OSB Adhesive Market...I made a mistake when I posted the following,
"
As the presentation posted by TheRock07 stated, in the North America market alone, Phenol use in the production of phenol-formaldehyde resins is 12 Billion lbs or 6 million tonnes per year, and it's projected that phenol as a commodity will continue to be very tight possibly leading to higher future prices."
True the overall market for Phenol in NA is 12 billion lbs annually, but the amount used in OSB (Oriented Strand Board) which is the market being targetted by LEC's product HP-L Lignin adhesive is approximately 1.5 billion lbs annually or about 750k tonnes per year.
At $1500 per tonne that's a potential market of just over $1 billion of phenol formaldehyde use in OSB in NA.
Phenol is also used in the production of plastic, which I don't believe that LEC is targetting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
The above figures were derived from the following website:
https://www.soynewuses.org/downloads/reports/final_WoodAdhesivesMarketOpportunity.pdf
Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
OSB is a performance rated wood composite panel manufactured using wood chips or
strands with an adhesive binder. The strands are layered and oriented at right angles to
develop maximum stability and strength. The strands and binder are bonded together
in a hot press under both heat and pressure.
TABLE 8
OSB History & Forecast
OSB
(U.S. & Canada)
2001 2006 2011 01 – 06
AGR
06 – 11
AGR
Soy Potential
Million
Bushels
2011
Production
(Billion sq. ft. 3/8”
basis)
21.5 26.5 35.7 4.6 6.9
Adhesive (PF, MDI)
(Billion pounds)
0.86 1.04 1.42 4.2 7.3
Soy Adhesive Potential
(Million Bushels) 4.5
OSB is produced using primarily liquid phenol formaldehyde resins at about 40-45%
solids. Small amounts of dry PF resins are also used, as well as isocyanates. The
OSB manufacturers apply resins as received from the manufacturers.
The current formaldehyde free soy-based resins are too high in viscosity for use in
sprayable applications needed for making OSB. Much work is being done to develop
the proper viscosity for this application. The USB is supporting research into this
challenge at Oregon State University which was the original inventor of soy-based
formaldehyde free glues used in interior hardwood plywood. The other challenge is to
develop these soy-based glues at a cost advantage to conventional PF resins as PF
does not emit formaldehyde into the atmosphere in the marketplace, so economics, not
formaldehyde emissions, will be the primary driver for change.