Non-wood raw materials are now being used by the state-owned Khulna Hardboard Mill (KHM) to increase its profit by reducing production cost.
The non-wood materials include bags of sugar mills, sawdust of saw mills and paddy husk of rice mills.
KHM Managing Director Md Abdur Razzak said non-wood raw materials have been chosen as alternative due to severe crisis of sundari and other local woods.
The non-wood raw materials are being used with 50 percent woods of mango, blackberry, tamarind and rain trees for production of hardboard, he said.
“By using non-wood raw materials we can produce 1000 square feet of hardboard at a cost of Tk 940,” said Razzak, adding, previously it cost Tk 1090.
Besides, daily production has been raised from 34,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet due to use of non-wood raw materials with effect from June 21 last, he said.
Razzak hoped that the production target of one crore four lakh square feet of hardboard during 2008-09 fiscal will be exceeded.
The KHM, a unit of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), suspended its production on September 14, 2002 due to severe financial crisis.
Production however resumed there from September 16, 2005 with a view to making the KHM a profitable enterprise.