The benefits and issues of using wood

Hardwoods are generally sourced from places such as north America, indonesia and africa and shipped to GCC countries to be used as formwork material o
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What benefits can be gained by using wood for construction and what are the issues to consider? Construction Week investigates

Wood has been used in construction projects for centuries. From some of the earliest buildings it has featured prominently as a construction tool, structural material and aesthetic finish. But what part is the material playing in today’s sector, what benefits is this bringing to the contractors and end-users and of what issues should they be aware of?

Wood in construction
In the Middle East today, wood is primarily used for two purposes: as a formwork material during the construction process and to provide the final finish to the interior décor. In other regions of the world it is also used as a structural element, but this is generally an uncommon practice in the Gulf.

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“Building codes and regulations differ from one country to another; the actual structures in the Middle East are almost always done with steel, but in areas such as North America and Europe, timber is used for the actual structure of the homes as opposed to concrete and steel,” reports Madar Holding purchasing vice president Hesham Elabd. “The reasons [for this] are affordability, strength, design flexibility and beauty,” he explains. 

Some buildings in the Middle East do have wood implemented within the structure, including high-profile projects such as the Jumeirah Beach Resort in Dubai and Sharjah’s Sahara Mall, but these remain largely as exceptions to the norm.

“[The use of wood products] remains mostly for aesthetics and to fit the general theme chosen by the architect or designers,” states Mohiudeen Wood business development manager Gerard de Rozario. “Wood here is normally used for formwork, in the form of plywood or softwood – large volumes of softwood [are sold] for formwork and temporary scaffolding. This [market] is always huge because of the large number of projects underway here,” he adds.

With forests not featuring greatly in the natural landscape of the Gulf, the majority of wood used for the construction industry must be imported, which raises issues of availability, cost and transportation. However, the region’s location does ease the potential problem of availability.

“In general, most materials are abundantly available in this part of the world,” assures TIC managing director Jitendra Bhatia. “Dubai has fantastic infrastructure that enables quick transportation and dissemination of imports/re-exports and a very active trading community, both locally and within the GCC, so there are never really any shortages of most materials, bar the occasional period of unusually high demand such as the situation we faced for most of 2007-2008,” he adds.

This high demand from the region’s construction projects helps to ensure that supplies are more readily available than they may be otherwise.

“The downturn in global demand has only made us more aware of the fact that the attention of the world is focused on the GCC markets. Since these are the only markets where a lot of construction activity is still progressing, we are never short of new sources,” states Bhatia.

Indonesian-based tropical hardwood and plywood manufacturer Korindo, ships to all ports in the GCC region on a monthly basis in order to meet client needs. “[Korindo] charters its own vessel at the end of every month due to the high volume of orders from their GCC customers,” Bhatia adds.

The sources of wood vary according to the type, with supplies being offered from countries worldwide. “Plywood is typically sourced from Indonesia, China and Brazil; softwood timber from Chile, Austria, New Zealand and Romania; and hardwoods from Africa, North America and Indonesia to name but a few [sources],” reports Bhatia.