Commodity report - Fiberboards

Since a report on fiberboards was last published in Unasylva in 1950, the industry has shared in the fluctuations which have characterized the forest products market in recent years, but has continued to expand. This expansion may be expected to continue. The possible uses of fiberboard are increasing; its power to compete with, other materials shows no sign of diminishing; there are very few areas of the world which do not possess the necessary raw materials to establish a fiberboard industry: the capital required seldom presents a major obstacle; locally available supplies tend to create their own market.

Though international trade in fiberboard will remain important, its volume relative to that of total world production, and consumption will continue to diminish.

Production
Trade
Prices
Consumption
Fishing boat design

Since 1950 the market for forest products generally, and for fiberboards in particular, has fluctuated considerably. The favorable market conditions in that year and in 1951 raised the volume of fiberboard output and trade to unprecedented heights and greatly stimulated further expansion of capacity in all parts of the world. The heavy fall in demand after the boom year 1951 led to a substantial decline in output, particularly in countries where fiberboard production is mainly for export, e.g. in the northern European countries. During 1952 and 1953 fears were expressed in these countries that fiberboard capacity had been over-expanded. In other producing countries, where the industry relies chiefly on domestic demand, the general level of output remained high.

The reasons for the uneven impact of the 1952 recession on the fiberboard industry may be better understood if we trace briefly the source of the industry's development and describe its present world distribution.

Production

The production of fiber building boards, "wallboards", began in the U.S.A. in the early twenties, when the first insulating board factories were set up. The industry grew rapidly until the end of the decade, and continued to expand, though more slowly, in the thirties. The first hardboard (Masonite) manufacturing plants were set up in the U.S.A. at about the same time. Since, however, the patent covered not only the process but the product itself, development in the hardboard field was stifled until the expiry of the patent at the end of the war. In most other countries, only the process was patented and the manufacture of hardboard developed freely alongside that of insulating boards, though for some time the latter remained more important.

Official figures for U.S. wallboard output before the war (1938) give a production of about 100 thousand tons only, whereas private sources suggest that total capacity was much higher, around 700 thousand tons. Actual production therefore probably exceeded the official figure and was nearer to the unofficial figure of capacity just quoted.

During and since the war fiberboard production has increased rapidly in North America and northern Europe, the most spectacular increase taking place in Sweden, where capacity increased nearly five-fold between 1937 and 1953. Elsewhere the growth, though rapid, has been more recent, and aggregate production outside the regions mentioned still accounts for but a small proportion of the world total.

Thus in the peak production year, 1951, the three countries of northern Europe (Finland, Norway and Sweden), Canada and the U.S.A. together produced 1,849 thousand tons or 75 percent of the world total. Northern Europe's share was 527 thousand tons or 21 percent. But these three countries accounted for 275 thousand tons or 72 percent of total world exports in that year. In the recession year, 1952, their exports fell to 166 thousand tons and production was seriously curtailed. Elsewhere in the world, production is almost entirely directed to the domestic market and, with few exceptions, output was maintained and even increased in 1952. In the U.S.A., production rose by 33 thousand tons to 1,185 thousand tons. Nevertheless, there were signs that the rate of growth of demand was slackening, with keen competition between the mills for sales, especially through the development of new and improved qualities. This is especially true of the insulating board industry, which has developed many different kinds of special boards, today accounting for over a quarter of the total output. Most of the recently added wallboard capacity, particularly hardboard, has been built on the west coast. Among the new processes developed by the U.S. industry is one for manufacturing wallboard without water.

An examination of the figures of fiberboard production in different countries and regions of the world in the years 1948 to 1952 (Table 1) reveals the steady development in countries producing primarily for the domestic market and the fluctuations suffered in those countries producing largely for export.

TABLE 1. - PRODUCTION OF FIBER BUILDING BOARDS (in thousands of metric tons)

Region			1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	Capacity 1953*
Europe			490	580	730	900	750	1200
	Austria		13	18	18	25	20	50
	Belgium		18	17	24	32	40	40
	Czechoslovakia		25*	25*	30*	30*	30*	30
	Denmark		2	2	2	2	2	2
	Finland.		52	56	79	117	84	150
	France		18	30	38	49	56	60
	Germany, Western		37	42	77	106	80	130
	Germany, Eastern		15*	20*	25*	10*	10*	25
	Hungary		2*	2*	2*	10*	10*	10
	Ireland		-	-	2	3	7	10
	Italy		26	27	38	37	37	40
	Norway		39	48	62	81	72	95
	Poland		1*	3*	10*	15*	25*	35
	Spain		-	-	-	-	-	10
	Sweden		196	233	274	329	227	430
	Switzerland		9	10	13	13	14	18
	United Kingdom		33	40	35	38	33	55
	Yugoslavia,		3	4	4	7	6	10
U.S.S.R.			10*	20*	50*	130*	150*	160
North and Central America			1330	910	1260	1330	1350	1500
	Canada		169	148	141	170	156	200
	United States		1159	761	1108	1152	1185	1300
	Mexico		-	-	10*	10*	10*	12
South America					20*	20*	20*	25
	Argentina				10*	10*	10*	12
	Brazil				10*	10*	10*	12
Africa						*20	20*	20
	Union of South Africa					20*	20*	20
Asia			20	15	15	15	15	15
	Japan		19	13	13	15	13	15
Pacific Area			40	40	50	50	60	85
	Australia		22	27	37	36	42	55
	New Zealand		13	13	16	16	18	30
		TOTAL	1890	1565	2125	2475	2365	3005

* Unofficial.

Note: The following figures for production of fiber building boards in 1938 (in 1,000 metric tons) were taken from the ECE/FAO study. European Timber Statistics, 1913-1950: Europe 168, Denmark 1, Finland 23, France 6, Germany (Western and Eastern) 8, Italy 2, Norway 3, Sweden 93 Switzerland 6, United Kingdom 20, U.S.S.R., 3 North and Central America 642, Canada 42, United States 000, Total 813.

A fiberboard plant is much less costly to install than a pulp or paper mill; it is a good deal less exacting in its raw material requirements. Since the product is fairly cheap in relation to its volume, freight costs bear heavily. On general grounds, therefore, one would expect imported fiberboard to experience difficulty in competing with the indigenous product, and international trade in this commodity to form but a small fraction of the total market. Though this may prove true in the long run, it is nevertheless a fact that in many countries hitherto completely dependent on imports the effect of establishing a local fiberboard industry has been to bring about a marked rise in consumption rather than a diminution in imports. In other words, the existence of a local supply evokes an effective demand hitherto latent.

Fiberboard is a relatively new commodity, making rapid technical progress. Its uses multiply and diversify every year, and its full range of applications has by no means been yet exploited. This is probably the reason why there is still an important international trade in fiberboard, in spite of the fact that it is not ideally suited to long-distance trade and that few countries lack the resources to establish industries of their own. This trade is likely to continue in importance for some time yet. Nevertheless, it seems clear that the establishment of new industries will be determined by the expected level of domestic demand, with the possibility, of finding export outlets as only a secondary consideration.

Hardboard production during and since the war has expanded much more rapidly than that of insulating board. This general trend is typified by the development in northern Europe, which in 1938 produced 50 thousand tons of hardboard as compared with 69 thousand tons of insulating board; the corresponding figures for 1951 were 292 and 123 thousand tons respectively. Hardboard has a udder field of utilization and there is no doubt that in recent years it has gained much ground at the expense of other wood products, notably plywood.

Trade

The volume of international trade in fiberboard, though much higher than before the war, has not expanded commensurately with world production. Even in the peak year (1951) total world exports represented only 15 percent of world production. The main trade flow is from northern Europe to the countries of western and central Europe; in addition there is a small intra-regional trade in North America and small quantities pass, mainly from Europe, to South America, Africa and Asia. Reported figures of trade in fiberboard for the years 1948 to 1952 are given in Table 2.

Europe. The three northern countries, as has already been pointed out, account for three-quarters of world exports. Normally they export just over half their production. About three-quarters of their exports are directed to other European countries and the remainder to destinations overseas. The countries of western and central Europe depend on imports for about one-third of their total supplies. Most of European trade in wallboards is thus intra-regional, and when the setback in European demand came in 1952 the northern countries suffered, being unable to increase their exports to other regions.

North America. The wallboard trade is negligible in relation to the region's consumption, and is virtually confined to the small exchange between Canada and the U.S.A. It has tended to fall since 1948.

South America. Until 1950, it depended entirely imports from Finland and Sweden for its supplies; though industries have now been established in Argentina and Brazil, and others are likely to follow in the near future, the small import from Scandinavia continues.

Union of South Africa. With the establishment of a wallboard industry in 1951 imports into that country have fallen to negligible proportions. All other countries in Africa still depend entirely on imported supplies and a steadily increasing volume of imports may be expected.

TABLE 2. - TRADE (in thousands of metric tons)

Region			1948	1949	1950	1951	1952
I. EXPORTS
Europe			140	160	230	340	200
	Austria		3	6	6	9	5
	Belgium		4	6	8	12	10
	Finland		27	31	50	68	44
	France		2	4	4	3	2
	Germany, Western		1	2	6	26	9
	Norway		10	9	14	24	17
	Sweden		95	98	138	183	105
North America			70	50	30	40	40
	Canada		41	32	6	20	18
	United states		32	21	21	23	22
Oceania			2	1	2	2	4
	Australia		2	1	1	1	1
	New Zealand		-	-	1	1	3
		TOTAL	212	211	262	381	244
II. IMPORTS
Europe			100	90	160	210	130
	Belgium		8	11	13	13	14
	Denmark		7	16	11	16	13
	France,		3	-	5	9	10
	Germany, Western		1	2	3	2	8
	Netherlands		26	24	30	31	26
	Switzerland		3	1	2	1	1
	United Kingdom		49	37	94	131	54
North America			40	60	40	30	40
	Canada		13	43	12	8	11
	United States		27	20	25	24	24
South America.			20	15	15	25	15
	Argentina		10	11	6	12	4
	Brazil		2	2	3	3	5
	Venezuela		5	2	3	2	4
Africa			20	10	10	15	15
	Union of South Africa		14	4	2	2	1
	Southern Rhodesia		4	7	4	6	8
Asia			20	10	15	20	20
	India		2	2	2	4	2
	Israel		1	1	6	4	2
	Malaya		1	1	3	5	4
Oceania			5	10	10	30	20
	Australia		-	10	12	24	14
	New Zealand		2	1	1	2	4
		TOTAL	205	195	250	330	240

Asia. Outside the "iron curtain", only Japan possesses a wallboard industry, and the other consuming countries in the region are entirely dependent on imports from Europe. Preliminary figures suggest that the region's imports in 1953 will exceed the volume of the previous year, lower supplies from Finland being more than compensated by an increase in imports from Sweden.

Pacific Area. In spite of the steady expansion of wallboard production since the war, imports continued to rise until 1951. In this peak year, 95 percent of the total came from northern Europe. In the following year imports fell to 18 thousand tons, North America's share of the total rising to 20 percent. Both Australia and New Zealand have a small export trade, mainly within the region, and it is quite possible that, as their wallboard production continues to rise, they will export increasing amounts to Asiatic destinations in the coming years.

Prices

An examination of the course of fiber building board (wallboard) prices over the last 16 years reveals two features: first, they have fluctuated considerably less than have prices of other forest products, and, second, over the period as a whole they have risen much less than the prices of other commodities whose main raw material is wood. Sawn softwood prices, at their peak level in the 1951 boom, reached seven times their 1937 level and were roughly double the 1947-48 level. In marked contrast, wallboard prices at their peak were less than double their pre-war level and less than 50 percent higher than those prevailing in 1947-48. By the middle of 1953, when sawn softwood prices were still about 80 percent higher than in 1947-48, hardboard prices had returned to, or were fractionally below, their level in the earlier year.

The development of prices is set out in Tables 3 and 4, the latter showing changes in the prices of Swedish hard and insulating board between 1937 and 1953, the former comparing changes in Swedish softwood and hardboard prices (Sweden being the largest exporter) with changes in the average c.i.f. import value of wallboard imported into the United Kingdom - the largest importer.

TABLE 3. - DEVELOPMENT OF FIBERBOARD PRICES COMPARED WITH SAWN WOOD PRICES (1947-48= 100)

Year		Sawn softwood 1	Hardboard 2	Wallboards 3
1949		99	100	111
1950:	1st half	122	100	108
	2nd half	169	100	110
1951:	1st half	200	130	121
	2nd half	214	148	138
1952:	1st half	150	148	140
	2nd half	174	103	105
1953:	1st half	177	100	105
	2nd half	178	95	110

¹ Index of Swedish export prices f.o.b. for 2½ inch x 7 inch u/s redwood battens
² Index of Swedish prices for 1/8 inch hardboards.
³ Index of the average value c.i.f. of imported wallboards in the United Kingdom.

TABLE 4. - CHANGES PRICES OF FIBERBOARDS IN SWEDEN FROM 1937 TO 1953 (in kronor per m²)

Month and year	Hardboard (1/8 in.)	Insulting board (½ in)
March 1937	1.55	1.30
Nov. 1938	1.45	1.20
Feb. 1940	1.45	1.35
June 1941	1.65	15.5
March 1942	1.85	1.75
Aug. 1942	1.85	1.75
Dec. 1943	1.70	1.60
May 1947	1.85	1.75
July 1947	1.70 + 6 ½%	1.60 + 6 ½%
June 1948	1.85	1.75
Feb. 1951	2.40	2.25
July 1951	2.75	2.60
July 1952	2.45	2.40
July 1953	1,70*	1.60*
Sept 1953	1.75*	1.65*

* Estimated. Source: Sagverksägaren, No. D, 1953, Hällefornäs, Sweden.

This contrast between the development of wallboard prices and those of other forest products, which accounts for much of the ground wallboard has gained at the expense of plywood and even sawnwood in recent years, arises from two main causes. In the first place, the wallboard industry is a new and developing one, and technological improvement reducing processing costs per unit of output has largely offset the rise in raw material costs. Secondly, raw material costs themselves form a much smaller proportion of total manufacturing costs - about 20-25 percent in Sweden in 1950, for example, as against 60-65 percent for sawn softwood (even assuming that the sawmill could dispose of its waste commercially), and 55-60 percent and 45 percent for unbleached sulphate and bleached sulphite pulp respectively. Thus fluctuations in roundwood prices have affected wallboard prices much less than those of other forest products.

Nevertheless, the wallboard industry was not immune to the effects of the 1950-52 cycle in the timber market. Imports did increase considerably in 1950 and 1951, and there was a marked price rise. Stocks accumulated in the importing countries, and with the relative slowing down of economic activity in the following year, consumption declined. Consumers began to run down their high stocks and the demand for imports fell sharply. Exporters cut their prices to stimulate business and some importing countries introduced higher duties to protect their domestic industries. Not until 1953, when industrial activity, especially building, began to quicken and when stocks had been reduced to more normal levels, did imports begin to revive.

The present indications are that the wallboard industry will continue to strengthen its position as improved qualities and new fields of use steadily reinforce the competitive power of its products. World consumption of fiber building boards (wallboards) after the war, both in total and per head, showed a spectacular increase as compared with the immediate pre-war period.

Consumption

Since 1948, total consumption has continued to rise though the rate of increase in consumption per head has slowed down considerably. As may be seen from the selected list in Table a, the growth in consumption in different regions and countries has not been uniform. Consumption per head remains highest in northern Europe (Sweden in 1948 showed the highest figure yet recorded - 24 kilograms per head). Elsewhere, consumption per head, though rising, has nowhere reached the level in the northern countries or even that in North America. Total consumption continues to rise steadily in the U.S.A. as in Canada, but consumption per head has remained fairly steady during recent years.

TABLE 5. - ESTIMATED CONSUMPTION IN SELECTED COUNTRIES, 1948 AND 1952/53 (in kilograms per head)

Country	1948	1952/53
Sweden	24.0	20.0
Canada	8.0	11.0
United States	8.0	8.0
Finland	4.0	8.0
Australia	2.5	5.0
Switzerland	2.7	3.1
United Kingdom	1.3	2.5
Union of South Africa	1.0	1.7
France	0.5	1.5
U.S.S.R.	0.05	0.8
Argentina	0.6	0.8
Japan	0.2	0.3

Note: Boards made of straw, wood shavings etc. are excluded.

The figures in Table 5 relate only to fiber building boards proper; they exclude other kinds of building boards manufactured from straw, wood shavings, etc. But in several countries the consumption of these types of board is fairly high and is believed to equal that of fiber building boards proper, for example in the Netherlands and Western Germany. If comprehensive figures for these other types of board were available. it is probable that the increase in wallboard consumption recorded in recent years would appear even more, striking. It is known, for example, that there has been a substantial rise in the output of chipboard in the last few years. As, with technical progress, board products diversify, the line of demarcation between the traditional fiber building boards (wallboards) and other categories becomes less and less distinct; unless the available statistics become both comprehensive and more precise, it will be increasingly difficult to follow accurately developments in this field.

Though the end uses of wallboard have multiplied rapidly, the building and furniture industries still provide the chief markets. The rise in consumption after the war was linked closely with the rise in house-building and repair activity. Hardboards were extensively used for structural purposes in the temporary housing programs that figured largely in the reconstruction plans of many European countries, and have continued in demand when the emphasis changed to permanent housing. Standards of heat and sound insulation in housing are much higher today than they were before the war and this has increased the demand for insulating board. Wherever house-building has been temporarily restricted, the demand for both hardboard and insulating board has contracted. Increased availabilities of soft sawnwood and plywood in recent years have failed to check the growth in the use of wallboard, and it is clear that its use in building has become a permanent feature.

Hardboards have tended to displace plywood (and, to a lesser extent, sawnwood) in furniture and packaging too. In the latter market its demand is linked to the general level of manufacturing activity and conditioned by its power to compete with the alternative materials. The demand for hardboard in furniture manufacture is less easy to predict, since the level of activity in the furniture industry depends only in part on additions to the stock of houses. A large proportion of the demand for furniture is replacement demand and, furniture being a durable consumption commodity, the rate at which this demand becomes effective depends on variations in personal disposable income.

Though building, furniture and packaging continue to take most of the products of the wallboard industry, new applications for this new commodity are daily being discovered and the next few years may bring marked changes in the end-use pattern of the industry's output.

Fishing boat design

A paper for the International Fishing Boat Congress organized last year by FAO in Paris, France, and Miami, U.S.A., reports that European beach fishing boats are normally built of wood with planking of clinker, carvel or seam-batten construction. The advantages of wood are its low cost, favorable strength/weight ratio, elasticity, thermal conductivity and the ease with which it can be formed and assembled by simple and familiar operations. The drawbacks of wood, as a boat-building material, are its hygroscopic, heterogeneous structure and its vulnerability to rot and decay, features that make any strength calculations difficult and uncertain.

To overcome the first of these drawbacks, double-diagonal or triple, diagonal construction of panels like skin and bulkheads is one solution but such panels are difficult to repair. A number of beach lifeboats and naval craft are built according to this method enabling light and strong construction with good results. Another solution, that of laminated wood and plywood panels, is coming into use with the aid of modern types of marine glues.

Boat forms like the fishing dory and hard chine square-sterners, lend themselves favorably to plywood construction, particularly for smaller boats, when the available plywood panels are long enough to omit butt-joints of the planking. This form of construction is naturally not feasible for the larger boats of say Denmark and Portugal, except perhaps for the construction of bulkheads, casings, deckhouses and other smaller items.

In the Netherlands, steel is a popular building material, even for small lifeboats. The properties of this material are so well-known that it is perhaps sufficient to note that the main drawbacks are the corrosion and the high thermal conductivity. For small boats the plating needs to be very thin, a matter of a few millimeters or one-sixteenth of an inch. Such thin shells are soon rusted through and are vulnerable to local deformations, therefore extra thickness of the bottoms seems to be necessary. Composite construction, of steel and wood may be feasible if the steel is made to carry all the main strains on the hull and the wood used for planking and deck, i.e. only to keep out the water.

Aluminum is now being used extensively in the building of boats and ships. It is lighter, antimagnetic and in certain alloys, less corrosive than steel. The welding of aluminum is, however, not so easy as the welding of steel and, therefore, most aluminum structures are riveted. Aluminum beach boats would be more expensive than the present wooden ones, but lighter and stronger and, except for local deformations, more durable; items like tanks, including ballast tanks, may be built into the hull structure. In places like Jutland, where the boats are beached on the bare sand, aluminum hulls should be well worth a trial. Composite aluminum and wood construction is being applied in British boat-building for Royal Naval Motor Minesweepers, about 150 feet (45.72 meters) in length. This mode of construction may be a practical solution for future large beach boats.

In addition to metal hulls, much research and investigation is being done, particularly by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, on plastic hulls. The molds in which these boats are made are expensive, and mass production is therefore of primary importance.