2023 TigerPLY™ Catalog

For our 2023 TigerPLY™ Catalog cover, we have chosen an image taken at Clear Lake, Oregon, with one of SFI's Board Members, Ron Loe rowing our recently commissioned Duck Trap Wherry, a 16' rowboat hand built by Walter Barron, of Old Wharf Dory Co, Cape Cod Massachusetts. Utilizing TigerPLY™ Lloyds Registry certified BS1088, Marine Grade Okoume Plywood for its construction.

In this year's Catalog, we showcase this moment to focus on our efforts in AFRICA.

Like in Africa, all locations that produce TigerPLY™ have been meticulously chosen for their proximity and integration with the world's most productive forestry. These partnerships with the adjacency to these facilities and resources have set new standards in efficiency, enabling us to raise the benchmark again with the industry's highest quality plywood. There is no better example than the quality exampled in the culmination of old-world craftsmanship and the world's finest plywood.

From the dawn of civilization, man has utilized wood, from the mastery re an estimated 120K-700K years ago, to the construction of shelter, tools, and vessels to explore the distant shores, to musical instruments that lifted

before the development of metal tools. As time progressed, cultures around the world learned how to convert wood to charcoal, allowing the smelting of copper, bronze, iron, and even some steel. Elsewhere, the Austronesian expansion piloted wooden boats as they established the vast maritime trading networks that would, in time, become known as the Maritime Jade Road and

recently, mankind showed little concern for preserving wood as a resource, despite its role in every aspect of life. Over the last 300 years, factors such as the Industrial Revolution, the Technological Revolution, and major advances in medicine, agriculture, and transport led to an exponential population increase. This in turn, has resulted in a drain on Earth’s most precious resources. The future costs of over-harvesting and teering were largely overlooked until well into the twentieth century.

with legitimate questions; How does a modern wood rm operate in the 21st century, in a globalized and growing world that is experiencing an ever-increasing demand for natural resources?

Shelter Forest International has a simple answer. Environmental stewardship is built into our core, and we continue our commitment to sourcing top-quality materials while concurrently protecting their sources for the next generation. Sustainable practices in light of a growing global consciousness are imperative for a modern-day strategy, while our exceptional products demonstrate our commitment to our channel partners.

Wood has been a harbinger of progress, a refuge during hardship, and has sustained life itself. Wood and its many uses are integral to mankind’s journey, and Shelter Forest International would like to invite you to join us on our part of that journey. In the following pages, we will observe the processes that take Tigerply from humble seed all the way through to being the material of choice for the world’s master craftsmen.

Let’s begin on the continent where man may have originated: Africa.

We invite you to join us on our journey through the story told in the following pages, from meeting the master craftsmen who are experiencing new heights of TigerPly® quality using our Africamade plywood products, to learning how we operate with a focus on proper environmental stewardship. 2000-2009

SFI partners establish over one million acres of Okoume concessions in Gabon

Gabon enacts log ban to promote incountry secondary and tertiary product development

SFI makes extensive trips to Gabon to audit the fiber source, analyze concession agreements, work with U.S. Embassy personnel meet with regional NGOs

StarPly Gabon partnership is formed. With modern plywood manufacturing facility built in Libreville.

SFI’s marine grade plywood obtains rigorous BS-1088 certification from Lloyds Registry.

All Gabon concessions to be FSC certified.

SFI surpasses 5000m3 monthly production of Okoume Plywood in Gabon

“Made in Africa”

Beginning in 2017, Shelter Forest International embarked on its most ambitious project to date, establishing a base of operations in West Africa in order to manufacture marine grade plywood to the world’s most exacting standards.

Despite long, arduous treks through the Gabonese jungles, the daunting road systems, and lack of infrastructure in the interior, the mill we helped retrofit in Makokou province got off to a swift start. As the mill’s location is adjacent to several concessions, SFI was certain that this close proximity would lend itself to utilizing the Okoume veneer prized throughout the world. Managing the jigsaw puzzle of logistics and raw materials to the mill was worth the effort.

After several years of hard work, much of which was prolonged due to the pandemic, we are proud to offer our Lloyd’s Register Certified BS-1088 TigerPly® Marine Grade Plywood.

Our setup allows us the opportunity to manufacture high-end plywood at maximum efficiency, but we also prioritized making a positive impact on the local community. In cooperation with village elders, we built a plan that would assist the village’s population. Our development helps provide water and electricity to the village and employment for its residents and ongoing communication maintains the health of our relationship and the community.

Expanding Partnerships

The StarPly Gabon partnership, formed in 2019, has obtained CARB/EPA documentation and is CE2+ and KOMO certified. StarPly now has exclusive distribution deals with some of the biggest names in Europe, the UK, South Africa and Israel. Our joint efforts of product development for the North American market affords an array of products, from industrial, lamination and jumbo panels to underlayment and specialized niche offerings. Without exception, this is the most state-of-the-art plywood manufacturing facility on the continent.

In late 2020, and in the middle of the pandemic, another long-standing Asian partner worked with us to plan the opening of yet another mill within the year, where our plan will be to focus on thin-panel production. The size and diameter of Okoume logs is ideal for thinner panels and we are confident the ones we will be introducing to the market in 2022 will meet the most exacting industry standards. And with their singular composition characteristics—whole piece cores, uniform species—they will be unparalleled in the marketplace.

Environmental Stewardship, Sustainability & Forest Management

Over the past several years, we have witnessed numerous infrastructure projects, continuous job creation, and further industrial developments in the forestry sector. These positive economic developments on the forestry front are occurring alongside parallel efforts of environmental and ecological conservation to ensure Gabon’s precious natural resource will be protected for generations to come.

SFI has worked diligently in conjunction with government authorities, NGOs, and responsible stakeholders to not only improve sustainability measures within Gabon, but also to boost the country’s global reputation.

Harvesting within the country’s concessions is a very comprehensive process. Concession holders must submit detailed 25-year forest management plans accompanied by five-year harvest plans. Each study must take into account the ecological impact of harvesting and entails a

rigorous study of the villages, hunting areas, bodies of water, heritage and tribal sites and the buffer zones necessary to support them.

Most importantly, the required 25-year plan guarantees that there will always be more growth in Gabon’s forest than will ever be harvested. This is one of the most productive and best managed forests we have seen in our travels.

SFI strives to operate under the ideal that sustainable forest management is both ethically responsible and a twenty-first century business imperative, and we are pleased that a growing percentage of our client base is engaging in these matters and pushing back against importers who may have questionable practices.

Gabon’s vibrant country’s forests are being managed sustainably for future generations. Secondary wood-product manufacturing has positive socioeconomic impacts and people. And companies such as SFI can and do take a much broader view – one that is not strictly focused on a dollar-denominated bottom line but instead seeks to preserve resources, develop partnerships focused on sustainable production, and support local communities—all without sacrificing quality.

Okoume - Marine & Industrial

Plywood

With SFIs has mass efforts to develop, nurture, and build a robust product offering out of Gabon. In 2018 we introduced an all-new TigerPly® Marine Grade Plywood to the North American market. This product has been enthusiastically welcomed by distributors and master craftsmen such as Walter Baron of Old Wharf Dory Co. who have enjoyed working with the whole piece, highly stable and lightweight Okoume.

Walter Baron of Old Wharf Dory Co.

Duck Trap Wherry, under construction with TigerPly™ Marine Grade Okoume Plywood

Shelter Forest International Production Facilities

Developing revolutionary products often requires abandoning standard industry practices and starting from scratch. Shelter Forest International’s management team has spent the last decade designing and engineering the processes to build the worlds finest plywood.

SFI’s management team has been researching and developing the newest, most advanced equipment to manufacture TigerPly. Utilizing the newest technology in core composition along with heavy-duty hot presses and calibrated sanding, TigerPly has set new industry standards

Shelter Forest International introduced TigerPLY™ EDGE in 2015 as one of our flagship panels and an alternative to Russian Birch. We built a new mill in Rizhao from the ground up to produce this highly engineered panel with the highest grade of sustainable plantation poplar. We pair this high performance core with sustainable Auracaria Face veneers. EDGE represents a unique blend of beauty and performance. Perfect for drawer sides & applications requiring technical machining.

Available in Thickness of: 4’x8’Panel Weight in lbs. # of plys

6mm x 4’ x 8’ 24 7 9mm x 4’ x 8’ 36 9 12mm x 4’ x 8’ 49 11

15mm x 4’ x 8’ 56 13

18mm x 4’ x 8’ 72 15 25mm x 4’ x 8’ 94 21

Auracaria: Face Veneer

Auracaria, also known as “Hoop Pine” was carefully chosen as the face veneer for EDGE due to its sustainable origins, along with its unique characteristics that closely emulate a White Maple or Birch.

For more information on this Architectural inspired panel see the following links: https://vimeo.com/278146153/30110a27fc https://vimeo.com/204627724

Araucaria (Hoop Pine)

AUSTRALIA

A prominent feature of Queensland and the Brisbane suburban skyline, Araucaria is known locally as Hoop Pine due to the unique hoops of bark that grow on the trunk. Interestingly, this timber resource was the first exported product of the 19th century settlements in the area.

Our recent travels throughout the Araucaria plantations and forests of Queensland highlighted efficient logging operations coupled with the mentioned forest management practices. Afore, Our partnership with Hancock Queensland Plantation (HQP) to introduce this species to the Global market highlights another success story of SFI’s vertically integrated global supply chains.

As with any project of this scale many obstacles had to be overcome. Joint efforts between SFI and HQP’s on-the-ground operations team as well as the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries helped eliminate many of the barriers encountered in our initial trial period and, over time, have yielded outstanding results which we’ve been proud to share with some of our select customers.

BRAZIL

Brazilian Elliottis Pine:

60 Years of Plantation Management

The dissemination of forest plantations with the Pine genus in southern Brazil was initially under local government incentives, which implied the granting of resources to specific areas with less productive potential.

Pine silviculture in southern Brazil was a process instituted by the country’s development strategy in the 60s and 70s. The plantation forests support a production chain that is fundamental to the Brazilian economy. Although some species of the Pine genus are considered invasive exotics, they contribute environmentally, socially, and economically to the development of Brazil's southern region, given the characteristics of the planting and management process coupled with the production of a sustainable, renewable resource.

In fact, sustainable forest management supported by technological and genetic development is one of the Brazilian sector's global competitiveness pillars to ensure the country's notable ranking among the top pulp, plywood, and paper producers worldwide. The use and application of Pine wood over the past three decades have grown substantially, forming a fundamental component of a booming sector of the Brazilian economy.

One of the main species of Pine planted in southern Brazil that SFI has included in the 2022 Catalog is Elliottis Pine due to its excellent adaptability to South Brazilian conditions. The Elliottis pine panels have proven to be a solid performer for our line of Structural and Industrial panels.

CHINA

Poplar

TigerPLY™ continues to secure plantation Poplar as one of our long-term sustainable resources. One of those resources is the ShenSen Forestry Development Company.

It’s probably no accident that change is embedded in the word challenge. Growth is clearly among the most challenging changes in this or any era. As the population increases, demands rise and industry is constantly retooling to meet the needs of its customers. Along the way we cannot forget the frailty of our resources. We remember that the environment is losing its ability to support and sustain the growing global population, in no small part due to the very needs that this population requires.

Sometimes it seems like there is no solution, and sometimes, a heart-warming story emerges that restores our faith in mankind.

In the development of our TigerPLY family of products we were presented with an opportunity to join a visionary environmental initiative, and we're honored to participate.

TigerPLY’s supply partnership with one of the Original United Nations (UN) Plantation projects in Shandong Province, Northern China. This plantation is one of the key sources of fiber for the production of many of the plywood products we supply to our clientele – some of whom are the leaders in big box retail and others who are major suppliers to the cabinet and furniture industries.

The UN Steps In at Shandong

More than 40 years ago, the UN undertook a plantation project in the Shandong region to achieve stabilization of the shifting sand dunes to bring normalcy to the region. The positive impact has been immense.

Today, three decades later, the area has a thriving economy. The plantation started by the UN is now FSC certified – a certification that did not even exist when the first trees were planted. The plantation conforms to silvicultural best practices, acknowledged and respected as a model project throughout the world.

A half century ago, the Shandong province faced a bleak future. In fact its very survival was unclear due to the natural calamity it was being subjected to. The UN Plantation Project changed all of that. That is the kind of change we can all embrace. A challenge well met.

By associating with this Plantation today as our supply chain partner, TigerPLY is proud to take this environmental success story forward.

INDONESIA

TigerPLY™ Decorative Hardwood Plywood

SFI’s work throughout the Indonesian archipelago has yielded some of our most important product developments over the previous year. We have partnered with several major manufacturing entities to bring the quality, reliability and product versatility of birch our customers have grown to expect with the TigerPly® logo. We are in the final stages of a major new manufacturing facility that will come online in September of 2023. Our birch line of products for 2023 will include our new and improved RX® panel, combining the lightweight characteristics of Falcata with the strength of Rubberwood. We will continue to offer a TigerLite® panel for a vast array of lightweight applications.

Shelter Forest has been extraordinarily cautious throughout the archipelago due to recent reports of illegal logging practice and poor environmental practices. What we have found with our species studies is a number of new species abundantly forested in plantations, preforming quite well with crop rotations of 7-15 years.

These species of Falcata (Albizia), Jabon (Anthocephalus Cadamba) & Rubberwood(Hevea Brasiliensis) can transform Indonesia’s decades old practice of old growth Luan harvest to a much more suitable plantation management fiber source.

Although this new plantation grown resource does not lend it self the Indonesia’s traditional production of thin panels, It will be an ideal core material for 5.2-18mm panels.

18mm B-2 PS Red Oak on TigerLITE™ Core

NEW ZEALAND

Radiata Pine

The Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) seed was first introduced in New Zealand as a trial in the 1850’s being imported from California as a replacement for the slower growing native Kauri Pine. The Monterey Pine proved to be an excellent solution for widespread planting. Its ability to not only grow but thrive in a variety of hostile soil types made it ideal for New Zealand’s diverse climate. Under these conditions the Monterey Pine was shown to reach maturity in 28 years, 7 times faster than in its native state of California and 20 times faster than in Canada.

By the first New Zealand forestry boom of the 1920’s the Monterey Pine had been deemed the species of choice. By the 1930’s relief workers had planted this tree of choice on vast amounts of land, creating the largest plantation forest in the world reaching 188k hectares. Today, various plantation forests can be found in all regions of New Zealand. New Zealand is home to 1.8 million hectares of plantation grown trees (largest in the southern hemisphere), of which 89% are Monterey Pine commonly known as Radiata or “NZ Pine”. NZ Pine is widely sought after due to its high performance and the quality of fiber it yields. This sustainably grown resource provides a balance of strength, weight, and fastening that can be manufactured with consistent quality.

SFI has sourced New Zealand Pine since 2010. The stewardship of this resource is the gold standard in sustainable forest management, utilizing scientifically scheduled pruning and extraordinarily gentle log handling throughout the harvest cycle.

VIETNAM

Acacia

In recent years Vietnam has become a powerhouse in the production of commodity veneer core panels. With an explosive growth in capacity, Vietnam is quickly gaining notice from the US Market for low cost panels produced from an abundant supply of fast growing Acacia Hardwood.

Although SFI’s focus has never been tied to the commodity market, we will always strive to offer our customers reliable products in the most competitive markets.

SFI maintains a smaller partnership with a family run plywood mill in Vietnam that focuses on our TigerLINE panels.

UNITED STATES

Cherry, Maple, Red Oak, Walnut

North American Hardwoods have been prized for generations for their warmth and beauty for interior and architectural decoration of furniture and cabinetry. In the 20th century the designers and architects around the world chose species such a Cherry, Maple, Red Oak & Walnut, all of which are unique and abundant in the upper Midwest and New England.

Due to the popularity of these species by some of the top architects we have chosen to use these North American species in our TigerPLY™ Architectural panel catalog. When the beauty of these veneers are paired with the bench mark performance of TigerPLY™ hardwood cores, you have an unmatched blend of strength and beauty.

All the logs harvested in North America for the TigerPLY™ Architectural panels are done with strict forest management in a selective harvest. These selective harvest practices guarantee a sustainability in silviculture which will be supplying quality veneers for generations to come

Small foot print - Due to the process of pealing logs for veneers to be used in the production in plywood, only a small number of the highest quality logs are required to produce many projects, there by conserving these magnificent forests for generations.

Red Oak

Walnut

White Maple

Cherry

Marine Grade

Our Marine Grade is our highest quality panel with 100% Okoume veneer, waterproof resin, 11ply w/ 1.3mm face thickness built for the most demanding marine applications.

EDGE

Architecturally Inspired, Our performing panel. 15ply with high compression plantation grown Poplar, with

Gabon, Africa - 55lbs China- 75lbs

Engineered for performance

Our RX Core is engineered with the best of our TigerLITE™, with Rubberwood crossbands for an exceptionally balanced and

Indonesia - 62lbs

GLUE TYPES

ANSI ( American National Standards Institute ) categorized glues/ resins into two

Type I - A waterproof resin engineered for exterior applications. Able to withstand the more extreme conditions exterior panels are exposed to while maintaining their structural integrity.

Type II - A water resistant resin engineered for interior applications. Must be able to withstand exposure to normal ranges of humidity that can be expected in indoor environments.

TIGERPLY™ GLUE OPTIONS

TYPE CARB2/ TSCA TITLE IV CERTIFIED

Phenolic I Yes

DESCRIPTION

Exterior grade, high elasticity, with high bonding strength in extreme conditions, dark/black glue line. High rated MOE.

Melamine I Yes

Marine grade waterproof resin with high bonding strength and a clear glue line. High rated MOR.

E-Zero II Yes

Good bonding strength, designed for interior applications with a clear glue line.

E-Zero - Melamine Fortified II Yes

Water resistant resin with great bonding strength and a clear glue line.

PLYWOOD CATEGORIES

Industrial Plywood

Key resource for industrial and commercial industries

High performance panels to meet the demands of advanced machinery such as high-speed CNC Routers

Requires a global supply chain as the hardwood fiber needed for a consistent core is found outside of the U.S.

Uses: HPL (high pressure lamination)

Paint and Industrial finishes

RV manufacturing

Furniture & cabinet components Marine

Structural Plywood

Typically produced in highspeed facilities and composed of softwood veneers and waterproof (exterior phenolic) resins

Lower grade veneers

Produced domestically and also imported

Uses: Construction Agriculture Packaging

Decorative Plywood

Fancy hardwood veneers such as Red Oak, Maple, Cherry, Walnut, etc.

Produced domestically and also imported

Uses: High-end furniture Cabinets

Architectural components

TigerLINE

TigerLINE features a White Thermally Fused Melamine (TFM), offering a smooth uniform finish.

Produced with extreme heat and pressure to thermally fuse resin-impregnated decor paper to the front and back of an engineered TigerPLY™ core composed of plantation hardwood veneers.

For many years Melamine has been a favorite amongst cabinet and furniture manufacturers due to its durability and easy-to-clean nature. Another t is that TigerLINE's Melamine finish eliminates the need for sanding, finishing, or painting, saving time and money during application.

nish provides a clean, aesthetically pleasing design to any room, but that's not the only thing that makes TigerLINE a kitchen favorite.

TigerLINE's tough exterior coating makes it resistant to conditions found in most kitchens, such as heat, moisture, scratches, and stains. Ensuring you can enjoy your cabinetry for many years.

CONVERSION CHART

2.7 3.4 5.2 12 15 18 MM 3 3.2 3.6 5 6 8 9 11.1 17.1 17.5 21 22 1/2” 1/4” 3/4”

MM DECIMAL

MM 0.0” Current Standard Production Sizes Custom Production Sizes

1/32 1/16 1/8 1/4 1/2

0.8 0.03125 1/32 1.6 0.0625 2/32 1/16 2.4 0.09375 3/32 3.2 0.125 4/32 2/16 1/8 4 0.15625 5/32 4.8 0.1875 6/32 3/16 5.6 0.21875 7/32