When we talk about exports of forest products, cellulose is the main product, with around 59%, followed by paper and then various wood products. According to data extracted from the ComexStat portal, of the MDIC (Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services), eucalyptus is the main wood species exported in logs. When it comes to sawn wood, the ranking is led by pine.

Log wood

The sectoral study published by Abimci (Brazilian Association of Mechanically Processed Wood) indicates that the main destination for logs is China. ComexStat data show that in 2022, 2 million cubic meters of eucalyptus were exported, just as it was extracted from the forest, without any processing, which corresponds to 88% of the entire group. Pine logs appear in second place in this segment, with 5%. In third place are teak logs, with 3% of the total.

Lumber

When it comes to sawn lumber, the scenario changes a bit. Pine is the main species exported and its main destination is the United States. ComexStat data show that in 2022 more than 2.8 million cubic meters were exported from Brazil. Then other types of wood, with just over 200,000 m3, and tropical wood, with around 100,000 m3.

Other species such as teak, Ipe, Cedro, Cerejeira, Peroba, and other native species also appear in last year’s report, in smaller volume, representing about 2% of the total of exported sawn wood.

Planted forests

Brazil has 9.93 million hectares of planted forests, according to data from Ibá (Brazilian Tree Industry). Here, exotic trees such as pine, eucalyptus, and teak find a favorable climate for growth, with higher rates than their countries of origin. The sector still has another 6.05 million hectares intact. They are native forest reserves that function as true biodiversity corridors.

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The family business is already in its third generation and began operations sawing native timber in 1939. In the mid-1970s the company began the activity of reforestation with exotic species such as Pinus taeda and elliottii and Eucalyptus, and other native species such as Araucaria and Imbuia. Today it specializes in pure pine plywood and mixed ones with eucalyptus kernels.

Quality of certified plywood

The production process of Madeireira EK is rigorous to meet the most demanding quality standards. It all starts in the wooden yard, where the logs are received, both from the forests themselves, as well as from third-party suppliers. Still, in the yard, the woods are classified according to their thickness and whether they are FSC^® certified, or not.

After the classification, the wood passes through the cookers and then is transformed into very thin sheets, which will later compose the plywood plate. Each sheet is dried in one of the three dryers and goes through the classification process again according to its structure and appearance and, according to its classification, is destined to the most suitable product.

“For example, denser sheets with fewer knots go to structural products. Sheets without any knots, which are plates A and B, go to furniture products, and sheets with more knots go to non-structural products for export, such as packaging materials, for example, “explained Raul.

After this careful selection, the blades go through the application of glue and then go to the press, where effectively the plywood sheets are mounted. Strict classification criteria are applied according to the end use of customers’ products. In some cases, specific certifications are required.

This is the case of plywood exported to the United States, which requires CARB certification, which ensures that the product is free of formaldehyde. Already plywood that will be used in structural products in Europe needs the CE2+ certification.

The certifications of Madeireira EK, are:

CE 2+ (EN 13986, structural): marking that allows free access of loggers to the European market for structural use.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): aimed at segments, such as logging, being a seal that guarantees the commitment of the enterprise with environmental, economic and social issues.

California Atmospheric Resources Board (CARB): aimed at sustainable companies and 100% free of formaldehyde. It is demanded by the US timber exporters.

The right product for the customer’s need

Plywood can be composed of 100% pine wood, 100% eucalyptus wood, or mixed when the core has eucalyptus and external pine. So far you can see that Madeireira EK is focused on the newest in the market, adapting its production to the needs of customers.

Thinking about it, for six months it has been in the market of plasticized plywood. A novelty in the Brazilian market and soon will also be marketed outside the country. The plasticized plywood has a layer of 125g of black plastic on the outer faces of the plate and is used in forms of exposed concrete and to make truck floors.

Special sizes and measures

Madeireira EK’s certified plywood can have different thicknesses and different sizes. The thicknesses start at 5mm and go up to 30mm, depending on their purpose, as we said before.

The great differential of Madeireira EK is in the various possibilities of measures, from traditional to special sizes requested by the market. According to Raul, this ability to meet the needs of customers is mainly due to the presses of different sizes that the company has.

See the main formats served: 2440 x 1600mm; 2440 x 1220mm; 2500 x 1250mm; 2200 x 1600mm; See the main formats served.

Visit Madeireira EK Lumber Company

On the WoodFlow website you can digitally visit the Madeireira EK in two ways. One of them is the video where the CEO of WoodFlow, Gustavo Milazzo interviews the director Raul Kollross and can also take the virtual tour where you can access the main locations of the factory without leaving the place. See below:

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With over 75 years of history, Serraria Liebsch, located in the city of Mirim Doce in Santa Catarina, is an industry that has kept up with the evolution of the Brazilian wood market and is now specialized in sawing pine and eucalyptus. Delivering various assortments of sawn wood, it serves both the domestic market and exports.

Dedicated production

Its production capacity reaches 1,000 m³ of sawn wood per month, and the dimensions vary according to each customer’s needs. In the industry, the entire drying process for pine is carried out in its own drying kiln. With a drying capacity of about 500 m³ per month, the kiln has rigorous temperature control that results in wood of superb quality, therefore meeting the highest international standards.

After leaving the kiln, the woods are classified and packaged according to the final destination, whether it be within Brazil or abroad. With the specialty of sawing pine and eucalyptus, Liebsch’s woods measure from 1m to 2.5m in length, with widths ranging from 7.5cm to 20cm and thicknesses ranging from 1.5cm to 9.5cm.

Eco friendly

Founded in 1946, the sawmill combines production and sustainability. In addition to the 600 hectares where it grows pine and eucalyptus, it maintains a vast preserved area near the factory with several natural and untouched springs.

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Year by year Brazil consolidates itself as one of the main poles of wood producers around the world. This is mainly due to the favorable climatic conditions for the growth of trees such as pine and eucalyptus. There are hundreds of companies and finding the ideal wood supplier for your products can take a long time.

One of the ways to go is to find offices specialized in foreign trade in the country that sell timber products. These offices have the registration data of their partners and mediate the business. But trust is often built with the closest relationship and face-to-face visits. Ideal moments to get to know the factory facilities, the forests, and the quality of the final products.

But this trip has a high cost and the incompatibility of schedule can be a hindrance factor for a good experience. In addition to the language is often different and requires the hiring of interpreters to be able to mediate the conversation.

Importing wood from Brazil

But importing wood from Brazil is much easier. The WoodFlow platform selects and qualifies suppliers of various Brazilian timber products and presents each of them virtually.

Each importing company can, through a quick registration, view the suppliers registered on the WoodFlow platform, make virtual visits to the factories, knowing the main data of each of them. In addition, it is possible to watch a presentation video, where each industry tells its productive capacity and market differentials.

There is also the sector of available offers. In this field, within the platform, suppliers offer their products and each importer can request a quote.

It’s fast, convenient, transparent, and secure! The entire negotiation process is done by the platform and accompanied by experts in international sales of Brazilian wood. The documents and procedures are stored online and can be consulted anytime, from anywhere in the world.

Know the price of wood without leaving the place

With all that has already been said, several barriers are broken with WoodFlow and the purchase process of Brazil is safer and more agile. The WoodFlow team specializes in wood and will be able to provide all the necessary support, as well as assess the quality of the material shipped.

Through the platform, it is possible to request a quote for a product and the team enables the best suppliers in Brazil for each demand.

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In this text, we will talk about the pine plywood classification, which is a softwood. Firstly, to understand better, the process of production of plywood passes by many steps of classification, starting with wood selection, in the woodyard. The second moment is after the lamination of wood, here the veneer with fewer knots goes to a “surface” of plywood. The third classification is after pressing the plywood sheets, where we have the final product that is ready, in this step happens the plywood quality classification.

Pine Plywood common quality grading in Brazil

In the final stages of the production process, the plywood classification follows some criteria that differentiate each product, according to its final application. To have an easier identification, worldwide it used the letters A to D, where A is plywood with better quality and D is lower quality. 

Here in Brazil, we have the PNQM, a national program for wood quality that helps industries to identify the plywood quality grading. This ranking analyzes the plywood surfaces and it uses two letters. The first letter identifies the face, and the second letter the back surface. 

See below what are the differences between each plywood classification:

• “A”:  the highest quality, in “A” veneer we don’t have knots or color variation. It will be more expensive and are usually used in projects that will be visible to the eye. This type of plywood is smooth and easy to paint.
• “B”: In B grade, there is a change in appearance color, wood grain pattern. It will generally have smooth knots, but is free of open knots plugs. It is slightly less smooth than “A” plywood classification.
• “C”: In this plywood quality grading, we have more visible flaws and knots. Use “C” plywood where you need strength, like construction purposes. In C Grade material it is possible to see discolouration, splits, defects and open knots on its surface. This plywood is not recommended to use in places where the appearance is necessary.
• “D”: The letter D, in plywood classification, has large flaws and knots. This is typically the cheapest grade of plywood veneer.

To understand better, see this table below:

Plywood classification table

Examples of applications

With all these criteria of plywood classification, many types of plywood can be formed. And each combination of face or back veneers is ideal for an application: for structural ones, or floor, or furniture… So, what is the ideal match for my purpose? Let’s see some examples of applications and what are the plywood quality grading to anyone:

• Concrete formworks – To make a good form, the plywood needs to be sanded, to guarantee a beautiful finish in appearance concrete. It most commonly uses “BB” plywood classification. 
• Furniture – To destiny a plywood to furniture, before we need to analyze what will be the appearance, if it will be painted or not. For painted furniture, uses “BC” plywood quality grading, and in not painted furniture usually uses “AC” classification.
• Floor decking – the plywood classification to floor or decking is “CC”, because commonly receives a second coverage, and it doesnt request a good plywood appearance, without knots, for example. 
• Wall Sheathing – This plywood could have some knots up to 60 mm in the face and up to 75mm in the back. Because of that, it commonly uses C+C plywood quality grading.
• Packing –  to packing purpose, plywood classification is C+C. Because it needs some structural highness, but the appearance is not important here.

There are many more types of plywood, and you can find the best for your application by talking with a specialist or a producer. Is important to know that many countries produce plywood and each one has a different plywood classification. So, before buying plywood, get some information of local plywood quality grading and you can make the best plan for your project. Here in Brazil, you could find this information on the ABNT site.

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