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UK Timber - Opportunities and Profitability

Posted: 18/12/2005

The Forestry Commission and Scottish Enterprise have commissioned BRE Timber to work on five projects aimed at increasing the opportunities and profitability of the UK timber processing industry. The focus is on manufacturing innovative, engineered wood products and adding value to UK grown timber.
 
The projects, which will run concurrently, are two linked projects on whether engineered wood products can be successfully manufactured from Scots Pine falling boards – the boards cut from the outer edges of the log – and on how machine grade settings can be raised for UK-grown Scots Pine (see below for further details).

A third project will develop BRE’s innovative technique for making better use of UK-grown small diameter hardwood stems by re- engineering them into ‘inside out’ beams (see below for further details) The fourth project aims develop UK-grown timber for industrial applications including piles and bridges. Finally there will be the production of a manual on adding value to UK timber.  

There are likely to be both economic and environmental benefits from the work on thinnings and small dimension round timber, as timber from these sources is frequently considered to have no value.
 
‘We recently completed a study for the Forestry Commission which identified that Scots Pine from the Grampian and Cairngorm regions has the potential for far more applications than previously thought,’ says Chris Holland, Senior Consultant in Timber Technology at BRE. ‘The work we are now starting will build on this by looking at how the UK timber industry can make the most of UK-grown trees.’
 
The competitive environment for the proposed end-products will be closely examined and there will be a rigorous evaluation of the technologies for producing them. Project outputs are expected in 2007, though regular updates enable the flow of information sooner.
 
‘With the Government’s emphasis on using modern methods of construction to meet UK housing needs, the use of timber frame is likely to increase,’ says Dr Peter Bonfield, Managing Director of BRE’s Construction Division, of which BRE Timber is a part. ‘With only the USA, China and Japan being bigger net importers of forest products than the UK in 2004, we need to make better use of home-grown timber, while at the same time recognising the importance of the sustainability of UK forests.’
  
Scots Pine project –  raising machine grade settings: The highest machine strength grading settings for UK grown Scots pine is currently C24. To enable Scots pine to penetrate a higher value structural market, BRE will look at producing a series of new machine grade settings of C27 - C30. This would allow a proportion of the existing material produced to enter either glulam production or possibly trussed rafter production.
 
Small diameter hardwood project: This involves using a novel ‘star’ sawing technique to cut the stems into quarters, then bonding them inside out. The re-engineered beams are very strong and stable compared with solid material. The challenge facing BRE is to refine the engineering process, construct beams which are longer than a single stem, produce engineering design values and identify key markets for this innovative product.

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