SIC 2493 Reconstituted Wood Products

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• WORKFORCE.
• AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 2493

The reconstituted wood products industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing hardboard, particleboard, insulation board, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), waferboard, oriented strand board (OSB), and other panelized products made from wood chips and particles.

NAICS CODE(S)

321219

Reconstituted Wood Product Manufacturing

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Particleboard is created from wood flakes, shavings, or splinters that are discharged when wood products are processed. The particles are bonded together under pressurized heat using resin and adhesives to make an inexpensive, durable wooden panel. Approximately 80 percent of all particleboard is used to make furniture, cabinets, and doors. A hardboard, or fiberboard, panel is made from wood fibers that are steamed, rubbed apart, and then compacted under pressurized heat. Unlike particleboard, only a small amount of resin or adhesive is used to bond the fibers. Hardboard has a smooth finish and is used primarily for exterior house siding, indoor cabinets, and fixtures.

Commercially useful wood particle panels resulted from the chemical industry's development of high-tech synthetic resins and adhesives, particularly during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The value of reconstituted panel shipments increased steadily during the 1980s and 1990s to an estimated $5.1 billion by 1996. Shipments grew by about 3 percent to nearly $5.3 billion in 1997. After reaching a high of $6.37 billion in 1999, shipments fell to $6.07 in 2000 and to $5.21 in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Although the economic recession in the early 1980s caused industry revenues to drop slightly, improved economic conditions in the 1990s saw a surge in shipments of particleboard and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) from U.S. mills. The Composite Panel Association estimated that U.S. particleboard and MDF shipments increased by 18 and 45 percent to almost 5 billion and 1.4 billion square feet, respectively, from 1993 to 1998. Particleboard shipments from Canadian mills increased by almost 14 percent in 1998 to 1.24 billion square feet.

However, growth in this industry began to slow when the U.S. economy hit the skids. Particleboard shipments declined from $1.37 billion in 2000 to $1.09 billion in...