How many types core of plywood？

As a plywood manufacturer in China, we have multiple choices in terms of plywood core material and grades. In China, poplar is the cheapest core veneer. Chinese plywood factories produce 80% of their products with poplar. Poplar plywood is essentially the signature product of the Chinese plywood industry.

This article is going to give readers the most comprehensive insights into the plywood core options and help them with importing plywood from China.

Plywood Core Types:

Poplar Veneer Core
Eucalyptus Veneer Core
COMBI Core
Finger Joint Core
Strip Joint Core
MDF Core
Particle Board Core

Poplar Veneer Core
Density: approximately 520 kgs/m3
Poplar is the most common hardwood material for the production of Chinese plywood. It is used for both hardwood faced plywood and film faced plywood.
Basically, there are two grades of poplar veneer core:
One Time Hot Press
Two Times Hot Press
What are the differences of one time hot press and two times hot press?
Two times hot press poplar core are hot pressed and repaired before the face lamination. That makes the two times hot press poplar core more even, smooth and flat. Its inner bonding strength is higher than one time hot press poplar core too. A good two times hot press poplar core can be marine grade.

Eucalyptus Veneer Core
Density: approximately 580-600 kgs/m3.
Eucalyptus is a tropical hardwood material in China. Almost all eucalyptus veneer core plywood are processed under two times hot press.
Since the eucalyptus veneer is rougher than the poplar veneer, a eucalyptus veneer core plywood is usually laminated with a poplar surface before laminating decorative surfaces on top and back.
A good two times hot press eucalyptus core with WBP glue can be sold as marine grade.

COMBI Core
Density: approximately 550 kgs/m3
COMBI is short for combination. COMBI core is usually a mixture of poplar veneer and eucalyptus veneer. The combi plywood is a balance between poplar plywood and eucalyptus plywood. Factories also produce melamine-faced plywood and film-faced plywood with combi core.


Finger Joint Core (recycled core)
Some Chinese film faced plywood manufacturers use finger joint core to make ultra low price plyform. This type of core is made from used plywood. After join the plywood blocks, manufacturers will laminate extra layers of new veneer on both sides of the block. Hence the film on both sides.
Finger joint core film faced plywood is normally recommended to be reused 3-4 times only. But if you use finger joint plywood for wall concrete forming, it can perform as good as the poplar core plywood.
The finger joint core film faced plywood has a better surface than the one time press plywood. The reason is that one time press poplar plywood has an uneven poplar veneer beneath the phenolic film.
Currently China is the only producer of finger joint core plywood in the world. Our company is one of the largest manufacturers of finger joint plywood for formwork having a capacity of 300 containers per month. The finger joint core is becoming more and more recognized by builders due to its competitive price.


Strip Joint Core (recycled core)
Density: approximately 570 kgs/m3
Strip joint core is also a recycled core which is very cheap compared with regular poplar core. Its strength is similar with fingerjoint core.
With mixed wood species and great amount of glue at the joints, the strip joint core plywood is very heavy.
12mm 15mm 18mm strip joint core FF plywood performs very well.

MDF Core
Density: 680-750kgs/m3

Commonly laminated with melamine paper on one side or both sides. Or laminated with natural veneers on one side. Could be raw MDF, melamine faced MDF, veneered fancy MDF, slotted MDF board. Used for furniture production and decor.

See full details about MDF here.

Particle Board Core
Density: 650-680 kgs/m3

Commonly laminated with melamine paper on both sides. A cheaper material than MDF for furniture production.

Mainly used for furniture manufacturing and toilet partitions.

Miscellaneous Plywood Core
Birch Veneer Core
Okoume Veneer Core
Paulownia Veneer Core
Pine Veneer Core
Acacia Veneer Core
Pine Blockboard Core
Falcata Blockboard Core
Paulownia Blockboard Core