Strictly speaking, cork is not wood, it is the bark of oak. Oak is a special kind of tree. If you regularly pick up its bark, it will not only die, but also grow new bark. Oak is one of the oldest surviving tree species in the world, dating back about 60 million years. Nowadays, the world’s cork resources are mainly concentrated on the Mediterranean coast, especially Portugal, known as the “softwood kingdom”, which accounts for 30% of the world’s oak resources. About one-third of the country’s GDP is contributed by softwood, Portugal’s richest man Amorim Mainly engaged in the cork industry.
At present, cork products have gradually entered all aspects of our lives, such as cork flooring, cork wallboard, cork notice board, cork shoes, cork coasters, cork mouse pads, cork mats, cork boxes and so on.
First, the tree species are different
Although it is the same cork, it comes from two different tree species: cork oak and cork oak;
The domestic tree species are cork oak, which is often called the eucalyptus tree and the Cyclobalanopsis glauca in the country, all of which are wild resources.
The Mediterranean coast is a cork oak, which is often called an oak tree and is an artificial economic forest.
Second, the growth distribution field is different
Cork resources are mainly concentrated in the Qinling Mountains of China and the countries along the Mediterranean Sea;
Quercus variabilis is mainly distributed in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Henan and other places in China.
Quercus variabilis is mainly distributed along the Mediterranean coast, mainly in the Mediterranean countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
Third, the bark is different
Due to factors such as tree species, origin, sunshine, rain, temperature, etc., domestic bark usually grows slowly, has a thinner thickness, is slightly less elastic, has a larger specific gravity, more holes, and more sand.
Fourth, different uses
Domestic softwood is mainly used to smash the bark into granules and filter it to add various binders to produce various kinds of polymeric cork products, such as cork board, cork coil, synthetic cork, etc., and imported cork is mainly used for natural cork. High-grade cork products such as cork and cork flooring.
Five, the price is different
Due to the different end products caused by the characteristics of the materials, the unit price of imported cork materials is often several times that of domestic material.
