Growing Dependency of Wood Products on Adhesives and Other Chemicals

Over 40 percent of the thermosetting resins consumed in the United States go into wood products of some type. Due to potential worldwide political and economic factors which now have an immediate effect on binders used in U.S. wood products, there is a need to review the current availability and cost of natural gas- and petroleum-derived chemicals, adhesives, and binders. The past and expected future in U.S. production of wood chemicals, adhesives, and binders are reviewed with projections through 1986. The effect of competing markets, such as thermoplastics, for a larger portion of the petrochemical feedstocks for wood products is presented. The effect on the wood industry of a trend toward utilization of valuable petrochemicals as gasoline octane boosters is presented. A cost comparison is made of the thermosetting resins used in the wood industries compared to nonwood industries that consume similar type synthetic resins. Forecasts indicate that the growth of synthetic thermosetting resins used by the forest products industries will rise in the next decade compared to the last decade.

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