Huntsman launches MDI-based plywood production line with Chinese partners

Dongying, Shandong – Huntsman and Chinese partners have launched a continuous production line for plywood. It uses MDI technology instead of traditional urea-formaldehyde adhesives. The line was officially opened on 4 June.

Huntsman, the State Forestry Planning and Design Institute, and other Chinese organisations developed the plant. The facility is automated, with 60% of its equipment provided by local suppliers. This supply strategy helped to cut costs by 30% compared with a standard plant. Plywood plants in China are currently built with imported components, and use urea-formaldehyde adhesives, Huntsman said.

Local sourcing cut the cost of a 100,000 m³/year production line to less than CNY 200m ($29m). Local plants can reduce labour headcount from 900 to 100.

China produced 180m m³ plywood in 2018, accounting for 60% of the world’s total. It is still a labour-intensive industry, and most of the country’s 5,300 plywood makers use urea-formaldehyde adhesives.

‘This is a 1.0 version for what we’ve developed for the China market,’ said Sophia Liu, Huntsman’s APAC business manager for composite wood products. She was speaking at the opening in Dongying, Shandong. ‘It has great potential for upgrades,’ she added.