Plantation and Applications of Eucalyptus in China

Eucalyptus is one of the world’s three fast-growing species; thus  it has become one of the most widely cultivated commercial forests in the southern region China, because of its short investment cycle, high production rate, and good economic returns.

Since the 1980s, eucalyptus has become the pulp and plywood in the timber market. As well as an important source of solid wood, its current output accounts about one-third of the country’s total output of commercial wood. At present, solid wood has become a leader in the market.

Three stages of eucalyptus applications:

(1)  In earlier time 1980s and 1990s, eucalyptus was mainly used as pulp wood, 16 kinks of eucalyptus had chosen as pulp woods, they have the advantages of fast growth, high fiber content, and large biomass.

(2)  In 2002 and 2003, the logs with a diameter of more than 8 cm can be used to make plywood, resulting in the market Most of the eucalyptus trees were sold to plywood factories; the use of wood led to the successful selection of 18 fast-growing, well-rounded and well-rotated varieties, the economic value has increased to 600-800 Yuan (RMB) per ton.

(3) From 2014 up to the present, solid wood has become more and more important on the wooden market. Compared with plywood, the value of solid wood has doubled and the economic benefit has reached around 2,000 Yuan (RMB) per cubic meter.

China’s eucalyptus planting area is about 4.5 million hectares, which only amounts to 2% of the country’s total forest area. However, it has created nearly 1/3 of the total timber market in China.

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