This article is written to explain how tropical plywood panels are produced, how they move around the world, and where they eventually end up. This article is based on the author’s knowledge while conducting research and working as a sales manager for a prominent Malaysian plywood mill.

wood felling

The source of all plywood comes from trees, and for Malaysian harvested tropical plywood, this usually means from one of several species, be it Meranti, Bintangor, Keruing, Mersawa, Apitong, and the list goes on. Most of these variants come from the Shorea species, which grows most abundantly in Malaysia, Indonesia, and parts of the Philippines (sometimes referred to as Philippine or lauan mahogany). Tropical plywoods are unique in that they grow quickly, are very light yet very strong, and come in a wide variety of colors and aesthetic grades. Their location in South East Asia means they get a lot of rain and are usually accessed by less developed countries, meaning the cost of producing the final product is significantly cheaper than a birch species plywood panel. equivalent produced in the United States. These trees are cut using traditional logging techniques and the logs are transported by a combination of trucks and barges to one of the many plywood production factories in Sabah or Sarawak and sometimes Peninsular Malaysia.

In Sarawak, they can reach one of Malaysia’s largest plywood manufacturers, such as the Asia Plywood Company, where they are transported by barge and moved through the Tanjung river basin colored the-tarik Manis (a famous milk tea from Malaysia).

Plywood manufacturing

Cut, peeled and dried

The logs are stacked in piles outside the mill and left to soak to soften the wood and make it easier to cut and peel. They are cut into smaller pieces, usually just over four (4) feet wide (to produce the standard 4’x8′ panel size) and moved via a conveyor belt to large spinning lathes, where they are spun and peeled into thin sheets called veneers. These thin sheets could immediately go into a large convection dryer after being cut into more manageable sheets. A reading is taken at the end of the drying process to ensure that excess moisture is not a problem.

Compose, paste and join

After the drying process, the dried parts are separated according to the level of repair required. A composer is used to join separate pieces together before sending them through glue-saturated rollers. There are two main types of glue, WBP-type waterproof glues (usually a phenolic or urea-formaldehyde resin) or a standard MR wood glue. The sheets are stacked together in alternating grains that form the individual layers of the coat. They are then compressed under high temperature and pressure before coming out in panels.

Sanding, sorting and packing

These panels move through a conveyor to a sanding and sizing machine where they arrive at various sorting stations and are separated into stacks according to their appropriate quality and color grade, glue type, and panel thickness.

These sheets are then placed in boxes and moved by forklift to the loading dock. The boxes are placed on trucks that will go directly to the nearest port for bulk shipment, or loaded into containers at the factory, where the containers will be moved to the port to be placed on container ships.

export shipment

The vessels will depart from major Malaysian logging ports such as Bintulu, Miri, Rajang, Sabah and Penang. These ships will often stop at major Chinese ports to pick up additional cargo, before heading to North America. Containers can be moved onto some of the world’s largest shipping vessels heading for North America, or on rather limited size Suez Max vessels heading to the UK. Breakbulk type vessels can sail fully loaded directly to the port of destination. Trips generally last between 4 and 6 weeks. Once the plywood panels arrive at their destination, they are unloaded onto trucks and transported to a storage warehouse maintained by the importer. They must first clear customs with the proper documentation. Imported woods have about 5 times more documentation requirements than, for example, electronics imported from China. Therefore, the manufacturer must be adept at obtaining the correct certifications and documents to provide to importers.

Distribution and End Use

Importers resell the boxes directly to distributors and large retailers. These sheets are then sold to the public individually or to construction companies. They end up as the center of your dining room table, the sides and bottom of your drawers, cabinets, the floors of your homes, the lining of the shipping containers that transported them, cargo vans, RVs, couches, the list goes on. Malaysian plywood is generally used for the structure in front of cosmetics. They can often be laminated with cosmetic hardwoods.