Balsa is one of the fastest growing lightweight wood
species which is native to South America. Majority of the balsa wood used in
Asia is commercially harvested from plantations. Due to its fast growth, the
wood density is very low, making balsa the lightest commercial timber
available. Balsa wood is used in many industrial applications such as
aerospace, defense, as renewable energy, marine, rail and road transport
facilities. Few major drivers supporting the growth of balsa wood market in
Asia are the booming wind turbine industries, growing defense activities,
growth in aerospace industry, expanding marine sectors, growing demand of
weight saving composite to increase the efficiency of land transport. The other
properties of balsa wood are strength, versatility, high impact strength, good
sound and thermal insulation, excellent fatigue resistance and a wide operating
temperature range which are added advantages compared to other materials.
According
to the study “Asia Balsa
Wood Industry Situation and Prospects Research report”, balsa wood is used
as a core material in structural sandwich panels, in wind turbine blades to
boats and aircraft. The wood is spongy in texture which makes it light and
soft. Balsa wood is used in making makeshift pens for calligraphy, used in laminates
together with glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass) for making high-quality
balsa surfboards, ship decks, building boats such as pleasure crafts. The
leading vendor in Asia’s balsa wood industry is Sinokiko Balsa Trading Co (China).
It was observed that there is less demand for balsa
wood but will witness a gradual growth over the next few years due to the
increasing demand for lightweight and durable wood in marine, aircraft and wind
energy categories. Asia balsa wood industry is spread across China, Japan,
India, Australia, Korea, Arabia and Rest of Asia. Asia accounts for a largest
market share due to the presence of large number of balsa wood processors,
cheap labour cost and increasing applications. There is a heavy competition
from polymers which are durable and convenient to use, which may restrain the growth
of Asia’s balsa wood market in the next few years.
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