Russia's Baltic birch plywood

By Peter Haley The GF Company Santa Monica. Ca.

THE RUSSIANS are here with BB.

I Baltic birch plywood is making strong inroads to American manufacturers of all types from coast to coast, and with good reason.

While available in this country for several years in small quantities, and used by the Europeans in very large quantities for 50 or 60 years, it has only been since early 1975 that substantial quantities have been arriving on American shores.

But the wait has been worthwhile. This is a quality product designed for use in virtually all industrial woodworking operations, many specialty items, and a multitude of end uses heretofore not yet explored orthought of.

Baltic birch plywood is all birch; every ply solid birch with voids of any type virtually non-existent. Many plies of the same species within one panel make for stability, a must for machining with accuracy and smoothness. For example, 18mm has, count them, 13 plies!

Most common of the grades coming to the U.S. are "B" grade and "BB" grade. The former means that particular face or back veneer is clear grade without defects or patching. "BB" means that particular face or back veneer is sound (no open defects), but allows certain sound defects and wellplaced and accurate patching. From these corhe the two most common combinations of face and back grades of plywood currently being imported. The first is "B/BB" which means a clear face with a sound back. The second is "BB" which means that both the face and back are of "BB" grade (sound). Other grades and combinations are available in smaller quantities.

The glue lines, normally sold in Type II (moisture resistant), have often proven to do the job where Type I exterior glue in other products has been used. However, Baltic birch Type II glue does not claim to meet in all cases the standards of a Type I exterior glue line. Baltic birch is also sold in Type I, but quantities and specifications available to the U.S. are verv limited at this time.

Story at a Glance

Baltic birch plywood, arriving from Russia in ever increasing quantities, is all birch, voids are virtually non-existent . 18mm size has 13 piles prices are competitive and predictable. Standard thicknesses are 3mm (l/8"), 4mm, 5mm, 6mm (l/4'),9mm (3/8") l2mm (112"), l5mm (5/8"), and lSmm (314"). The most common size produced at present is 60" x 60", which is a European standard. Fourfoot widths by 6'17'18' are also available in thicknesses in 3mm increments from 6mm thru l8mm.

Other size combinations available from time to time are based on widths of50",56",58" and 60" bylengthsof 50", 56" and 58". Thicknesses over 18mm are also available on a special order basis. Custom cut-to-size facilities for shipment from Boston are currently available.

With all this, one imagines a highpriced item; prices acceptable only to the high quality and very specialized manufacturers. Such is not the case. Baltic birch plywood is competitive and pricing is stable, thus allowing for volume use and the long-term planning so essential to many industrial accounts.

This is in total contrast to the volatile domestic softwood plywood market and the usual imported hardwood plywoods. Baltic birch pricing competes favorably with lauan and gum plywood, and, in some cases, even with our old friend, fir plywood. And with a core construction which none of them can match.

Prices have held firm for a minimum of six months, and, more often than not in recent years, firm for an entire year. There are not many items like this left.

Allied International, Inc. of Charlestown, Mass. has been the exclusive U.S. importerlagent for this product for almost l0 years. Working closely with Allied, and co-ordinating activity in the Western U.S. on their behalf, is The GF Company of Santa Monica, Ca.

Large and complete inventories are maintained in Boston, Ma., for dispersal by rail and truck to customers. A very large back-up inventory is kept available by Allied in the port of Leningrad, USSR, for immediate shipment. Since early this year, large shipments have also been arriving regularly from Vladivostok/Nakhodka for inventorying in Los Angeles and for direct indent shipments to West coast customers. (See The Merchant Magazine, April, p. 27).

Distribution is normally carried out by selected wholesale/distributors who carry Baltic birch inventories. Replenishment of the wholesale/distributor inventories is made possible by the major inventories in Boston and Los Angeles. This means that what is actually an imported product really is able to carry all the distribution features of a domestic product.

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