SARAWAK-BASED Samling Timber Group has recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Sarawak with Loggo IP Pty Ltd, an Australian developer of competitive engineered wood products (EWP) to leverage the latter’s intellectual property (IP)-patented engineered wood technology.
The latter is renowned for using planted wood species such as Acacia and Eucalyptus for building systems aimed at housing, commercial and government buildings, three-storey walk-ups, shop top housing as well as mid-rise and multi-residential apartments blocks.
“We will work together on a pilot project in Sarawak using Loggo IP’s patented engineered wood technology focused on a burgeoning forest recovery industry to develop small diameter true rounds or peeler cores.” commented Samling Group’s CEO Lawrence Chia who signed the said MOU with Loggo IP’s founder and managing director Pat Thornton.
“As the world shortage of timber hits home, we are convinced Samling, long respected globally for its high standards of sustainable forest management, can develop these cost-competitive systems across Southeast Asia and beyond,” remarked Thornton.
To this, Chia further explained that millions of peeler cores are produced every year as ‘waste’ from plywood production. These were largely used in low-value recovery options such as packaging and as fuel for thermal energy processes.
“However, in a world ‘first’, Loggo has developed and patented three versatile engineered wood products as well as columns with each made from low value forest ‘thinning’ or peeler cores. Two of these beams can use Samling’s ply as a web,” he pointed out.
Added Thornton: “Apart from the financial benefits, Loggo’s low-tech, minimal processing and set-up costs as well as the economic advantage of these low-value plywood by-products is a green and sustainable way to increase returns.”
The Asia-Pacific floor ‘coverings’ market alone is estimated to exceed US$250 bil by 2027. These ‘floor coverings’, tiles, boards, carpet and vinyl, among others should be held up by ‘greener’ timber sub-floor frames as the world turns slowly against the highly GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) pollutant concrete and steel industry.
Under its sustainable forests mandate, Samling currently manages around 1.2 million hectares of forest land and 190,250 hectares of gross plantable forest plantations in Malaysia.
Having been in operations for more than 50 years, Samling is one of Malaysia’s largest timber companies which processes its own logs into sawn wood, plywood and veneers in an integrated, upstream and downstream operation.
The group has obtained forest management certificates for three of its forest management units (FMUs) as well as four licences for planted forests, all under the Malaysian Timber Certification Council’s (MTCC) Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme which is endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
In August 2023, Samling was awarded the prestigious “Most Diversified and Value-Adding Timber Manufacturer” award by the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC). – Oct 20, 2023
