Background
Acknowledgements
Outputs
Information and resources
Photo gallery
Background
Currently, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) forestry industry is predominantly a log export orientated industry with around 80% of the log production being sent offshore. For some time, the PNG government has indicated its strong policy preference for much greater conversion and value adding of these logs within PNG in order to achieve desirable economic, community and social benefits. Engineered wood products (EWPs) offer a significant opportunity for increasing downstream processing and value adding in PNG.
EWPs are manufactured composites that provide consistent and reliable building products with improved structural characteristics and allow more efficient use of forest resources. Examples of EWPs include plywood, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), cross laminated timber (CLT), glued-laminated beams (glulam) and multi-laminar wood (MLW). Although a comparatively mature industry in Australia, the development of new EWPs and advancement of manufacturing techniques provides substantial opportunity to significantly enhance the value add to the country's timber sector.
This project represented a new approach to an ACIAR funded forest industry research project. The project team worked more directly with private sector businesses, in both PNG and Australia, to optimise manufacturing processes and develop EWPs, as well as improve the capacity, skills and knowledge within the industry. The project also featured a focus on the development of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in PNG and industry clusters.
Bill Leggate, Forest Products Innovation, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane, Australia
Acknowledgements
The project was financed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) with support from the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA). Project activities were led by the Queensland Government's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) with in-country support from the PNGFA in Port Moresby and the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae. Project activities were implemented in collaboration with another ACIAR project: Enhancing Value Added Wood Processing in Papua New Guinea (led by the University of Melbourne). Both projects were guided by a single Project Steering Committee, which includes the following partner organisations:
- Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia
- Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane, Australia
- Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia, Brisbane, Australia
- Forest Research Institute, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- Pacific Island Projects, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
- PNG Forest Authority, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- PNG Forest Industries Association, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- PNG University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- Timber and Forestry Training College, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Click here for more information about the project's multidisciplinary research team.
Outputs
The project built on the momentum from previous ACIAR research efforts through provision of research, expert technical support and training in the development of more sophisticated wood conversion techniques and prototype wood product design and development. Partners and collaborators included both private and public sector representatives from processors and manufacturers, wood preservation and adhesive suppliers, government institutions and industry associations from Australia and PNG.
Many significant technical outputs were produced by the project, including:
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EWP prototypes and processes developed that have substantial commercial potential – including lightweight balsa cored solid doors, lightweight construction panels, Group 1 fire retardant (FR) rated hoop pine plywood, gluing systems for aluminium overlaid plywood rolling stock for railway carriage floors, finger-jointing connections for PNG hardwood and innovations in I beams manufactured from hoop pine.
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Advanced gluing systems for PNG timbers developed that have already been adopted by at east one industry partner in PNG.
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Potential opportunities for using PNG sawmill waste and offcuts demonstrated as energy generating briquettes and school furniture.
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Comprehensive new technical knowledge and literature developed, including manuals, technical reports, factsheets and a database detailing PNG and Australian species with various wood product utilisation options.
Information and resources
The project communications strategy involved hands-on training, together with broadscale information dissemination activities that link up directly with wood processors, product and component manufacturers, and public sector service providers. The project publications listed below are freely available for viewing and downloading.
Project outline
Project news
Research reports
Balsa squeezing- PPP-Case studies review
- PPP-Current business environment report
- PPP-Final report
- PPP-Finance options report
- PPP-Structures report
Wood processors tool kit
The project produced a set of multi-media resources for the public and private sectors (e.g. fact sheets, guidelines and training videos) to improve the uptake and impact of the project's research outputs. These resources are freely available from the Wood Processors Tool Kit that is hosted on the Resources section of this website. They include:
Databases
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Matching timbers to products (spreadsheet) -
Matching timbers to products (notes)
Factsheets
Manuals
- Best practices for wood gluing in PNG
- Best practices for preserving wood in PNG
- Best practices for handling and storing wood in PNG
- Guidelines for adhesive use and selection in PNG
- School furniture kits for PNG
Reports
Videos
Wood processors news
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Access the Wood Processors Tool Kit on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Access the Wood Processors Videos on YouTube
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Follow the Wood Processors Took Kit on Facebook
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Subscribe to the Wood Processors News Updates and Alerts
Photo gallery
24 April 2018: Project partners attending he fourth joint steering comittee meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
17 April 2018: Industrial design students presenting their first design concepts for PNG school furniture.
20 March 2018: Industrial design students learning about wood properties at Salisbury Research Facility in Brisbane with Julieth Jiap (project engineer).
30 August 2017: Project partners participating in the first gender and social Inclusion (GESI) workshop at the Timber and Forestry Training College (TFTC) in Lae.
29 August 2017: Project partners attending the mid-term review meetings at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
28 August 2017: Project partners attending the third joint steering comittee meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
February 2017: Rod Vella and Bill Leggate commencing project research activities with industry partners in PNG. This included squeezing water from balsa wastewood with Rabaul Metal Industries in ENB Province.
September 2016: Jon Marlow and Bill Leggate visiting industry stakeholders in PNG, and attending the first joint steering committee meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
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Project focus area: Communication, learning and knowledge building (CLKB) Preservation and adhesion