2.1 Wood Budget
2.2 Forestry Policy
2.3 A Broad market of non-wood fibre resources
2.4 Impact on the Rural Economy
According to the analysis by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, the population of China will be 1.3 billion in 2000 and it will reach 1.4 billion in 2010; the GDP will be 4,185.7 and 8,626.9 billion Chinese yuan respectively. Based on methods which link population and GNP growth to timber consumption, the timber requirement and supply in 2000 and 2010 is predicted as follows:
Table 5 - Projected gross demand and supply of industrial timber (million m3)
|
Year |
Timber requirement |
Timber supply |
|
2000 |
160-165 |
139-150 |
|
2010 |
180-230 |
159-180 |
To derive the data in Table 5, it is assumed that 1 m3 plywood, particleboard, hard fibreboard, and medium density fibreboard production will need 2.8, 1.4, 2.6, 1.8 m3 wood. The estimated future demand of panels and wood raw material requirement have been worked out by the Chinese Academy of Forestry. If demand is to be met entirely by wood, the wood raw material requirement will be as in Table 6.
Table 6 - Projected demand, production and capacity for panel products (103 M3)2
2 There are three Working Papers related to China APFSOS/WP/14, APFSOS/WP/35, APFSOS/WP/40(a) and APFSOS/WP/40(b). The projections they give many not be the same due to different studies they quote. In case of divergence, the reference numbers in APFSOS/WP/14 should be preferred (Editor).
|
Year |
Plywood |
Particleboard |
Fibreboard |
Total |
Wood raw material requirement |
|
2000 (demand) |
1,588.4 |
2,078.0 |
2,528.8 |
6,195.2 |
12,559.4 |
|
2010 (production) |
3,600-4,500 |
3,600-4,500 |
4,800-6,000 |
12,000-15,000 |
|
|
2010 (capacity) |
4,500-5,400 |
4,500-5,400 |
6,000-7,200 |
15,000-18,000 |
|
According to the above-mentioned assumption, the Ministry of Forestry of China also estimated the demands of artificial panels and wood raw material requirements in 2,000 and 2,010 (Table 7).
Table 7 - Projected demand for panels and wood raw material needs (103 M3)
|
Year |
Plywood |
Particleboard |
Fibreboard |
Total |
Wood raw material requirement |
|
|
MDP |
HF |
|||||
|
2000 |
2,900-3,200 |
2,750-3,060 |
2,050-2,280 |
1,300-1,450 |
9,000-10,000 |
19,040-21,118 |
|
2010 |
3,820-4,120 |
4,600-4,960 |
2,900-3,120 |
1,670-1,800 |
13,000-14,000 |
26,698-28,776 |
From several studies conducted, the demand and supply of wood pulp will be as in Table 8; it assumed that 4 m3 wood is required to manufacture 1 ton pulp.
Table 8 - Projected demand and supply of wood pulp (103 ton)
|
Year |
Proportion of wood pulp |
Wood pulp demand |
Timber raw material requirement |
Wood pulp supply |
Percentage |
|
2000 |
25 |
8,000 |
32 |
6,750 |
22 |
|
2010 |
33 |
14,850 |
59.4 |
14,000 |
33 |
In order to mitigate the critical shortage of wood supply, alleviate the pressure of timber production forest, the priority of China forestry is to implement both environmental (ecological) and industrial forestry. The main tasks of forestry ecological system are:
· Three-north Shelter Development Programme: The programme is divided into 3 stages. The first stage from 1978 to 2000, the second from 2001 to 2020 and third from 2021 to 2050. A total of 35 million ha. forest are to be planted under this programme.· Coastal Shelterbelt Programme: By the year 2010, the multi-forest type, multi species, and multi-function shelterbelt system will be established and 3.55 million ha. plantations are to be built.
· Plain Afforestation Programme: This plan is to make all of the 915 counties reach the green standards issued by the Ministry of Forestry.
· The Taihang Mountain afforestation Programme: By the year 2000, 3.299 million ha forest will be established.
· The Combating Desertification Programme.
· Soil and Water Conservation Forests along the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River: This programme is divided into 2 phases. The first phase, from 1990 to the 2000, is targeted to increase 6.66 million ha. forests. The second phase is planned to plant 13.34 million ha. within a period of 20-30 years.
· Soil and Water Conservation Forests along the middle Reaches of the Yellow River: By the year 2000, 1.05 million ha plantation will be built. From 2001 to 2020, 2.10 million ha plantation is to be planted.
· Integrated conservation Forests along the Reaches of the Huaihe River and Taihu Lake: By 2000, 728 thousand ha forest will be built. From 2001 to 2010, 319 thousand ha forest will be established.
· Integrated Conservation Forest along the Reaches of Zhujiang River: By 2010, 1.2 million ha forest will be established.
· Conservation Forest along the Reaches of Liaohe River: By 2010, 1.2 million ha forest will be built.
In addition, China will pay more attention to the establishment of timber raw material forests to solve the shortage of timber. By 2000, China decide to establish 6.66 million ha of fast-growing and high-yielding timber forests, some to supply raw materials for artificial panels and paper-making, and create some forests with valuable and big-diameter trees.
In comparison with other countries, the development of non-wood fibre materials in China has the following advantages:
· Large market: it is estimated that the total demand for wood-based panels in China will get to 13 -14 million m3 by 2010 year. In 1994 the production of artificial panels was 6.22 million m3 and the import of panels was 2.24 million m3.· Rich Resources: (Section 3).
· Lower cost: the cost of producing 1 m3 particleboard will be lower 60-120 yuan (RMB) than that of wood.
· Some agricultural crops are comparatively concentrated in the some areas and easy to collect: examples are leaf tobacco planted in Henan and Yunan Provinces, wheat, maize and bean planted in Helongjiang Province, bagasse planted in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, and cotton planted in the provinces of Xinjiang, Hubei, Hebei and Shandong etc. For example. In Helongjiang province and Xingjiang autonomous region, there are some big farms with the area of from 0.5-1.5 million ha. In sugarcane growing areas of Guangdong province, bagasses were produced in some factories so that it is easy to transport.
· A set of mature techniques: Both technology and equipment can be supplied by the country to produce the quality products with annual 30 thousand m3 in these factories of above provinces.
· Support and encouragement by the governments at all levels: because the development of non-wood based panels can gain better economic, social and ecological benefits.
In some provinces with high intensity of crops and less density of population such as Helongjiang, Jilin and Xingjiang, the main benefits to the rural economy by using non-wood fibre materials are as follows:
· Income: the establishment of artificial panels plant bring about a good economic benefits. For example, a particleboard plant with annual output of 30 thousand m3 generates income of about 6 million yuan RMB. Furthermore, the farmer can get income about 1 million yuan RMB through selling 10,000 tons of grain straw in markets and part of the income from industry could be invested into agricultural development so as to develop its production· Increasing the employment for the rural people.
· Environment: the cutting of wood is decreased, forest resources and the environment are protected.
