Laminated Veneer Lumber Down Under ― Development at Nelson Pine Industries Ltd., New Zealand

摘要

New Zealand plantation forest total area is 1.8-million hectares (ha) of which 1.6 million ha is radiata pine, the balance being Douglas-fir, exotic softwoods, and exotic hardwoods. Nelson Pine Industries Ltd., located in the Northwest province of the South Island of New Zealand, draws its radiata pine resource for the manufacture of medium density fiberboard (MDF) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) from the plantations of the Nelson region which represents 10 percent (180,000 ha) of the nation's estate. The sustainable total annual harvest from the Nelson estate is 2.5 million m~3 of which Nelson Pine Industries Ltd. processes 1 million m~3 (40%): 800,000 m~3 in the form of roundwood and chip from sawmills for MDF production and 200,000 m~3 in peeler grade log for veneer and LVL production. Nelson Pine Industries Ltd. was formed in 1984 with the focus of installing a processing facility to utilize the residue wood from the annual harvest. The first MDF line, featuring a Kuster Continuous Press, with capacity of 100,000 m~3 p.a. was commissioned in May 1986; a second MDF line with similar capacity was installed and commissioned in March 1991 and features similar equipment to the first line. In 1997 a third MDF line was commissioned modeled on the previous two installations, however, the plant output was specified to produce 150,000 m~3 p.a. All plants are fully tuned beyond nameplate capacity and yield 400,000 m~3 p.a. at an average panel thickness of 6 mm. Nelson Pine Industries Ltd. markets the output of all three MDF lines in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and United States of America. The most recent development at Nelson Pine Industries Ltd. has been the addition of veneer, plywood. and LVL production capacity utilizing the latest peel ing, drying, and continuous pressing technology.