Domestic demand strengthens US hardwood sector

More shipments likely this year as some countries impose tougher curbs on exports

Hardwood exports from the United States to China will surge this year on the back of renewed domestic demand and dwindling timber shipments from Brazil, Myanmar, Ghana and Gabon, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Mike Snow, executive director of the American Hardwood Export Council, said hardwood exports from the US will see a steady uptick this year despite the lackluster performance of the real estate industry in China.

"China has entered the second phase of urbanization, which will trigger fresh demand for hardwood and timber products, especially in second-and third-tier cities," Snow said.

Exports of US hardwood products to China reached $1.13 billion in 2013, up 33 percent on a yearly basis. Red oak, tulipwood and ash that can be made for furniture, floor boards and eco-friendly building materials are the most popular US timber products exported to China.

Snow said that China's ongoing urbanization process and fast-growing residential building numbers have created a new generation of increasingly affluent consumers who are keen to fit their homes and offices with quality interior furnishings made from US hardwood.

The US is the world's largest producer and exporter of hardwood lumber, accounting for more than 22 percent of global shipments.

"China, as the world's largest importer of hardwood, is not only importing a large amount of US hardwood to process into furniture in the international market, but is also using it to produce items such as new building materials and cross-laminated timber that can help cut carbon emissions and improve the domestic environment," said John Chan, AHEC's regional director for Southeast Asia and China.

Headquartered in Washington DC, AHEC is an international non-profit trade association of the US hardwood industry. It represents over 100 US hardwood exporters and major hardwood product trade associations in the US.

A research by China's State Forest Administration shows that the country's wood demand will rise to 800 million cubic meters by 2020.

The Chinese government plans to build 1 billion square meters of "green" buildings between 2011 and 2015. It has also said that eco-friendly buildings will account for 20 percent of all the new urban buildings by 2015.

To fulfill this growing demand and to ensure a smooth supply chain, the SFA has put forth the suggestion of simultaneously optimizing the usage of both international and domestic wood sources.

Deng Huafeng, a professor at Beijing Forestry University, said another pushing point that has stimulated China's hardwood imports is the government's protection of the country's limited wood resources.

China began to protect its forests in 1998 after it faced timber shortages of about 60 million cubic meters per year. The country has been heavily dependent on imported timber resources from the US, Canada, Russia and timber - producing countries in Southeast Asia and Africa for almost two decades.

Heilongjiang province, China's major timber production base in its northeast region, also announced in April that all commercial deforestation activities must be stopped for protecting its forestry resources.

"The bans implemented by timber-exporting countries in Africa and Southeast Asia will push China to seek more imports from the US," said Deng.

Scott Bowe, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, said the environmental benefits of wood are largely dependent on the wood source being sustainable and well managed.

The volume of hardwood standing in US forests more than doubled from 5.2 billion cubic meters to 11.4 billion cubic meters between 1952 and 2010, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin on the US government's forest inventory data gathered at regular intervals over the last 60 years.

Because of the low levels of hardwood forest utilization, projections of the US hardwood supply indicate that harvests could rise from current levels of less than 100 million cubic meters to in excess of 250 million cubic meters within the next 40 years, without threatening long-term sustainability.

Bowe said the analysis of hardwood growth and removal indicates "strong potential to significantly increase supply of most of the US hardwood species, with particularly strong potential in soft maple, tulipwood, red oak, white oak, ash, hickory and hard maple".