Global consumption of LVL will increase by more than 30% by 2004, a study predicts.
‘LVL and other Engineered Structural Wood Products 2001-2006’, compiled by the BIS Shrapnel Forestry Group, forecasts consumption to rise from 2.3 million m3 in 2001 to more than 3 million m3 in 2004, taking market share from other buildings materials such as steel and concrete.
It will be fuelled by the wood industry switching from using large trees sourced in old native forests to smaller logs from regrown woodlands and plantations.
Meanwhile, the North American pattern of replacing sawn timber with LVL in many stuctural applications is about to be mirrored in Australasia, following the construction of two LVL plants in New Zealand by Nelson Pine Industries and Carter Holt Harvey Mills. LVL is also growing in Japan, in applications such as stair parts, wall studs, floor joists, structural posts and beams.
Much of the recent growth in LVL production capacity has been in North America, but there are signs that over the next five years this will be experienced in other markets, particularly Europe and Australasia.
World LVL production capacity is expected to rise 10% in the next five years, from 3.9 million m3 this year to 4.3 million m3 in 2006.
