Rubberwood Utilization: A Success Story

L.T. Hong

Abstract

The rubber tree which is native to Brazil is widely planted for the production of latex in South East Asia, mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The total rubber plantations in these three countries consisting of 6.65 million hectares amounts to 75 % of the world total. Between 25 to 30 years of age when the production of latex is uneconomical the trees are fell for replanting. Previously the felled trees were of low commercial value and were mainly used as fuelwood, but since the mid 1980s rubberwood is one of the most popular timbers for making furniture and other wood based products and is an important resource for the Malaysian timber industry and has now become one of the major money earners for this industry. The success of using rubberwood in Malaysia has lead to the development of similar industries in the neighbouring countries of Thailand, Indonesia and now India and Sri Lanka with China, Vietnam and Cambodia following suit. UNCTAD/GATT through ITC is making an effort to globalise the utilization of this timber especially in African and Latin American countries that have rubber plantations. The utilization of rubberwood is indeed a success story for Malaysia - from a valueless timber almost fifteen years ago, rubberwood is now one of the major resource for making furniture for export and for the production of panel products such as particleboards, fibreboards (MDF), woodfibre cement-bonded particleboards, plywood and other products. Furthermore it is one of the more important timbers in the Malaysian timber processing industry.

Introduction

The Tropical Forests of the world are noted to be over exploited for the extraction of timber, for conversion into agricultural land for production of food crops and for human settlement. Such excessive harvesting would decrease the supply of tropical hardwoods in the coming years. The alternatives available to maintain an adequate supply of timber for export and domestic consumption would include, (i) institute controls to regulate the annual felling rate,
(ii) utilize the hitherto little utilized species or (iii) to find fast growing plantation trees as replacements for traditional popular species. Malaysia is no exception and has taken steps to ensure an adequate timber supply in order to sustain its timber processing industry. Malaysia is fortunate in being able to implement all the three alternatives mentioned above. The second of the three alternatives is the subject of discussion of this paper.

In Malaysia about 14 million ha of natural forest has been designated as the Permanent Forest Estate to ensure the supply of logs on a sustained yield basis. The Forest Department has also embarked on the establishment of
Compensatory Plantations to supplement the projected shortfall in log supply. These plantations which would eventually make available 180,000 ha of fast growing trees would help to supplement the log supply. There is also urgency to reduce wastage in the logging and sawmilling sectors to improve utilization efficiency. The impetus for utilizing the lesser utilized, hitherto non-commercial timbers is more imminent and initiative have to come from both, the wood processing industry and the forestry
department.

The commercial value of rubberwood timber was almost negligible about fifteen years ago. The abundance in supply and ease of avail-ability then were not attractive to the wood processing industries to make use of it. One reason could be its fast biodegradation and susceptibility to insect infestations after felling. This paper attempts to trace the conditions which have enabled the utilization of this hitherto little used species resulting in its emergence as a timber in great demand for the manufacture of furniture and other wooden components.

Need for Alternative Timbers

During the past few years dramatic changes in world economy necessitated the search for innovations and marketing strategies for maintaining the ailing sawmilling and wood processing industries. The shortage of logs together with a weakening demand by the export markets because of the economic downturn worldwide have resulted in the closure of a number of sawmills in Peninsular Malaysia in the mid 1980s. It was timely that during the same period there was a strong demand for rubberwood sawntimber. This was reflected in the increase in export from 95,700 cu. metres in 1984 valued at RM 29 million to about 221,000 cu. metres valued at RM 98.7 million in 1989 an increase of approximately 98% by value.

Because of this demand a number of traditional sawmills have converted to sawing exclusively rubberwood in order to maintain its production capacity and running cost in addition to new mills established solely for rubberwood processing. There are currently more than 150 sawmills that process only rubberwood. In addition a number of mobile mills operate in plantations and small holdings. The great demand for rubberwood has somewhat compensated for the decrease in export of the traditionally popular commercial timbers and has become a timely substitute for the timber trade in those recessionary times.

The Rubber Tree

The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is indigenous to the Amazon forests of Brazil. Mature rubber trees in the Amazon forest are much larger than the trees that one is so familiar with in Malaysia. The mature trees in its native habitat are about 25-30 metres tall with average girth of greater than 1 metre at breast height. The trees of Malaysian rubber plantations which are much smaller have been bred for the production of latex without taking into account the volume of wood produced. However, with the present scenerio of increasing demand for rubberwood the criteria for breeding of rubber trees will include those for production of wood as well.

Origin of Rubber Plantations (in Southeast Asia )

Henry Wickham has been credited to be responsible for the introduction of the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, from the Amazon forests of Brazil to South East Asia. In 1876 he shipped rubber seeds to Kew in United Kingdom from which 2,700 were successfully germinated. From Kew some seedlings were then shipped to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) in the same year and planted in the Botanical Gardens. Fifty of these seedlings were sent to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, but these did not survive (Barlow 1978). In 1877 another 22 plants were shipped from Sri Lanka to the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Nine of these plants were then transported to Kuala Kangsar in Peninsular Malaysia. These rubber trees grown from Wickham's seeds initiated the foundation of the successful rubber plantation industry in Malaysia and the region (Barlow 1978). In later years further shipments of seeds were made direct from Brazil to South East Asia (Java in Indonesia). There are now more than 20 clones of rubber trees widely planted in Malaysia. At the end of 1992 a total of 1.81 million hectares of rubber plantations are found in Malaysia with the bulk of it (1.50 million hectares) in Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak and Sabah in east Malaysia have 0.21 and 0.09 million hectares, respectively (Anonymous 1993a).

Rubber plantations are now found in more than 30 countries around the world confined to the tropical and subtropical regions. The total area of plantations world wide is approximately 9 million hectares with almost 90% located in Asia. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand account for about 75% of the global rubber plantations (Anonymous 1993b). Countries in Africa and Latin America have about 6% and 3% respectively (Table 1). The total available rubberwood in the ASEAN region is estimated to be about 17 million cu.m. Figures on the availability
of the wood have been given in detail in various reports (Ser 1990, Norini et al. 1990 and Salleh 1987).

Table 1. Rubber plantations worldwide.

Source: Anonymous (1993b)

Development of Rubberwood Utilization

Rubber trees are replanted every 25-30 years when they are uneconomical for latex production. Previous to the utilization of rubberwood for timber and timber products the felled trees were used as fuelwood or just burnt away. It was in the late 1970's that intensive commercial utilization of rubberwood started in Malaysia. Formerly the major users of rubberwood were the fuelwood consuming industry (e.g. drying and smoking of sheet-rubber, tobacco curing, brick making etc.), the charcoal industry and the blockboard industry.

Research to determine the potential use of ruberrwood timber and its applicaitons in products such as fibreboards (Peel 1958) and wood pulp (Peel & Peh 1960) and other products was initiated in the Forest Research Insitute Malaysia (FRIM) in 1953. Even though these attempts showed the vast potential of rubberwood, the wood processing industry then was not receptive, perhaps because of the non-durable quality of rubberwood and the plentiful supply of forest logs which were obtainable at very low cost. Therefore, the commercial value of rubberwood timber was almost negligible about fifteen years ago. The abundance in supply and ease of availability then were not attractive to the wood processing industries to make use of it then. However, with the decreasing area of forests availabale for logging, often supplying smaller size logs together with increase in labour costs coupled with other factors have enabled rubberwood to emerge as a leading timber much sought after especially for the manufacture of furniture.

Malaysia was not the first to use rubberwood as a timber resource. This credit has to go to India or Sri Lanka which have been utilizing rubberwood much earlier. However, Malaysia could claim to be the first to successfully export rubberwood in the late 1970's. Subsequently the development of the rubberwood processing industry in Malaysia is now history and has been well documented in a number of reports (Hong & Wong 1986, Salleh 1987, Ser 1990). Other countries in the region especially, Thailand and Indonesia are now actively developing the processing and export of rubberwood. Malaysia has now become the centre (and model) for the processing and utilization of rubberwood worldwide

In Peninsular Malaysia about 2.0 million cu. metres are utilized by the timber and wood-based industries anually eventhough about 3.2 million cu. metres are suitable for conversion into sawn timber. This leaves about 1.2 million cu. metres yet to be exploited for processing into sawn timber. With such a tremendous amount of resource available, which is virtually guaranteed by the annual replanting programmes of the 1.7 million ha. of rubber plantations when the trees reached 25-30 years of age rubberwood is in a position where no other single tropical hardwood can match in terms of available volume. In Malaysia the estimated volume available annually up to the year 2005 is between 8 to 10 million cu. metres. The available wood volume per hectare is dependent upon numerous factors such as clone, site, management etc. In general between 163-185 cu. metres per ha. for diameter above 15 cm. is obtained. Usable log volume from 9 cultivars studied has been estimated to range from 52-162 cu. metres per ha. Although sawntimber recovery from logs is about 25-45% studies on the 9 cultivars have shown a range from 8.9-27.9 cu. metres per ha (Gan et al. 1985).

Japan was among the first countries to import rubberwood and rubberwood products from Malaysia. It is generally assumed that the good wood working properties, its light cream colour and its assured supply from the replanting programmes are factors that have favoured the development of rubberwood utilization. In recent years rubberwood has been accepted as an `environment friendly' timber because it is grown in renewable plantations. This has become
a distinct advantage for the marketing and acceptance of rubberwood products especially in countries where the `green movement' is very strong. The processing of rubberwood is now a major component of the wood based industry in Malaysia especially for the production of furniture and reconstituted wood based products such as chipboards and medium density fibreboards.

Merits Favouring Its Utilization

As mentioned earlier traditionally the major users of rubberwood have been the fuelwood consuming industries such as the drying and smoking of sheet-rubber, tobacco curing, brick making and domestic fuelwood consumers. The only steel mill existing then too uses a considerable quantity in the form of rubberwood charcoal. Rubberwood chips have also been exported to Japan to be processed into corrugated medium for making paper. A small amount has been used as core materials in the blockboard industry. The remainder was burnt as waste wood.

Favourable Wood Properties

There are more than 20 clones of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) widely planted in Malaysia. Therefore some clonal variations would be reflected in the wood characteristics. In general rubberwood is homogenous with a pale light cream colour with fairly straight grains. The natural colour of rubberwood is one of the principal reasons for its popularity. The air-dry density is between 560-650 kg/cu. metre. It has good overall wood-working and machining qualities for sawing, boring, turning, nailing and glueing. It takes finishes and stains well. Its strength and mechanical properties are comparable to traditional timbers used for furniture making and wood working (Table 2).

The favourable qualities and its light colour has enabled rubberwood to be substituted or used as alternative for Ramin (a Malaysian timber noted for its quality for furniture and other applications). The light colour also enabled it to be stained to the desire of the consumers by application of different coloured wood-stains. In Japan rubberwood has been increasingly used in a wide variety of applications replacing the more traditional timber e.g. `buna' (Fagus sp.) and `nara' (oak).

Table 2. Strength properties of (air-dried) rubberwood and some popular furniture species.

Source: Lee et al. (1965)

The Industry

The use of rubberwood as firewood has been a long established traditional practice found in most of the countries where rubber plantations are abundant. It is still a cheap fuelwood and is also being utilized by industries requiring a source of fuel viz. brick making and tobacco curing. Because of its none durable characteristics it was not used as a timber except for timber scarce countries like India and Sri Lanka where the wood has been used locally for general utility purposes.

Malaysia

The initial export of rubberwood as a sawn timber and as timber products (mainly furniture components) was started from Malaysia. The subsequent development of the rubberwood processing industry in Malaysia is history and has been documented in detail by various authors (Lew and Sim 1983, Hong and Wong 1986, Salleh 1987, Ooi 1987). The demand and popularity of the timber and its products in the traditional timber-importing countries like Japan and U.S.A. has further stimulated the growth of the downstream processing of the timber. This has in turn attracted the development of similar rubberwood processing industries mainly in the neighbouring countries of Indonesia and Thailand.

Presently rubberwood is being used in a number of industries in Malaysia. It has out-performed some of the traditional furniture timbers for export. It is estimated that out of RM1.5 billion (US$60 million) worth of furniture exported from the country in 1994 about 70 percent (RM 1050 million, US$42 million) came from rubberwood. It is projected that the country will achieve an export of RM2.5 billion (US$1.0 billion) worth of furniture by the year 2000 (Table 3).

Table 3. Export of rubberwood furniture from Peninsular Malaysia (in Ringgit Malaysia,
RM. US$1=RM2.5)

Source: Statistics on Commodities, Ministry of Primary Industries, July1994

* Estimated value based on 70% of total export

na = not available

The rubberwood sawntimber processing and furniture producing industry in Malaysia are now well developed. With the government's effort to develop the wood-based industry sector under the Industrial Master Plan many more mills are being established in addition to those that have been approved or are in operation. Currently three particleboard mills, one moulded particleboard mill, one woodfibre cement board mill and five medium density fibreboard mills( MDF) are utilizing rubberwood. In addition other industries utilizing the timber are briquette making and charcoal making. The success of the rubberwood industry has lead to the development of this industry in the neighbouring countries as well.

Previous to the utilization of this timber by the wood based industry the rubber plantation owners have to pay contractors to fell and remove the trees during replanting. Presently rubberwood users have to pay the rubber plantation owners from between RM300 to RM2000 (US$150-800) per hectare to fell and remove the rubberwood logs during replanting. This has greatly benefited the rubber plantation owners especially during periods when the latex price is low. The rubberwood processing industry has turned into a multi-milllion dollar industry and has attracted many investors, both local and foreign into the country. The manufacturing of furniture for export is one of the fastest developing industries in Malaysia during the last 5 years in terms of values of export earnings, and all this because of rubberwood.

Thailand

The rubberwood sawntimber industry in Thailand is well developed with a total of about 100 mills. The downstream processing activities is experiencing very rapid growth partly attributed to the diminishing supply of teak and severe depletion of its natural timber resource. Currently there are 38 furniture mills and 18 other mills manufacturing other products such as toys, tooth picks etc. The sawn rubberwood timber export which amounted to 26,377 cu.m. valued at RM14.8 million in 1988 is not significant when compared to Malaysia therefore a large poriton of the sawn wood is being used locally for downstream processing (Ser 1990).

Indonesia

There were attempts to develop the sawn rubberwood industry in Indonesia to supply to Singapore, Japan and Taiwan in the early eighties. Because of subsequent unfavourable government policies and regulations and the demand for the indigenous timbers coupled with the high cost of extraction this did not take off. Nevertheless there was a small industry in the processing of rubberwood with some sawmills, and a particleboard plant utilizing the timber. However, there is now renewed interest in this industry (Suherman 1987).

Role of Research and Development

It is inevitable that research has always been instrumental in the initiation and development of new technologies for industry. Rubberwood processing and utilization is no exception. Research has played a vital role in assisting
the development of technologies for rubber-wood processing. As stated earlier research to assess its utilization potential has been initiated almost 40 years ago at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Subsequently not only statutory agencies such as the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) and Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM), but the private sector has also carried out research and development
(R & D) in order to benefit from the developing rubberwood industy.

The Ministry of Primary Industries Malaysia being aware of the importance of R & D to further promote the utilization of rubberwood established the Rubberwood Research Committee in 1978 to coordinate all research on rubberwood. This committee comprises representatives from different research institutions statutory agencies and industry associations.

FRIM has played a vital role in the successful utilization of this hitherto "useless" timber. Research into the basic properties and characteristics of the wood and its behaviour during sawing, drying, preservative treatment and machining have been carried out. Being naturally non-durable rubberwood would not be economically usable without preservative treatment. Through efforts of R & D temporary protective measures have been prescribed for processing during the early days of rubberwood processing. This is still a common practice today. At present FRIM together with MTIB have advocated treatments for long term protection to further enhance its utilization (Hong et. al. 1982).

Research efforts have also established appropriate kiln-drying schedules and practical processing techniques for its proper utilization (Ho & Choo 1983). These technologies developed through R&D have been disseminated to the local entrepreneurs through seminars and training courses on rubberwood processing carried out from time to time. Advisory services have been made available to the industries to assist them to overcome problems encountered. R&D continue to assist in the promotion and development of this industry.

Recognition

The information generated through FRIM's research on this timber has been disseminated through publications (Hong Sim 1994) and 3 seminars (two national and one international) to the industry. Recently the research efforts of FRIM on rubberwood utilization have been recognised when it was awarded the "Danzer und Hulsta Forschungspreis Wald and Holz" in January 1995 at the International Cologne Furniture Fair in Germany. As a result of the success in the utilization of rubberwood in Malaysia UNCTAD/GATT through ITC (International Trade Centre) has organized an International Forum on Rubberwood Utilization in Malaysia in 1993 to interest and inform countries that have rubber plantations on the commercial viability of rubberwood. It has also recognised Malaysia's effort and success in the utilization of this timber.

Role of Government

In Malaysia the government has also played a significant role in the rapid development of the rubberwood processing industry and the acceptance of rubberwood as a popular timber by the traditional timber importing countries. Through the Ministry of Primary Industries, Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) the government has actively promoted the timber during trade missions abroad. The Forestry Department has also contributed by proposing to uniformise royalty colleciton on rubberwood throughout the states of Peninsular Malaysia in order to encourage its utilization (Ong 1983). In addition MTIB has also ensured that the quality of rubberwood produced for export is maintained by instituting regulations governing its export. All these efforts have been airmed at encouraging and developing the utilization of rubberwood. The development of this hitherto little used species from an unknown timber to a popular one for making furniture and its acceptance by demanding markets such as Japan and USA is the result of efforts and cooperation of all sectors of the forest and wood processing industries.

Potential for Future Growth

Taking cognizance of the dwindling supply of timbers from the natural forests especially in countries like Malaysia and Thailand there is no doubt that rubberwood is a timely substitute to support the timber based industries in these countries. The concern for the environment and the destruction of tropical forests through logging have placed further obstacles in the marketing of tropical forest timbers owing to the pressure from anti-tropical hardwood NGOs (Non-Government Organization). Therefore rubberwood being a timber obtained from sustainably managed and renewable plantations is acceptable by such NGO's in the traditional timber importing countries. It is without doubt that rubberwood will be an important timber resource supporting the timber and wood-based industry in the ASEAN region even when the timber supply from the natural forests has been depleted. It is perceived that for the industry to continue developing the following changes may evolve in the industry.

In Malaysia a review of policies relevant to rubberwood utilization has been suggested (Salleh 1987) because rubberwood is in a peculiar situation in which the timber falls under the purview of forestry while the tree is an agricultural crop. Because of the increasing importance of rubberwood there is an urgent need to review policies and guidelines governing the production of this resource to ensure a consistent and continued supply. This is relevant as it has been pointed out that although Indonesia has large areas of rubber plantations there are problems in harvesting the timber, two of the reasons being inaccessibility and other infrastructural constraints (Ser 1990). There are indications (in Malaysia) to grow rubber trees for forest plantations to increase the supply. The wider participation of the private sector in forestry which is hirherto rarely practised in the ASEAN countries could be a reality starting with forest plantations of rubber trees. This may require changes in policies of government in countries with no such provisions.

Conclusion

Rubberwood has firmly established itself as one of the major timbers mainly for the production of furniture and other furniture components within a period of about 10 years. It is indeed a success story - from a valueless timber to one which is in great demand by the wood based industry. It is also a homogenous material suitable for the production of panel products such as particleboards, MDF and wood-fibre cementboards. These products are expected to be one of the future growth areas of utililization based on the total world demand and production of these products. Current processing techniques and utilization practices and also infrastructural constraints only utilize a small portion of the 15-17 million cu. m. of logs available annually in the ASEAN region. The economical and optimal utilization of this resource is a logical consequence of the projected depletion of the supply of logs from the natural forests. Therefore future growth areas in utilization would also focus on technologies which allow for more efficient processing, product utilization and in harvesting. Following Malaysia's sucess in the utilization of this timber more countries that possess rubber plantations are expected to develop this industry. In this direction UNCTAD/GATT through ITC is trying to globalise the utilization of this timber by initiating the formation of an "International Rubberwood Development Centre".

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