DefinePK

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intro: Pakistan suffers a considerable shortage of wood and wood products. The majority of the timber consumed goes into firewood (an estimated 16.6 million m3 per year). Of the registered annual consumption of 2.033 million m3 timber and timber products about 50% is imported. In some fields of timber utilization chipboard can be of help to ease the pressure on local timber resources and foreign exchange of imports especially in furniture and interior wood works. Logically already as early as in the sixties the first chipboard mills started operation. Raw materials were mainly coniferous timbers acquired from the Forest Departments or broad leaved trees (Mango etc.) acquired from the private owners. The first mills were located for away from the raw material sources (in Jhelum and in Karachi). In early seventies, chipboard mills started to shift from wood to bagass as source of raw material.