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Imported
Plywood – 2011 –
An Update.
We have been really struggling to get reasonable
supplies of good quality marine ply, and it doesn’t look like it is going
to become easier over the next months or years.
Here is a brief resumen of what is happening.
A few years ago, we were really spoiled
by what seemed to be an everlasting supply of really good quality Pacific
Maple (Shorea sp) BS1088 Marine Ply from the Wyang mill in Indonesia.
Following considerable UN pressure on Indonesia to end
unsustainable logging, and unfortunately, because they insisted on only
buying legal logs, the mill was unable to continue as it was unable to buy
legal logs* at a price which would enable them to make and sell plywood at
a price which most of their buyers were prepared to pay.
Since then, we have been obtaining packs
of BS1088 Pink Marine from various sources, mostly Malaysia.
Almost none has been of a quality like the Wyang plywood, most of
it has been disappointing, some very disappointing and some frankly did
not comply with BS1088 or even come close.
Our importers are working with agents and
directly with the mills, but it is a real struggle.
I understand that the problem is that the Japanese are going to the
market in Malaysia and
buying everything they can without any great concern as to quality.
In addition they are prepared to pay high prices, well above what
our importers can pay. Of
course our importers could pay a lot more, but then, could we even sell
the plywood at what would then be a much higher selling price.
There are some other sources around, but they do not have
chain of
custody* assurance that the plywood is made from legal logs.
It also seems that many (if not most) of
the Malaysian mills just do not understand BS1088 or what they have to do
to produce plywood which complies with it.
(We have seen this with the so called BS1088 plywood coming out of China for many years also).
It is important to note that BS1088 is a British standard, and it
only has legal effect as a standard in England and any
other country which has passed laws making BS1088 a legal standard.
Thus in Australia,
New Zealand and the usual
source countries such as Malaysia
and Indonesia,
it is no more than a description of what the plywood should be like.
In
Australia, we do have the Trade Practices
Act which makes it an offence to describe a product as being better or
different to what it is. I
think that a lot of imported plywood which is sold as BS1088 marine ply in
Australia
probably does not comply with BS1088 and so the people selling it could be
in trouble under the Trade Practices Act.
We also must keep in mind that plywood is
mass manufactured and there will always be a small number of defects and
non complaints sheets. High
class manufacturers have systems in place to prevent this or detect them
and remove them from the production run before they reach the customer.
BS1088 specifies what trees can be used
to make marine plywood. Pink
Marine refers to plywood made from Shorea sp (meranti or pacific maple) a
durable species which is listed as permitted.
Okume (gaboon) is another permitted species, but interestingly it
is listed as a non durable species (that is it is prone to early decay and
rot). Many of the plywoods
that we have seen, especially those from
China, have a listed species as the face
veneer and other non listed, cheaper species for the interior veneers.
Some mills are even quite open about the use of non listed (and
probably non durable) species for the interior veneers.
If you want really high quality plywood,
then it is available. It is
just not available at anything like the low prices that we sell this
plywood for. The absolute
best marine ply in the world has to be the Australian Hoop Pine AS2272
plywood made here in Queensland.
It is expensive and in short supply (especially after the 2011
floods.) Boral, one of only two
manufacturers of AS2272 Hoop Marine Plywood have closed their Ipswich
mill. We do stock it and
sell pretty much all that we can get.
The other choice is european manufactured gaboon.
This is also a tropical hardwood which is listed as non durable in
the BS1088 standard. The logs
are transported to a European mill (usually from
Africa). It is
then made under a proper quality assurance system, before being shipped to Australia.
We know of one such importer in Australia, the
plywood is very good, but the transport costs and penalties are enormous.
(But please don’t confuse this with Chinese or Malaysian gaboon,
they are not in the same league.)
The upshot of all this is that as with
most things, you get what you pay for.
In a great many cases the almost BS1088 pink marine will be
perfectly satisfactory, especially if you are using epoxy to seal it, and
or you are painting it. You
should consider other more expensive plywood if you are bending it tightly
or will be finishing it clear (check our plywood report, some is OK).
Enquiries
Please call Boatcraft Pacific
07 3806 1944 ( +617 3806 1944) for how to contact your nearest reseller.
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