Edge Glued Wood Panel Technology and an Assessment on the Development of Edge Glued Wood Panel Industry

In this research, it is aimed to determine the general situation of edge glued wood panel industry that is rapidly developing in Turkey with the reasons of this development similar to the development edge glued wood panel industry in the world. Besides, starting from its definition, there are information about edge glued wood panel, comparison with other panel products and technology preferences of production. As the result of this study, there are 3 essential reasons of the rapid development of edge glued wood panel industry in Turkey. These are; (1) Environmental health and ecological approaches as a movement of thought having impact on the consumer behaviors and rapidly improving throughout the world, (2) Having less production and investment cost compared to the other wood based material production and investments and (3) In addition to the advantages owned when compared to the other wood based materials, having the production technology involving flexible production systems to respond to every demand level. According to the data related to edge glued wood panel demand and supplies, the production of edge glued wood panels replace to East Europe where there is also Turkey. It is determined that investment and cost of Turkish edge glued wood panel are mainly in Marmara region (43.3%) and raw material (43%) respectively. 67% coniferous and 33% broad leaved tree species are used in Turkish edge glued wood panel production. The most preferred edge glued wood panel thicknesses are 16, 19, 30 and 42 mm. The technological preferences of the manufacturers depend on their machines and production line with optimization systems where as the users’ preferences are price and quality by 90%. It is determined that with its structural condition, the sector is open for investment and development.