….
• Main indicator of degree of commercialization: Relative
share of stem wood in the secondary processing –
Underutilization in India – lower share of the sawn timber
(33% -0,22 million m3 out of the total 0.67 million m3
available stem wood during 2006-’07 ) utilized by the
secondary processing sector.
• In 1985, 81% of sawn timber output in Malaysia was
exported; more than 72% of the export earnings were
from sawn timber
• Within a decade, well conceived government policy
interventions (providing incentives to the export of valueadded products and promotion of R & D efforts for the
technological up-gradation of the downstream
manufacturing process and clearly spell out regulations
on sawn timber exports) in Malaysia facilitated up to
82% of the total export earnings is from furniture
Secondary Processing ….
• Switching over from semi-finished to finished
products is advocated for ready international
marketability.
• FSC Certification for Rubberwood products is
also in its way.
Kerala Context
• More than 86% of India’s area under rubber cultivation is
in Kerala State.
• Up 69% of the installed capacity for secondary
processing in India is vested in Kerala due to proximity to
raw material resources
• Kerala produces 92% of Rubberwood in the country
• The lower level of capacity utilization & vertical
integration and export orientation prevailing in the
rubberwood industry in India hinders the progress in this
sector in the country.
• Any development in the Indian Rubberwood industry
scenario should be more emphasized to make it
appropriate to Kerala conditions
Indian Rubberwood Promotional Agencies & their efforts
• KFRI – Preservative Treatment; Testing &
Certification – The most strong organization in
Rubberwood Research in the country
• FRI (ICFRE) –CCA; Seasoning
• RBI (RRII) – Rubberwood processing and
product manufacturing companies; R & D Lab;
Testing & Certification
• IWST – Wood Testing
• IPIRTI – R & D for Reconstitute Board products
• CIFT – Boat making
• UPASI – Promotion of IRTF
• BIS – Product Specification & Code of Practice
Manufacturing Industries & Products
• Initial attempts to utilize Rubberwood started in 1960s.
• Gain momentum in terms of technology & investment in
90’s.
• Today there are 45 Rubberwood processing units of
medium size
• Wealth & Employment generation, Saving Forests and
Tropical hardwoods, eco & Environment friendly wood
products
• Packing cases are the major products
• In the secondary processing, treated RSKD for
mechanical processing for furniture, paneling, flooring,
etc.; finger jointed glue laminated material for wide & long
board products
Rubberwood-based Industries in India
• Biggest Unit: RUBCO-HUAT (25,000 m3 installed
capacity/annum)
• Several small & medium sized Rubberwood
processing units – concentrated in Kerala
• Preservative treated RSKD Is not available in
open markets Less use in structural applications
(housing)– suggests for policy changes for the
benefit of the common people
• Existing industries consume only one-tenth of the
available resources
• Scope for further expansion
Future..?
• WITH PROPER EXPERTIZE, MORE R & D
EFFORTS, FINANCE & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
OPTIMUM EXPLOITATION OF THE AVAILABLE
RESOURCES COULD SAVE A FOREIGN
EXCHANGE TO THE TUNE OF US $ 200
MILLION & DIRECT EMPLOYMENT OF THE
ORDER OF 2, OO, OOO IN INDIA.
CONCLUSION
• Issues:
• Inability of secondary processing units to control
quality and price of logs due to imperfections in
the primary market (due to influential role of
intermediaries)
• Absence of well organized panel products
industry
• Comparatively higher prices of logs
• Marketing problems arising from the acceptability
of finished products both in domestic and world
markets due to the absence of statutory authority
to implement and monitor QC standards.
What needs to be done..?
• Strengthening promotional agencies in terms of
statutory powers
• Strengthening R & D Institutions in terms of
facilities and capabilities
• Market intelligence and incentives for
manufacturing value-added products
• Promotion of panel products manufacturing base
to absorb the wastes & small dimension logs
• Formulation of long term plan for ensuring
sustained growth of industry
--- for building up of the Indian rubberwood industry
competitive to the international base in the long run
Abstract
• Area – 5,83,000 ha.
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INDIA - 4th in the World in Rubberwood production
87% from SHs.
250 trees/ha at the final felling stage
Mean timber yield/tree 0.65 m3
Branch wood – 40% of the total timber yield.
Present availability – 1.6 Million m3/year
Annual Timber requirement: 40 Million m3
Domestic Timber availability: 29.25 Million m3
Potential of Rubberwood: can meet 2% of the country’s
timber requirement
• Savings through Rubberwood: US$ 200 Million/year
• Employment generation potential: 2,00,000 people
• Saving of tropical rain forests/Environmental benifit:
20,000ha/year
Abstract –Contn..
• Availability for secondary processing: 33% of total stem
wood
• Present capacity utilization: one-tenth of the available raw
material
• Utilization: Packing cases: 45%
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Plywood: 29%
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Safety Matches & Others: 5%
• Share of treated wood sector for secondary processing for
the manufacture of value-added finished products: 21%
• Required: Streamlining the policies required for maximum
value added utilization of the precious non-conventional
low cost timber resource, Rubberwood.
Abstract –Contn..
• Price of Logs: Rs. 3400/Tonne
• Price of Sawn timber: Rs. 475/CFT
• Last 3 years
• Trend: Price of logs slowly increasing whereas price of
sawn timber remains more or less stable
• Present per tree (0.5 Tonne) price: Rs. 1250/• Price of latex: Rs. 140-70 (high ups & downs)
Result
• SH farmers unwilling to fell trees
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– TIMBER SHORTAGE !
• -- High price of timber compared with the counterparts in
the rubberwood rich South-East Asian countries !!
Abstract –Contn..
LACUNA
• Increasing influence of Middlemen (logging
contractors, brokers, etc) over the primary market
leading to imperfections and inability of secondary
processing units to control the price and quality of
raw materials
• Absence of well organized panel products
industries for consuming small dimension logs and
sawmill wastes
STRENGTH
Processing & Utilization Technology
Abstract –Contn..
• What needs to be done in the Indial Rubberwood
Processing Sector??
• Strengthening of Promotional Agencies in terms
of R & D facilities and statutory powers for
market interactions, developing panel products
industry base, and formulation of long-term plan
for ensuring sustained growth of the industry is
suggested for building up of the Indian
Rubberwood industry competitive to the
international level in the long run.
THANK YOU !!!!!