Structural Engineered Wood Products
in the Pacific Rim and Europe:
2014 – 2018
Market opportunities, strategies and prospects for trade and investment
The next five years will present opportunities for a resurgence of investment, production,
consumption, trade, prices and profitability for laminated veneer lumber (LVL), I-joists and
glue laminated beams (glulam), and new engineered wood products laminated strand lumber
(LSL) and cross laminated timber (CLT).
• Where will the opportunities be?
• What will happen to prices and costs?
• What new products are on the horizon?
• What are the prospects for resource supply, housing, and other end use sectors?
FORESTRY
Market opportunities, strategies and prospects
for trade and investment
Manufacturers worldwide are facing
increasing pressure to provide better
quality forest products at a lower cost,
while declining log quality is making the
production of high performance solid
wood products more difficult. Non-wood
substitutes are gaining prominence due
to factors such as stability, uniformity and
guaranteed performance.
Wood product manufacturers have
responded by using lamination of veneers,
wood fibre strands or solid wood, to
engineer high performance products.
The result has been the rapidly expanding
production and consumption of laminated
veneer lumber (LVL), laminated strand
lumber (LSL), glue laminated beams
(glulam), cross laminated timber (CLT) and
I-beams in Europe, North America, North
and Southeast Asia, and Australasia.
The applications where laminated products
are used vary considerably from one market
to another. Large dimension solid lumber,
which has traditionally been used for heavy
structural applications, is increasingly being
replaced by laminated products, which are
recognised as having superior performance.
Where defect free wood is required,
lamination can often provide a solution.
Qualities such as strength and stability are
inherent advantages of laminated products.
Technological advances are providing
opportunities to upgrade low value raw
material, creating cost effective solutions
in an ever-increasing range of end uses.
It has become possible for wood product
manufacturers to produce high quality
products that can stave off the threat from
alternative materials, such as plastics, steel
and aluminium, and win back market share.
Opportunities for Structural
Engineered Wood Products
In a very short time laminated veneer lumber
(LVL), strand lumber (LSL), and I-beams,
have developed a strong presence in the
United States, where LVL, LSL and I-beams
represent 35% of the material used for floor
bearers and joists. Similarly, glue laminated
beams (glulam) has developed a strong
presence in Japan, where it represents
over 60% of the materials used in posts
and beams of traditional Japanese housing.
Glulam is also used extensity in Europe and
more recently LVL, I joists and CLT have
penetrated the market.
These levels of market penetration in the
United States, Europe and Japan have not
yet been matched in any other country,
which suggests that there is considerable
scope for market expansion.
Cross laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively
new product that has been developed
in Europe, has rapidly grown to annual
consumption levels of 300,000 cubic
metres, and now also being produced
in other regions for use in residential and
non-residential construction, including
multi-story buildings.
The increasing acceptance of structural
engineered wood products for use in heavy
structural building applications such as
floor bearers, floor joists, headers and
beams, is driving demand and leading to
an expansion of investment and trade in
these products in the United States, Europe,
Japan and recently in other regions.
The rapid growth in consumption is also
driving new product development.
Building systems using these products
have the potential to revolutionize the
building industry, with wood based products
replacing, or used in conjunction with
other materials such as steel, brick and
concrete in residential and non-residential
construction.
In this environment it is important that
producers, potential investors, users and
distributors are aware of changing
market conditions, cost structures and
competitor activity.
Report Objectives
This study aims to determine current and
future trends in consumption, production,
trade and prices of LVL, LSL, CLT glulam
and I-beams in each of the main producing
and consuming countries.
The report will:

forecast demand and supply, taking into account the expanding market share of LVL, LSL, CLT glulam and I-beams in key end use applications.
 focus on key end use applications within each of the main consuming countries and the potential to increase consumption within these applications by substitution for other materials.
 identify potential new applications for LVL, LSL, CLT glulam and I-beams within each of the key consuming regions.

identify opportunities for new investment in LVL, LSL, CLT glulam and I-beams and the timing of investments to take advantage of capacity utilisation requirements.
–Market conditions and five year forecasts for each country, for building con-
struction, the main end use sector for structural engineered wood products.
–Identification of current uses and potential new applications for LVL, LSL, CLT
glulam and I-beams.
–Quality assessment of products by
region.
–Distribution channels.
–Method of product promotion.
REGIONAL FOCUS
The focus of the report will be on the
major producing and consuming
countries in each of the key regions:
Contents of the Report
n North America
An Executive Summary highlighting the
main conclusions and presenting a global
overview.
– United States
– Canada
n Europe
An Introduction explaining the method
and approach.
Separate chapters providing a detailed
profile and forecasts for key countries in
the major producing and consuming
regions. Each chapter will include:
– other
– An economic overview.
– An overview of the forest industry and resource base.
– Details of production facilities, capacities, location, of LVL, LSL, CLT glulam and I-beam producers.
–Five year histories and five year forecasts of production, consumption, imports and exports.
–Price forecasts for 5 years where available
–Details of variable production costs.
– Western Europe
– Russia
n North Asia
– Japan
– China
n South Asia
– Indonesia
– Malaysia
– India
n Australasia
– Australia
– New Zealand
n South America
– Brazil
– Chile
Methodolgy
The general methodology used is the product of more than 40 years of methods research
and development by BIS Shrapnel.
The report will utilize three basic sources of information:
• Field research based on interviews and strategic discussions in key producing and consuming regions with producers, end-users, equipment suppliers, distributors, industry associations and BIS Forestry associate companies.
• Internationally published data on engineered wood products, and the economies and markets of the key regions, as well as information from government and industry statistics organisations.
• BIS Shrapnel’s own studies will be used as references.
Among the most relevant are:
– Plywood and Oriented strand board in the Pacific Rim and Europe
– Structural engineered wood products in the Pacific Rim and Europe (earlier editions)
BIS Shrapnel
– The global market for tropical hardwood plywood
BIS Shrapnel offers an unmatched combination
of strengths: economic analysis and forecasting,
coupled with market intelligence gathering and
analysis. No other research firm in Australia
enjoys our pre-eminent reputation in forecasting.
– Medium density fibreboard in the Pacific Rim and Europe
– Particleboard in the Pacific Rim and Europe
– Wood based forest products in China
Formed in 1964, BIS Shrapnel has built expertise
across a broad spectrum of industry sectors
and geographic regions, and has developed a
portfolio of research methodologies.
– Sawn timber in Australia
BIS Shrapnel is a professional business
research and forecasting company with
specialist knowledge in the following areas:
Cost and timing
n building forecasting
BIS Shrapnel Forestry plans to commence the study in January 2014, with the final report
to be delivered in May 2014.
n commercial property
Cost of subscription:
n foodservice
Early Bird Price (before November 30th, 2013)
A$18,700
Regular List Price (after November 30th, 2013)
A$22,000
Subscription includes two printed and bound copies of each report. A$ = Australian dollars;
GST included if purchased in Australia; PDF versions are available at an additional cost of
A$1,100, and extra printed and bound copies are available at an additional cost of A$440.
n economics
n forestry
n household appliances and power tools
n infrastructure and mining
n paper and packaging
n residential property
n transport
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Structural Engineered Wood Products in
the Pacific Rim and Europe:
2014 – 2018
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