U.S. Values ​​Broadleaf Asian Market

AHEC expects that in the next five years, the US hardwood will continue to maintain the momentum of current export growth to Asia by 23%, which will lead to the import of 1.14 million cubic meters of hardwood timber from Asia. The United States has listed Asia as a "special market" for expanding hardwood exports.

The United States has the richest temperate and tropical hardwood resources in the world, producing 30 million cubic meters of hardwood annually. According to statistics from the US Department of Forestry, standing reserve of broad-leaved wood is 3.2 billion cubic meters, and its annual annual growth of hardwood planting shows a net increase. Although hardwood exports account for only less than 10% of its production each year, for many countries, the United States is a major supplier of hardwood timber.

The United States attaches great importance to hardwood exports and subdivides the Asian market into Northeast Asia and Greater China/Southeast Asia. The Northeast Asian market includes Japan, South Korea, and China Taiwan. The Greater China/Southeast Asia markets include China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. From 1987 to 2000, statistics show that Asia imports a large proportion of U.S. plates and surpasses the world average. Imports of logs are also similar, but imports of thin wood are relatively small compared with other export destinations such as Europe.

Asia has always occupied a place in the U.S. hardwood export market. In 1987, Northeast Asia was an important hardwood exporting place in the United States. By last year, broad-leaved tree imports in Southeast Asia had grown significantly, becoming the second-largest “overseas” export destination after the United States’ hardwood woods in Europe (Canada is not considered "Overseas" export destinations. Among the top 12 export countries, 5 are Asian countries. In the same year, the number of hardwoods exported from the United States to Japan and China’s Taiwan decreased, while the number of hardwoods exported to China’s interior increased significantly, and the value of exports leaped to the top. Thailand also had a tendency to rise as a major export destination.

In recent years, China has gradually become a bright spot for American hardwood exports to Asia. According to Mike Sino, AHEC’s executive director, the demand for hardwood and thin wood in the United States last year reached 278 million U.S. dollars in Southeast Asia and China, compared with only 54 million U.S. dollars in 1991. Among them, the export volume of US hardwood and more mainland China increased from 1 million US dollars to 73 million US dollars. In the past five years, American hardwood sales in China have almost doubled every year. Chinese consumers are increasingly convinced of the variety and broad application space of American hardwood. As China’s ongoing reform of the urban housing system will stimulate housing renovation, the government’s policy of closing mountains and forests, prohibiting tree felling, and joining the WTO will all increase China’s timber imports.

With the growth of China’s economy and the rise of disposable income of the people, and the government's dedication to the development of the western region, the demand for hardwood in the Chinese market will continue to grow.