Hardwood look for alternati m arkets

IfISTORfCALLY. virtually all hardwood lumber and Ilcants produced in the U.S. have gone into eight markets: furniture, moulding and millwork, flooring, cabinetry, component and dimension parts, pallets, railroad ties, and exports.

Certainly, these markets will continue to consume the majority of hardwood lumber for the foreseeable future. Yet environmental pressures, an evolving resource base, and competition from other materials is forcing hardwood manufacturers to investigate alternative markets.

Researchers at the Center for Forest Products Marketing and Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have identified eight possible new markets for hardwoods:

Structural Lumber & MSR

Parallelling the recent rise in small diameter timber harvesting and fall in quality of hardwood logs has been an increase in interest in using hardwood lumber as structural lumber. Most interested have been producers looking for markets for low-grade hardwood lumber, timbers and cants.

The question has not been can hardwoods do the job. So far, research has successfully resolved many of the problems associated with manufacturing structural hardwood lumber such as those caused from excessive growth stresses. The question has been can hardwoods compete with softwoods on price and expected profit margins.

A plus is that structural hardwood lumber can be produced using the same processes and equipment used in the traditional softwood lumber industry. Currently, the American Lumber Standard Committee has structural lumber grades for cottonwood, aspen, yellow poplar, red maple, mixed maple, beech-birch-hickory, mixed oak, red oak. northern red oak. and white oak.

According to the MSR Lumber Producers Council, softwood comprised the vast majority of the roughly 1.4 billion bd. ft. of machine-stress rated lumber produced in North America in 1999. The dominant species used was Canadian SPF, with 2x4s and 2x6s accounting for 857a of productlon.

The top end uses of MSR lumber include residential roof trusses, light commercial roof trusses, flat-chord floor trusses, wood l-joists, agricultural roof truss, and glue-laminated structures.

According to the researchers, hardwood MSR lumber's acceptance will hinge on performance, introductory price, and the ability to sell potential consumers on the idea of hardwood as structural lumber.

Glulams

Because glulams (structural members made of adhesively bonded lumber) can utilize less dense species, they may prove a viable market for lower grade lumber and/or less desirable species. As such, they represent a resource efficient approach to wood building products and often demonstrate superior stiffness and strength compared to dimension lumber.

Yellow poplar, red oak, and red maple are the most common hardwood species currently used to produce glulam beams. Typical application include purlins, ridge beams. f-loor beams. and cantilevered beams in both residential and nonresidential roof systems.

Bridges

Using wood in bridges is centuries-old idea that is again becoming vogue. About 40Vo of the highway bridges in the U.S. are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A majority of these bridges are located in rural communities where they are vital for transportation. A number of timber bridges over 50 years old are still in service.

Due in large part to efforts by the USDA Forest Service, potential for the use of wood in bridges has been growing. Several programs-including the Timber Bridge Initiative and the Wood in Transportation program-have been launched to promote wood as a bridge building material. Although these programs focus on the use of wood in vehicle transportation-type bridges, wood also can be used in smaller scale, pedestrian traffic-type bridges, such as in parks, on golfcourses, playgrounds, hiking rails, or as landscaping decor.

Highway Applications

Highway applications employ wood in both round and square form. Wood that is square in cross-section is typically used in sign posts and guardrails; roundwood is usually used in fencing applications. Roundwood posts most

Wi., is currently spearheading an initiative to improve forest health and create jobs for rural communities. So far, the program has utilized small diameter timbers to build roundwood structures, including a Forest Service museum in Missoula, Mt.; a library in Darby, Mt., and a storage shed in Oregon's Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

Prefabricated storage buildings, sheds, smokehouses, and agricultural structures are among other potential applications.

Character-Marked Fu rnitu re

As the quality of the hardwood lumber resource declines, utilizing "character-marked" wood (knots, stain, irregular grain patterns, etc.) in final products becomes more important. The key is capitalizing on fast-changing customer tastes and fashion trends.

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often measure 3" to 9" in diameter. Most square wood posts measure 4x4,4x6,6x6 or 6x8. These sizes match up well with small diameter timber harvested throush forest thinnings and fire salvages.

Fingerjointing

As raw material costs increase, fingerjointing has become an increasingly popular method of utilizing short and low-grade lumber to maximize profit and reduce waste. An increasing number of fingerjointed products, such as stair railings, moulding and millwork, are being successfully marketed as substitutes for solid wood products.

Previously, only dry wood could be used in the fingerjointing process due to the mechanical process and the adhesives used. However, technological advances in the adhesion industry now allow bonding of green wood pieces and wood of different moisture contents.

Hardwoods should equally benefit from the rise in fingerjointing engendered by the combination of extensive raw material, environmental awareness, advanced adhesion techniques, and new machinery available specifically for recovery.

Specialty Products

The Hardwood Information Center reports that interest in classic wood puzzles, board games and toys is on the rise. Low-grade hardwood lumber might find niche opportunities in these and other small regional markets, such as arts and crafts products, cooking utensils, and small independent retail centers.

Established niche opportunities for hardwoods include baseball bats, boats and canoes, gunstocks, gymnasium equipment, oars, skis, billiard cues, tool handles, boxes, trunks, crates, and rustic fencing. In fact, the state Bureau of Commerce lists 20 manufacturers of rustic stvle fencins in West Virsinia alone.

"By allowing character marks in furniture parts, part yield could be increased; however, customer perception and acceptance of character marked furniture remains questionable," warn the Virginia Polytechnic Institute researchers. "Moreover, furniture producers and furniture consumers may view character marks differently. While consumers might be less selective regarding character marks, often welcoming or even preferring them in some pieces, most manufacturers perceive character marks as undesirable and assume consumers share the same view."

Effective promotional campaigns have stressed the "rustic," "casual," or "antique" appearance of character-marked furniture. Less successful has been marketing emphasizing the environmental benefits of the furniture's improved resource utilization.