2.1 Product Classification
2.2 Sources of Data
2.3 Time Span
2.4 Unit for the Import and Export Volume of the Basic Data
2.5 Unit for the Import and Export Value in the Basic Data
2.6 Trade Volume in Terms of Provinces
For the purpose of this study, wood-based panel refers to the plain panel. The laminated or otherwise treated wood-based panels fall under the category of secondary processed (or downstream) products which are beyond the scope of this study.
By and large, wood-based panels are subdivided into three main categories, i.e.: plywood, particleboard and fibreboard. Veneer is also considered overseas as a wood-based panel. However, veneer, particularly rotary veneer, is mostly used rather for plywood production than for direct application, and it is in fact a semi-product, being seldom traded as a commodity in the Chinese market. The other type - sliced veneer has a fairly large production with "square meter (m2)" as the unit, but after conversion into "cubic meters (m3)" (which is practically unlikely due to enormous variation in thickness), the absolute value is not large at all. In this connection, this study will not deal in depth with production and actual need of veneer consumption. As a matter of fact, the magnitude of veneer production has no direct influence on the production and consumption of plywood as veneer is a semi-product in China.
For the purpose of this study, plywood refers to plywood itself in general. There is no doubt that plywood can be subdivided into general plywood, special purpose plywood (e.g.: aviation plywood, shipping plywood) and bamboo plywood. However, production and consumption of general plywood account for 90% of China's total which is the case in other parts of the world. This explains why the present study does not have subdivision of plywood.
For the purpose of this study, particleboard refers to particleboard itself in general. Particleboard (including woody particleboard and non-wood particleboard) can also be subdivided into general particleboard, oriented structural board (OSB), waferboard, cement (or gypsum)-bonded particleboard, special purpose particleboard, etc. In China, output of general particleboard accounts for 95% of the total particleboard production, waferboard production is almost nil, and there are a few OSB lines in the country but with small capacity due to the limited scope of application. It is worth mentioning that OSB is a major type of particleboard overseas, but not in China.
This study subdivides fibreboard into medium density fibreboard (MDF) and hardboard, but does not deal with softboard due to small production and limited market occupancy. MDF is further divided into thick (over 11 mm) and thin (below 10 mm) boards in overseas countries, while in China, there is no further division as the thickness of most MDF products are above 12 mm with few thin boards. In this connection, this study categorizes MDF as one independent type of product.
All the basic data used in this study (production, volume and value of import/export trade) (see Table 1 and tables 11-24) are from the statistical materials published or formally released by governmental organs, namely: the National Forestry Statistics published by the Chinese Forestry Publishing House (Ministry of Forestry of the People's Republic of China; 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) and the Customs Statistics on Volume and Values of Imported and Exported Commodities released by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995).
The socio-economic data in this study (see Table 2) for 1995 and 1996 are the actual data released by the State, and those for 2000, 2005 and 2010 are targets set by the State for its social and economic development.
2.3.1 Time Span for Basic Data
2.3.2 Time Span for Outlook and Projection Data
2.3.1.1 Time Span for Production
The time span for production is between 1990 and 1995; the 1989 data are used for production projection and 1995 data are used for comparison and adjustment (fibreboard excluded) (for reasons, see 3.1).
2.3.1.2 Time Span for Import and Export
The import and export statistics of China's General Administration of Customs follow the commodity classification methods stipulated in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System HS of the (International) Customs Cooperation Council. Because this system has been revised after its formulation in 1988 and the classification codes for some commodities have been changed, this study takes 1992 as the starting year of the time span for the import and export of wood-based panels in order to facilitate study, analysis and comparison (commodity classification for 1990 and 1991 is not comparable with the present statistics) (time span started from 1990 for plywood due to the consistent use of "cubic meter (m3)" as the unit for import and export statistics and the classification methods remain unchanged). Considering the fact that China started import and export statistics by provinces only from 1993, the basic data by provinces started from 1993.
Between 1996 and 2000, annual projected data is available for both production and consumption (see tables 3-10); beyond 2000, every five years are a time span, however the tables give only data for 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2010.
2.4.1 Plywood
2.4.2 Veneer
2.4.3 Particleboard, MDF and Hardboard
The unit for plywood import and export volume during the statistical period is "m3" which is consistent with the international norms. Therefore these are actual data.
As the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System HS has changed the unit for veneer import and export volume into "Kg" since 1994, the universal conversion method of FAO is adopted in this study, i.e.: 1 m3 of veneer weighs 750 Kg to facilitate comparison. So the figures for veneer import and export volume since 1994 are data after conversion.
The original unit for the import and export volume of these three products is Kg. To facilitate comparison, the universal conversion method of FAO is adopted in this study, i.e.: 1 m3 of particleboard weighs 650 Kg, 1 m3 of MDF weighs 800 Kg and 1 m3 of hardboard weighs 950 Kg. Hence, all these figures are data after conversion.
Since the currency clearing unit for China's foreign trade is US Dollar, no conversion is needed for these data. However, as the statistical data released by the Customs before 1994 took US$ 1,000 as the unit (the national grand total is too big), there might be some errors in these data due to "rounding up". Furthermore, it might happen that there is a difference of about US$ 1,000 between the national total and the statistics by province due to the use of "US Dollar" as the unit in provincial statistics. This is a result of "rounding off", not a statistical error.
In order to harmonize the data and also in line with international practices, the unit for import and export volume is set as m3. However, the import or export volume for many provinces is definitely decimals. The principle of "rounding off" is adopted, so there happens the case in which some import or export volume is less than 1 m3. In order to differentiate then, an astral symbol is adopted to indicate the data of import or export volume which is smaller than 1 m3.
