Since the beginning of this year, affected by the international epidemic, many materials such as wood, sponge, chemical coating materials, iron, and even cartons have been limited by the continuous price increase. The prices of some raw materials have even doubled, and the products that consumers have received have experienced price increases to varying degrees, and the entire industry chain has suffered from price increases.

In particular, materials such as logs and solid wood have always been imported products that my country has relied on. However, with the continuous adjustment of policies, import and export timber prices and freight costs have continued to rise, putting great pressure on the domestic manufacturing industry.

Under such circumstances, the domestic woodworking, furniture, and flooring companies must be the first to bear the brunt. Industry insiders estimate that the price of some wood products will increase by 30% or even double when they reach the consumer terminal in order to maintain the original operating profit of the company.

The demand gap is large, and the wood raw materials are in urgent need

With the advancement of my country's environmental protection strategy, my country's timber output has been showing a downward trend. According to the data collected by Sohu Focus Home, the wood output in 2013 was 8.385 million cubic meters, and it is estimated that by 2023, my country's wood output will drop to 58.598 million square meters.

According to statistics in 2016, the consumption of other timber in my country's infrastructure, decoration, and farmers' housing construction is about 8 million cubic meters, accounting for about 1.31% of the country's timber consumption, and the rest is industrial timber consumption.

In the industrial wood consumption, the paper industry accounts for the largest proportion, accounting for more than 60%; the rest of wood-based panels, solid wood flooring and wooden furniture manufacturing also belong to industrial wood consumption, which requires about 207.2 million cubic meters each year, accounting for about 34.45% .

With the development of the industry, the timber market demand will continue to grow. According to forecasts, by 2020, my country's timber demand will reach 800 million cubic meters, with a gap of about 200 million cubic meters. The gap accounts for about 25% of the overall demand. It can be said that the paper industry and the home furnishing industry are very dependent on the import of wood raw materials.

However, according to statistics in the first half of 2020, the volume of imported logs + sawn timber (raw timber volume) was 47,827,600 cubic meters, a year-on-year decrease of 15.1%; the import value was US$7.218 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 24.3%, and the average unit price was US$151 per cubic meter, down 10.9%.

Timber imports from Africa, Latin America, and the United States all fell by about 30%, and Canada, the fastest-decreasing one, fell by 46%. Under such circumstances, home furnishing companies, especially board and floor companies, have been under considerable pressure in terms of materials.

Frequent price increases of raw materials

In addition to the import problem, there will also be price increases. According to understanding, since this year, the price of solid wood has increased 2 times, the price of sponges has increased 7 times, the price of cartons have increased 5 times, the price of iron has increased 3 times, and the price of accessories have increased 2 times. The price of leather has risen by more than 70%, and the price of leather has followed one after another. In September, a wave of price increases of raw materials was staged again.

Nearly 80% of the wood used in the home furnishing industry is imported. Currently affected by the epidemic, major foreign ports are closed; coupled with the impact of rising domestic costs, supply gaps, environmental storms, etc., since September, wood prices have been continuous and comprehensive. rise.

According to industry analysis, as far as the current global economic situation is concerned, if the inventory is exhausted, it will become more and more difficult to import wood from Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, the United States and other places, and the cost will become higher and higher. Costs, logistics, and other costs are superimposed, and it is expected that wood products will increase by more than 30%, and may even double.

In particular, the domestic manufacturing industry is in the status quo of "two ends, large imports and large exports". The production and processing links with the highest added value are also affected by the epidemic and labor cost growth. According to Sohu Focus Home, many board and flooring companies plant woodland at home and abroad to obtain quality and stable supply of wood.

Other furniture companies also often go to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries to set up factories in order to improve their overseas layout, which also adds to the test of corporate operating costs and layout.

Under the double dilemma, how can the floor material companies make efforts?

The import gap is large and the price of raw materials rises frequently. Facing these two high cost mountains, what are the countermeasures for the ground material companies? According to Sohu Focus Home Watch, since the beginning of this year, the domestic demand for healthy consumption has been rising. The home furnishing industry has aimed at the health outlet and launched high value-added products, such as products made of aldehyde-free sheets, or younger ones with a sense of design. product.

Aldehyde-free is the upgrade demand of consumers for high-quality consumption, and the design is an upgrade in the aesthetic sense and is the most easily perceivable by consumers. Both of these two major upgrade directions have brought new impetus to the improvement of flooring companies.

On the other hand, the state is vigorously advocating the environmental protection and technological advancement of enterprises, especially in view of the status quo that the import of wood raw materials is "two ends, large imports and large exports", enterprises cannot abandon the most valuable production and processing links.

Therefore, in-depth research in the manufacturing process and more research and development efforts to produce and process new products are the roads for major companies to break the game. According to Sohu Focus Home, the current direction of corporate innovation is mainly concentrated in several aspects:

First, research and develop environmentally friendly glue to improve the environmental protection coefficient of floor materials. For example, the soybean gum developed by Moganshan uses vegetable gum technology to replace traditional aldehyde-containing glue. There are also coating companies such as Sankeshu that cross-border, and its subsidiary Komori Kechuang Natural Board is also focusing on more environmentally friendly adhesives, greatly improving the environmental attributes of products.

Second, research on scientific and technological veneer products to upgrade the appearance of products in a more environmentally friendly way. For example, Tubao Technology veneer uses exclusive physical and chemical modification technology to realize the performance and value of ordinary fast-growing raw materials. It can not only solve the defects of natural wood knots, cracks, worm eyes, color difference, mildew, dead knots, etc.; in terms of length and width, The size span is larger, more flexible, and more valuable to designers.

Third, cultivating categories and building brand moats. For example, solid wood floor heating and wood flooring, there are many companies in the market, such as Anxin Flooring, Jiusheng Flooring and so on. According to Sohu Focus Home, the nano-silicon technology developed by Anxin Flooring can strengthen the stability of solid wood flooring and solve problems such as deformation and cracking.

Fourth, develop new products such as non-slip flooring and sports flooring in response to the needs of different groups of people. Especially the floors used in public places such as gymnasiums and hospitals require special properties, not only non-slip, wear-resistant, and corrosion-resistant, but also good elasticity.

At present, about 20% of the domestic sports flooring market comes from imports, but imported products do not necessarily represent high-quality, and in the field of sports flooring, the sports characteristics of basketball wood flooring are also questioned by the industry.

These wood floors for different scenarios and different needs are all directions that companies can study in depth, and they are also the source of differentiated development routes for many floor materials companies.