I grew up in the Rocky Mountains (in the 1960's) and the wood I saw cut and planed at the local mills was clear and mostly free of knots. It was not unusual to see a completely clear 2 x 12 from one end to the other: 16 feet. With old growth forests on the decline these days, and conservationists protecting them, the era of the 8-10 foot stumps and clear lumber is pretty well over. Much of the new stuff coming out of North America these days is second growth and full of knots. (In the Atlantic areas some of the wood is third-growth) This means looking to other areas and new species to plunder – eastward.

China has been a leader in small manufactured goods for almost 20 years. Every Wal-Mart, Target and Lowes is filled with Chinese-made goods that we depend on and which now set the price in the industry. So what about building products? Well, there is news in that department as well.

Plywood has been on the sidelines as a building material ever since OSB (Oriented Strand Board) was approved for structural building in North America. Much of the standard plywood has to have the knots punched out and is susceptible to voids (blank spaces) between the layers. This takes away from the structural integrity and makes the platform unstable under stress.

OSB is an engineered, mat-formed panel product made of strands, flakes or wafers sliced from small diameter, round wood logs and bonded with an exterior-type binder under heat and pressure. In other words it takes the crap wood and shavings of other lumber products and forms it into plywood-sized shapes. And despite being strong and solid, OSB is heavy. (As well, ask any roofer how the large roofing nails punch out large chips and pieces out of the underside of the OSB.)

China has an answer for the woes of plywood and OSB. Ross MacDonald of Millennium Plywood has been importing Chinese plywood to North America for a few years now. “The products are too new to have been through the standard certification process ,” he says, ”But what makes our products worthy of purchase is the warranty on our products. We warranty the products not to warp, buckle,de-laminate and, for vinyl flooring, we warranty it not to stain the vinyl as Meranti and other products will. (As of this writing MacDonald has approval for flooring, cabinetry and finishing uses. He is waiting for the standard bureaucratic time-lags for using it as a structural material.)

So why is he so psyched on this? The veneers are birch and popular, both hard woods. As he knew it would take time get structural approval he went to ask flooring contractors what they wanted out of a sub-flooring product: (It is approved for underlay)

1) High Impact: protects sub-floors from dents and scrapes. Saves the installer time and money by using less patch.

2) Smooth Surface: enhances adhesive bond and provides the best surface possible especially for vinyl installations. The cabinet people are impressed as well.

3) Non-staining: will not stain vinyl floor covering like Meranti and other products.

4) Moisture resistant resins to meet today’s expanded floor covering options and protect the homeowner in high humidity environments. (He has placed pieces under water for long periods of times and the glue has held)

Here are other plywoods form China:

1) Okoume (Imported from Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea );
3) Pine (Local and imported from Russia, Monterey pine imported from New Zealand )
4) Bingtangor (imported from Papua New Guinea),
5) Canarium (imported from Papua New Guinea),





They offer a potpourri of clear wood faces that has caught the attention of North American cabinet makers.

As well, there are marine-rated plywoods with plastic finishes that can be used for commercial projects.


But what is MacDonald's newest customer for the plywood? “Cabinet-makers,” he says. “The finish of the birch and poplar is so clear of defects that it can be stained to match the fronts. And not being a wood-filled product it is lighter and stronger.” The samples I viewed went up to 3/4” but this can be thickened by special order. (My sample had an amazing 5 plys for a ¼ inch thickness.) MacDonald is convinced that plywood will be cleared for all building trades.

Photos from the Linyi Chentao International Trade Co., Ltd.