Summary
• Life cycle costs play in modified wood’s favour.
• Once manufacturers and specifiers are won over to modified wood, they become repeat customers.
• Kebony has developed a radiata pine variant.
• Accsys has launched a red alder Accoya.
• xd is a new exterior version of Lignia.

When it comes to modified timber, it seems the price is right. The durability and stability of products like Accoya, Kebony, Lignia, and Keywood and their performance in both exterior and interior applications, have seen them increase sales in what is a fairly conventional industry. And this is despite a unit cost that makes them as expensive as some tropical hardwoods they’re often substituting.

“Because it’s an engineered product, there are extra costs, so the unit price can be greater than the product it’s replacing,” said Pat Burke, group purchasing director, Arnold Laver. “But the persuasion factor for products like Tricoya [modified MDF] is that initial price may be greater, but commercial benefits mean job cost is less.”

International Timber managing director, Tony Miles also says the versatility and durability of modified timber make it an appealing option.

“We’ve found that, although budgets are tighter, people are not necessarily looking for the cheaper option,” he said. “They’re looking for products that offer a quality finish, are environmentally responsible and long lasting. Modified timber covers all of these requirements.”

New products

The modified timber market is also boosted by suppliers expanding their product portfolios. A new Kebony radiata was showcased at Ecobuild, for instance, as an addition to the range of existing maple, pine and beech ranges. It was one response, said marketing director Jan Terje Nielsen, to a “surge in demand from international distributors seeking quality wood products with environmental credentials.

“We’ve also been working on both the speed of production capacity and getting waste down,” he said. “We now feel we’re commercially on full speed ahead.”

Kebony’s recent projects include the new Hackney Picturehouse; the company’s first major UK residential build, 25 Hurst Avenue; London’s Colindale Primary School; Oslo’s Onda restaurant; the architecturally-striking Bexhill beach shelters; and the newly-redeveloped Yarmouth Harbour.

Kebony’s commercial strategy is to have a sole distributor per market, which in the UK is Brooks Bros.

“We believe in giving a distributor the opportunity to build up the market and have good control over what’s going on,” said Mr Nielsen.

Simon Greig, general manager of Brooks Bros, agreed: “We tried other products but the possibility of becoming sole distributor [of Kebony] was of real interest. It was more difficult to begin with as it was the same price as certified tropical hardwoods but as the latter’s price increased so too has the attractiveness of Kebony.”

Sustainability and durability

Mr Greig said most of the Kebony in the UK was going into large projects where people wanted sustainability and durability. “Once they’ve used it – mainly architects – they are happy to use it again. The challenge is to get it to them in the first place, but the appearance is a really strong selling point.”

Other new products are also hitting the market. Accsys Technologies is in the process of launching Accoya alder, the result of several years of R&D, material testing and prototype trials, including doors, windows, flooring, and outdoor furniture.

“Alder’s fine grain and medium tone have made it a sought-after aesthetic for joinery applications such as interior doors, cabinetry, flooring, and mouldings,” said Laura Ladd, marketing manager – UK & Europe, Accsys Technologies. “With the improved durability properties brought by the application of our proprietary acetylation process, alder can now be used for exterior products, including screens, outdoor furniture, windows, and doors.”

Latest Accoya projects, she added, include the Haven in Norfolk, the award winning Moses Bridge in Holland, the egg art installation in Istanbul and the Fingers sculpture in Holland.

In the UK, there are several Accoya stockists, including James Latham and International Timber. The former has been supplying it for 18 months and timber director John May said the company had seen sales increase quite quickly “considering it is a relatively new concept for most customers”.

“Once people start using it and they see the benefits of stability, they come back for more. We are mainly selling to joinery, window and door companies for external use, but we are already exploring new markets in decking and cladding. We are also looking at it for construction usage, so there’s a lot of potential.”

Face laminated components

Meanwhile, International Timber has recently introduced Accoya-faced laminated components for windows and doors.

“It’s a cheaper option, designed to have all of the benefits of Accoya, such as stability and durability, but because the modified timber is only used on the external facing elements it can be sold at a reduced price without compromising on quality or performance,” said Tony Miles.

“There are a number of influencers in the industry responsible for selecting products,” said Arnold Laver’s Pat Burke. “They are all looking to differentiate what they build. The development of modified products like Tricoya and Accoya means there is a much broader choice for influencers. It’s a refreshing opportunity, which helps raise the profile for the industry.”

However, Mr Burke believes there is still a way to go. “What happens with new products is that blue-chip companies tend to be avant-garde and give it a go, but day-to-day contractors pick it up afterwards, with the renovation sector several years after that. We’re a third of the way along this consumer course. It is still quite young in terms of its acceptance cycle.”

Another new product is Lignia xd, a development of Lignia, the modified timber made in New Zealand by Fibre7 using a patented impregnation technology to produce a hard, durable product with consistent, through-dyed colour.

“A number of customers asked us ‘how does Lignia perform outside?’,” said Fibre7’s Paul Duncan. “So we tested the product in outdoor conditions at MPA in Germany and it gained a Durability Class 1, but we found a couple of areas to improve on. So we developed Lignia xd, which has all the benefits of locked-in colour, a defect-free timber, with added ability to cope with outdoor moisture levels. It’s also good as a decorative product that doesn’t need a lacquer.”

First consignment

Fibre7 has also shipped the first consignment of Lignia xd for decking to a German customer, as well as signing an agreement with German building components producer Holz Schiller, which showcased Lignia windows in Nuremberg recently.

xd cladding is also on the radar, with Fibre7 working with a Spanish integrated forest products company.

With the addition of the new range, and Lignia itself now commanding “the lion’s share of the European full-length stave kitchen worktop market”, Mr Duncan believes the future looks promising.

“We’ve only just started in our quest to find customers and the UK takes a lot of convincing to move, but we’re working with a company in Pontefract and see sales picking up very soon,” he said. “Overall, we forecast significant growth over the next 12 months.”