Commodity reports

Fuelwood
Railway sleepers

Fuelwood

After food, the basic requirements of man are fuel and shelter. and these in some cases even claim equality with food.

For the vast majority of the population of the Southeast Asian region - which is little less than half the world's population - fuel is tantamount to fuelwood, including charcoal. Fuel which is needed for cooking and in parts of the region for heating, with few exceptions means wood. A good many of the industries in the region are operated on wood; so are several railways and many river and coastal craft. They are, therefore, bound up with the availability and economy of fuelwood compared with other fuels.

Alternatives to wood are coal (and lignite), oil and electricity, as well as fuels of agricultural origin. Average figures for 1950 and 1951 coal production give the following results (in million tons): Japan 40.8; China 37.5; India 33.0; Indonesia 0.8; Vietnam 0.5; Pakistan 0.5; Malaya 0.4; South Korea 0.3; the Philippines 0.2. There is no production in Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, East Pakistan, North Borneo, Sarawak and Thailand. As for oil, Brunei and Indonesia have a fairly large production, while output in the few other producing countries is relatively unimportant. Nearly all the region's coal and oil production is consumed in certain urban areas and certain industries and railways within the region. As regards hydro-electric power, the installed capacity is about 6.6 million kw. in Japan, and 0.6 million kw. each in India and China, used locally for light and power.

Combustible agricultural residues such as straw or cowdung are being used in some areas, but they are inferior to fuelwood and their use merely indicates non-availability, or prohibitive cost of wood. Fuelwood will remain the chief source of fuel in rural areas and will also cover part of the urban consumption (as charcoal). Also, in certain countries of the region certain sectors of industry as well as railways will probably continue to be dependent on wood. There are areas in the region so badly off for any kind of fuel that consumers are forced to import fuelwood over long distances irrespective of cost. Imports of fuelwood from Borneo to Hongkong or even to Korea must necessarily be expensive. Singapore imports fuelwood and charcoal from Malaya, but also a considerable amount from Indonesia (Sumatra). Transport and trade in fuelwood and charcoal within these countries represent an important activity employing considerable labour.

Such is the vital importance of wood as fuel in the region that it is indeed a basic requirement.

Research in progress

There are thousands of tree species in the region, and research is going on in several places to determine and analyze the properties of the more important species. With regard to combustion properties research confirms the results established in other parts of the world, namely that the calorific value per unit weight of moisture-free wood is fairly constant, but is normally somewhat increased by a resin or oil content. Extremely light woods such as Trema orientalis with a specific gravity of 0.25 show the same calorific value per kg. as woods of three times that specific gravity, e. g. Brugueira parviflora or Rhizophora spiculata which have specific gravities of 0.81 and 0.84 respectively. But the heavier woods of course require less storage space and less frequent replenishment of the combustion chamber, and are therefore normally preferred. This is particularly true where space is limited, as in locomotives and boats.

The theoretical calorific value of oven-dry hardwoods may be taken as 4700 cal./kg. with less than 10 percent deviation. Since green wood can sometimes hold as much as 200 percent moisture (moisture-free basis), the moisture content of the fuelwood becomes a matter of great importance, first because of the direct loss in calorific value by heating and evaporation (see Table 1), and second because of the inconvenience of a high moisture content, such as reduced inflammability, smoke and condensation.

TABLE 1. - AVAILABLE HEAT VALUE FROM WOOD OF VARYING MOISTURE CONTEXT (oven-dry basis)

(percentages)
Moisture content	0	10	20	30	40	50	100
Heat value	100.0	89.5	80.5	73.0	66.5	61.0	41.5

Only a pitiably small percentage of the theoretical heat value is actually being utilized in most of the furnaces throughout the region.

Statistics

The very heterogeneity of the countries of this region make statistics particularly misleading where forestry is concerned.

Table 2 is based on official figures for population, forest area, and fuelwood consumption.

The figures for population density do not give any indication of the distribution; it is sufficient to recall that the figure for Java is nearly 400 and for the rest of Indonesia 16, and similar uneven distribution is found in many parts of the region. Further, forests are often concentrated in certain parts of a country and fuelwood economy cannot bear much transportation cost.

The figures for fuelwood consumption are entirely unreliable and it is obvious that in most cases the recorded figures cover only a small fraction of total consumption. There are several reasons for this; probably the greater part of total fuelwood consumption in the region does not involve monetary transactions, the wood being cut by the consumer. When forest is within easy range most of the rural population take care of their own needs. with or without legal right. Much fire wood stems from wood lots or tree-groups on the homestead land, and from rubber plantations where periodic removal of the trees is necessary. The practice of shifting cultivation provides firewood for the tribal population. Even when firewood is a priced commodity and is actually transported and sold, only part of it will be registered or taxed. Among recommendations for improving forestry statistics, suitable sampling methods should certainly be proposed in order to assess the rural consumption of fuelwood (and fencing and construction timber) most of which now entirely escapes recording in the majority of countries in the region.

Local forestry officials estimate that consumption of fuelwood (including wood for charcoal) in countries like Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, British Borneo or the Philippines is more likely to be from 300 to 500 kg. per head than the figures given in Table 2. The figures for India and Pakistan may be somewhat nearer actual consumption.

Distribution of total fuelwood consumption within the various consumer groups naturally varies very considerably from place to place, influenced as it must be by density of population, degree of industrialization, availability of other fuels, transport facilities and costs. As an example, a recent calculation shows that the fuelwood consumption in Burma in 1951 was distributed as follows: household consumption 88 percent, industries 10 percent and transportation 2 percent.

It is reasonable to assume that a similar ratio exists in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam while the proportion may be very different in other parts of the region.

The present situation

There are areas in the region where all fuelwood requirements are fully met and will continue to be met for some time. This does not only apply to forest communities proper where dependence on the forest often goes as far as to include food and fodder, but also to agricultural tracts where forest is still abundant within easy range. Such areas of abundant supply are found, for example, in many parts of Burma, Indochina. Indonesia and Thailand. But even in these areas the forest is receding from the consumption centres as a result of fuelwood being cut where it is nearest at hand, easiest to carry home; the villager is therefore finding the distance to his source of supply increasing. as no special efforts are made to restock the areas cut over.

The cases where there is a more or less pronounced scarcity of fuelwood (or charcoal) are more frequent and affect a far greater number of people; it is either in short supply or the price is so high that the common man has to reduce his consumption below a reasonable level, or resort to inferior fuels. It is well known that dried cowdung constitutes the kitchen fuel for millions in India, and that in many parts of China fuelwood in tiny bundles is weighed on hand scales. Here the use of fuelwood is a luxury which only few can afford.

The countries deficient in forest resources are China. India and Pakistan, (see Table 2). Timber can bear a higher or lower transportation cost, according to its value, but fuelwood can only stand a very modest transportation cost, since it otherwise tends to become a luxury article. Therefore, when considering fuelwood supply a local view must be taken. Areas of abundance and areas of scarcity may be found at a short distance from each other. Among the Indian States fuelwood production ranges from over 65 kg. down to 1.36 kg. per head, but within the more important States an even wider range will be found.

TABLE 2. - POPULATION, FOREST AREA, AND FUELWOOD CONSUMPTION IN COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN REGION.

Country	Population		Forest percentage (all forests)	Forest area per head (ha)	Accessible or productive forest area per head (ha) (approx.)	Annual fuelwood consumption per head (kg.)
	(millions)	per sq. km.
Pakistan	74	79	5	0.03	0.03	9
India	346	109	18	0.2	0.2	14
Ceylon	7	111	55	0.5	0.2	14
Burma	18	30	58	1.9	1.5	140
Thailand	18	35	63	1.8	1.8	60
Malaya	5	38	77	2.0	1.2	90
Cambodia	5	21	66	3.1	0.7	60
Vietnam	22	67	42	0.6	0.7	7
Laos	1.2	5	55	10.8	0.7	35
Indonesia	72	48	63	1.3	0.9	10
Brit. Borneo	1.0	5	86	17.2	5.0	170
Philippines	20	66	59	0.9	0.7	3
Japan	82	215	59	0.3	0.3	180
Korea (south)	20	126	40	0.3	0.1	30
China (all)	463	48	9	0.2	0.1	?

Phases in fuelwood exploitation by villagers in Nepal: felling and billeting with the axe.

Phases in fuelwood exploitation by villagers in Nepal: splitting with the axe and bundling.

In general, the scarcity is felt more heavily in urban than in rural areas. During past decades the forest has receded from towns and cities, as well as from the main lines of communication - rivers, roads, and railways - thus aggravating the supply problem. The situation has deteriorated still further through wartime overcutting, the heavy migration to urban centres after the war and the formation of a number of new, independent States. Several cities and towns have doubled their population compared with prewar, one of the main reasons being the state of unrest prevalent in some rural areas. Today, the fuel supply for some cities has to be transported a hundred kilometers or even considerably more, and the price has risen accordingly. A policeman or an office clerk in Bangkok may easily have to spend 10 percent or more of his earnings on charcoal to cook the family's meals; fuel is therefore one of the heavy items on his budget.

What has been said above of the availability and price of fuelwood for domestic use applies in principle equally to fuelwood supplies for industry and railways. There is the difference, however, that in many cases they are allocated certain forest areas and make their own arrangements for exploitation, transportation and delivery through local contractors. These contractors possess as a rule only inferior transport equipment and have therefore overworked the forests closest to the delivery points, leaving scattered areas in which working is now uneconomical.

In twelve of the countries listed in Table 2 more than 40 percent of the land is forested. On the face of it, this should be sufficient to cover all requirements for forest produce leaving something for export. However, very considerable areas classified as forest are in poor condition both as regards quality and quantity of growing stock, and other areas are more or less inaccessible. The bulk of the forests are situated far from the cities and the heavily populated agricultural areas, and availability of fuelwood within a country does not mean economic availability for the majority of the consumers. Nevertheless, the solution of local fuelwood supply problems in these countries, even if sometimes difficult and expensive, does not imply considerations of such a serious, or even vital, nature as is the case in large parts of China, India and Pakistan. The countries listed in Table 2 have 1,150 million inhabitants. We would venture the estimate that for about half of this number - one-quarter of the world's population the fuelwood supply represents a serious or critical problem.

Remedial measures

Naturally, some measures have been taken and attempts made in many places during the past decades to improve the situation. Since World War II, no less than 10 of the 15 countries listed in Table 2 have become independent States. Full responsibility for improvement now rests with them; at the same time they have lost a considerable number of professional staff in nearly every field of activity and are faced with political and economic problems more complex than before the war. In forestry, however, professional circles are well aware of the situation and are furthermore capable of initiating broad action, if only they are given the necessary authority by their governments, as well as appropriate funds. Technical advice from outside may in many cases assist planning and so may equipment and training facilities provided by outside agencies, but thorough and lasting improvements will be obtained only if well-conceived and continued efforts are made by the countries themselves.

Where forest resources are adequate, improved logging and transportation methods and equipment alone may solve the problem. But continuous management and planned supply are urgently needed if lasting improvements over large areas are to be achieved. Where fuelwood is carried by rail to urban centers, transport costs would be reduced considerably by conversion of the wood into charcoal before transportation. This points to the need for modernization of carbonization methods; recovery of some of the by-products in an economical way would also help to lower the price of charcoal.

Creation of fuelwood plantations should play an important role in the scheme. Many non-urban industrial plants might cover their fuel requirements from their own plantations, and townships and railways could alleviate their supply situation considerably by planting up wasteland areas in their vicinity with species suitable for short-rotation management. For example, some tea plantations in Java have their own fuel plantations; near Manila, there is a fuel plantation delivering fuelwood and charcoal for ordinary home consumption and fuelwood for bakeries; even in Sarawak, the richest in forest land (89 percent), a small fuelwood plantation supplies fuel to bakeries.

While the creation of fuelwood plantations in most parts of China, India and Pakistan is a matter of obvious necessity and vital urgency, it is certainly justified also in other countries because of the uneven distribution of the population. Everywhere the population is heavily concentrated in the river plains and coastal lowlands where practically no forest is left. The inhabitants of these densely populated agricultural areas often find it difficult and expensive to meet their needs for fuel, fencing material and small timber. A very small woodlot or plantation on each farm would go a long way towards meeting these requirements. In other cases, the availability of marginal land would indicate village or community plantations. Plantations on irrigated areas are by no means out of the question, as has been proved in Pakistan, and large-scale techniques such as aerial sowing are being planned for areas in West Pakistan.

The price level of firewood in the densely populated areas will in most cases make firewood plantations profitable. Reports show that such plantations already pay high dividends. Except for individual farm plantations, subsidies for their establishment might in many cases be possible on a credit basis.

In addition to increased production, economy in consumption should be given careful consideration. Suitable stacking for drying-out firewood as far as practicable during the dry season of the year, and storage under cover might well reduce consumption by several percent, as would adjustment of the size of the pieces or billets to individual furnaces. Reports from Cambodian railways show economy by reducing the 80 cm billets formerly used to 40 cm lengths. In principle, the optimum length of billets should be studied for each type of furnace. Open-fire furnaces may utilize only 5 percent of the calorific value, and most ovens may not reach more than 25 percent. Introduction of cheap, efficient ovens, and supply of cheap devices for making existing ovens more effective, are believed to represent a wide field for improvement and economy.

Except in the few places in the region where superior fuels are available for cooking and heating, substitutes for fuelwood cannot generally be considered a practical remedy. It is possible that the cowdung now being burnt might relieve Indian provinces of famine threats if it could be used instead on the fields.

Nepalese villagers carrying home fuelwood.

FAO contribution

The Forestry and Timber Utilization Conference for Asia and the Pacific convened by FAO at Mysore 1949, made the following statement: "After soil conservation, the second major problem for many countries is the urgent need for fuelwood and charcoal, and cheap supplies of sawn timber, poles and other building materials. The Conference is agreed that in the deficit countries, immediate steps must be taken to increase the availability of such supplies by all possible means including the establishment of village fuelwood reserves of quick-growing species and the encouragement of small holders to set aside even a small portion of their land for the growing of fuelwood, poles and timber. The urgency of the problem must continually be brought to the notice of governments, because failure to find a solution may have serious repercussions on social life and on agriculture".

This statement was further elaborated in Recommendation IX on domestic needs.

FAO's Forestry Division has on its program several projects which bear on fuelwood problems. Most directly concerned is a joint FAO/ECAFE study on fuelwood for locomotives which is now completed. Although this study deals with a field of consumption which, from a regional point of view, absorbs only a very minor percentage of total fuelwood production, it is an aspect of interest to railway technicians, to certain sides of the national economy and to the general fuelwood problem.

A two months' study tour in Australia on Eucalyptus was carried out by many senior forestry officials from several countries during September-October 1952. While fuelwood supply may not be the main object of introducing Eucalyptus species into several countries, it is of importance in this respect in some parts of the region. A critical review of irrigated plantations in the Punjab says that "for fuel production there is nothing to beat Eucalyptus...", but good results depend on choice of species and methods of sowing and planting.

A six months' training course on mechanical logging opened in the Philippines on 1 October 1952 with an attendance of forty trainees from eleven Far Eastern countries. Here emphasis is chiefly on the timber side, but it should not be overlooked that both availability and price of fuelwood in many consumption centres in the region can be appreciably influenced by improvements in logging and transportation methods.

A number of specialists in various fields of forestry on assignments to Far Eastern countries under FAO's Expanded Technical Assistance Program have had, or will have, to deal with fuelwood problems from different angles. Be it general forest policy, afforestation. management, or logging, at some stage questions relating to fuelwood supply will present themselves and demand solution.

The FAO Regional Office in Bangkok is endeavoring to give technical service in matters pertaining to fuelwood - such as supply or exchange of seeds and cuttings; assistance or initiation of research on fuelwood, charcoal and distillation and collection of information on fuelwood plantations.

Hundreds of millions of people in Southeast Asia are affected by fuel shortage. FAO will do its best to assist the national efforts that are being made and firmly believes that lasting results will be achieved.

Railway sleepers

Compared with regions of higher economic and industrial development, Southeast Asia is heavily deficient in railroads measured by population or area. As the same applies to other means of inland transport, this increases the importance of the existing railroads and their maintenance and extension. In fact, the limitations of the present transport systems represent a bottleneck in the further economic development of the region. This situation is summarized in the table on page 31.

Sleepers

Railroads depend on sleepers (crossties, switch ties, bridge ties) for supporting the rails, transmitting the load on to the roadbed and ensuring the exact gauge. The world total of sleepers in use may be approximately 3,000 millions, of which 95 percent are made of wood. Alternative materials are mainly steel, cast iron and concrete. Steel or iron sleepers are in use to a considerable extent in some countries, for example, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, India, Pakistan and Indochinese countries, while concrete sleepers are most widely used in Italy. It is reported that several thousand patents have been granted for substitutes for the wood sleeper, but none has offered a serious challenge when viewed on a world basis. For individual countries, however, this picture may be different, and this is so for some countries in the Southeast Asian region. Nearly all the sleepers used in Vietnam and Cambodia are steel or iron (Laos has no railroads), and so are 45 percent of those in India and Pakistan. Sleepers in use in the countries listed in the table (minus China) number approximately 200 million made of wood and some 50 million of steel or iron. The percentage of wood sleepers in the region is thus considerably below the world figure. It is interesting to note that in the U.S.A., where weight and speed of locomotives are much in excess of those in the Far East, practically all (99.98 percent) of the sleepers are of wood, whereas some countries in this region with little iron and steel of their own use quite a considerable amount of iron and steel sleepers. many of which are imported.

The superiority of wood as material for sleepers is due, in short, to its resilience, strength, economy, availability, electrical resistance, non-corrosive qualities, sound-absorbing ability, spike-holding capacity and non-electrolytic properties. Its disadvantages are: liability to attack by fungi and insects, and to checking and splitting, combustibility, mechanical wear through actual abrasion and crushing of fibers, and irregular dimensions and surfaces, particularly of hewn sleepers.

Wood sleepers are hewn or sawn, on one, two, or four sides, on one side being the least common and on four sides the most common. Hewn sleepers are often more straight-grained and generally have more sapwood, an advantage for preservation. Sawn sleepers are more uniform in size, which means a saving in transportation and handling, and economy and accuracy in preservation; also rail seats are more easily adzed and bored. In addition, sawing allows for utilization of a considerable percentage of the roundwood which by hewing would be wasted as chips. However, a more decisive factor, at least in these regions, is that forest labor has become much more expensive and is not so easily available as prewar, with the result that hewn sleepers are losing ground. In 1937-38, the production of sleepers in Western Australia was 56 percent hewn and 44 percent sawn. From then on the proportion of hewn sleepers declined continuously, and for 1950/51 the figures are 0.1 percent hewn and 99.9 percent sawn. "The hewer has now practically disappeared from the forests of Western Australia, and there appears to be little possibility of sleeper hewing again being of any consequence in that State". To a more or less pronounced extent, a similar development can be observed in other parts of these regions.

Dimensions of sleepers vary to a considerable extent from country to country according to the various traditional specifications. As an example, broad gauge sleepers in India are 9ft. x 10in. x 5in., meter gauge sleepers are 6ft. x 8in x 4½in., and narrow gauge sleepers are 5ft. x 7in. x 4 ½in. For practical purposes, this gives 10, 20, and 30 sleepers to 1m³ (s) respectively (narrow gauge is not much in use). For conversion. broad and normal gauge sleepers may be taken at a volume of 0.1m³ (s) which would correspond to a log volume of between 0.15 and 0.20 m³ depending on size and quality of logs and on the method of conversion (sawing or hewing, on 4 or 2 sides). In the case of half round sleepers (see below) there is practically no waste in conversion.

Requirements

The number of sleepers per km. track varies in different countries and for different types of railroads between 1,200 and 2,100, and is taken to be 1,500 for the purpose of the estimate in column 4 of Table 1. The present annual requirements as given in column 5 are partly based on various reports and partly estimated. The greater part of the requirements covers annual renewal of worn-out sleepers, and the balance the construction of new lines, repair of war damage etc. The annual renewal is determined by the service life of the sleepers which again depends, apart from preservative treatment, on the species used and on factors such as load and frequency of traffic, climate, attacks by insects or fungi, etc. Naturally durable species like teak, Shorea robusta other durable Shorea species, or Xylia and others are the main species used in India and neighboring countries. Shorea robusta accounts for about 50 percent of all wood sleepers in India and has a service life of 12-16 years: teak gives 25 years; Mesua and Hopea, species used in South India. only 6-7 years. Australia uses various Eucalyptus species of high durability, from 15 upwards to 50 years service (iron-barks, boxes, river red gum, jarrah etc.). Average service life is between 7 and 25 years, which would mean annual renewal of from 4 to 15 percent of the sleepers in the tracks.

Several countries are extending their railway lines. India finished 375 km. in 1950, and Pakistan 102 km; Thailand plans to build 100 km. annually from 1952 onwards, and the Philippines, China and other countries have been carrying out rehabilitation work. This raises the annual requirements for such countries quite considerably.

Total annual requirements for the countries listed in the table (minus China) amount to 1.2 million m³ or, in terms of logs, about 2.2 million m³, 6 percent of the total log production of these countries. Supplying this volume might not seem to present heavy difficulties. However such difficulties do arise in countries possessing nearly 90 percent of the length of railway track in the region.

Each country has its own specifications for sleepers, in official standards (e.g. India, Japan), in grading rules (e. g. Malaya, Philippines), or simply in the conditions of delivery. They set forth the requirements with regard to species, treatment. sizes and size tolerances, sapwood proportion, and all the various types of so-called defects and their tolerances. Sleepers which do not fully meet the specifications are rejected. It is questionable whether most of these specifications are not too exacting and contain stipulations that needlessly impede increased supply, and it is believed in forestry circles that this is the case. The Forestry Conference for Asia and the Pacific convened by FAO at Mysore in 1949 recommended "that... a revision of specifications be undertaken to ensure closer utilization on a more realistic basis; and that, in particular, there be some relaxation of the very exacting railway sleeper specifications existing in some importing countries of the region."

TABLE 1. - RAILWAY TRACKS AND USE OF WOOD SLEEPERS IN COUNTRIES OF THE REGION.

(Figures are partly estimates and are for provisional orientation only)

Country	Length of track in km.	Gauge	Wood Sleepers
			Number in use (million units)	Annual requirement 1000 m3 (s)	Production 1000 m3 (s)	Import(+) or Export(-) 1000 m3 (s)
Pakistan	11600	broad, meter and narrow	9	60	8	?
India	62113	broad, meter and narrow	50	340	284	-
Ceylon	1442	broad	1	12	3	+9
Burma	2738	meter	4	25	?	-
Thailand	3270	meter	5	36	36	-
Indochina	3007	meter	0	0	0	-
Malaya	1438	meter	2	15	15	-
Indonesia	7549	3ft. 6in., meter	11	45	45	-
Br. Borneo	187	meter	0.3	2	2	-
Philippines	1046	3ft. 6in.	1.5	15	?	?
China	47580	normal, 3ft. 6in., meter	?	?	?	?
Korea	3380	normal	5	50	20	?
Japan	23013	3ft. 6in.	35	400	255	-20
Australia	48071	3ft. 6in., normal, 5ft. 3in.	70	240	191	-37
New Zealand	5680	3ft. 6in.	9	30	0	+31

Note: Figures for length of track and information on gauges by ECAFE, Railway Section. Broad gauge is 5 ft. 6 in (in Australia, 5 ft. 3 in.), normal gauge is 4ft 8½in. and narrow gauge 2ft. 6in. (to a small extent also 2ft.). Pakistan has 71 percent broad, 20 Percent meter and 9 percent narrow gauge. In India, 47 percent of the track is broad, 45 percent meter, and 8 percent narrow gauge. In Ceylon, 10 percent of the track is narrow gauge. In Indonesia, Deli Railways in Sumatra have meter gauge, otherwise it is 3 ft. 6 in. China has 88 percent normal, and 12 percent 3 ft. 6 in. and meter gauge. Australia has 47 percent 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, 28 percent normal, and 25 percent 5 ft. 3 in. gauge. For sleeper dimensions see text

Figures for wood sleepers in use are quoted from a report in the case of Australia, and applied to New Zealand: otherwise this is taken to be 1,500 pieces per km. track (see text).

Sleeper production, and exports or imports, are entered as averages over 4 Years (1947-50) for Ceylon, Malaya, Japan and Australia: as averages over 3 of the years (194750) for Borneo and Korea: as averages over 1949 and 1950 for Thailand: and as 1950 production for Pakistan and Indonesia. Production in Indochina and New Zealand was less than 500 m³ (s) in 1950. New Zealand imports are from Australia: Ceylon imports were from North America and have now stopped. The figures for India and Ceylon are based on separate information while the others are taken from the FAO questionnaires. Question marks indicate that no information is available.

The supply position

Practically all railways in the region are state-owned or at least state-controlled; this means that there is a monopoly in the purchase of sleepers. The depletion in the most easily accessible areas of preferred sizes of naturally durable species for sleepers and other purposes has brought about a lowering of the quality and an increase in the price of timber. The present strict sleeper specifications are responsible for the fact that very often the "cream" of the timber, the best grades and also the most durable species, are required for sleepers (in Northern Europe, beech sleepers are cut from the lowest-grade logs, and beech is a non-durable species). The classification in Vietnam places sleepers among the uses for 7 species of "first category" timbers, 1 species of the "second category", and none of the "third category", a classification that is characteristic of the region. The result is that it is increasingly difficult to meet demands. The table shows that annual requirements exceed production in Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia, N. Borneo and the Philippines can meet their requirements, but they represent only little more than 10 percent of the railway network. When wood chunks with tie bars are used in parts of India and Pakistan, this merely indicates scarcity of sleepers. On the other hand, the use of half-round sleepers of teak, and to a lesser extent Shorea robusta as used for many years by certain railways in India, would seem to be a much more positive proposition and might be a highly recommendable system in areas where thinnings of 25-40 cm. diameter trees are available (e. g. Java teak).

In Australia, normal requirements and deferred maintenance from the war years amount to 240,000 m³, while in 1950 production was only 178,000 m³: this situation is considered rather serious. Australia traditionally exports hardwood sleepers to New Zealand (35,000 and 22,000 m³ in 1949 and 1950 respectively) in return for sawn softwood. As New Zealand now finds it more difficult to obtain sufficient supplies, it is hoped that Pinus radiata, which is plentiful in New Zealand, will remedy the situation; experiments with P. radiata sleepers in South Australia have been very satisfactory.

Japan reports an annual consumption of 2.9 million koku (round) or more than 400,000 m³ (s), while production appears to reach only 65 percent of this figure (production has decreased from 442,000 m³ (s) in 1947 to 121,000 m³ (s) in 1950). A number of measures are being taken and a retrenchment program set up, in order to balance the figures for sleepers as well as all other timber products.

The figure for India's annual requirements given in Table 1 presupposes that tracks on steel or iron sleepers will be maintained with the same material, but in the interests of steel economy it is desirable to begin conversion to wood; this would raise requirements correspondingly. The Forest Research Institute has issued a list comprising 36 species of secondary timbers suitable for sleepers. Problems of sizes, specifications and the waste in conversion are being considered. The current scarcity has been created by unrestricted exploitation of the best sleeper-size trees in connection with the strict specifications, and prices are now high. The average price in 1950 for first class sleepers (Shorea robusta) was 18 Rupees for broad gauge and 8.5 Rs. for meter gauge sleepers.

Most important among the ways of meeting the sleeper supply is the prolongation of the service life of sleepers by preservative treatment. The history, technique and effect of sleeper impregnation is known the world over; sleepers were in many cases the reason for the erection of timber impregnation plants. In this region experience has shown that the technique developed in Europe could not simply be taken over but would require considerable adjustment to suit tropical species many of which are refractory to impregnation, and require high pressure treatment (many Eucalyptus species among others). So far, only a few pressure impregnation plants are in operation in the region (apart from Japan), but many are in the planning stage and will enable many species of lower durability to be used for sleepers.

Alleviation of the supply situation cannot be met through imports from overseas because of currency difficulties and the high cost of transportation. During the immediate postwar years, the U.S.A. and Canada exported considerable quantities to China, and smaller quantities to Ceylon, the Philippines and Korea, but this must be considered more as a relief measure than as regular trade. However, these difficulties do not apply to such an extent in intra-regional trade whose prospects of future development are brighter, especially in treated sleepers.

A complete standardization of the specifications would be of high importance for the economic use and improved supply of sleepers. Present requirements for dimensions and quality are the traditional specifications which were established 60 to 80 years ago when forests were abundant and there was no timber supply problem. It is believed that a scientific determination of dimensions as well as of defect tolerances would improve economy and increase supply from domestic forests or from those of neighboring countries. Sleeper standards for the region or for geographical groups of countries within the region would considerably facilitate intra-regional sleeper trade which is at present hardly existent (except between Australia and New Zealand).

This standardization would constitute a useful starting point of attack, and the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission at its recent meeting in Singapore, felt that, if there were no standardization and no lowering of specifications, supply was going to be difficult in the future, even though exports were to become available from new areas such as New Guinea. (It was considered desirable that FAO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East together should endeavor to secure a revision of specifications and a degree of standardization in the region).

The Commission recommended wider use of impregnated non-durable hardwoods which were at present in little demand. Many of these timbers could be safely shipped untreated, to avoid the extra costs of dirty cargoes, and be impregnated in the user countries.