The International Hardwood flooring industry is an important consumer of American hardwood species.
publication date: May 29, 2008
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author/source: David Harris
According to the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the US hardwood industry, the American hardwood resource offers the widest choice of commercially available temperate species and many of them are ideally suited for flooring applications.
David Venables, AHEC’s European director says “The inherent strength and the ability to machine and finish to the highest standards, together with a huge variety of colours and grain patterns, make US hardwood species, a perfect choice for today’s modern flooring solutions”.
Venables goes onto explain that although it is true, that US hardwood exports of finished flooring remain relatively small, American hardwood lumber is exported in large volumes world wide for flooring production. Many US hardwood exporters provide rough sawn cut to width blanks for engineered flooring production or selected wide boards for plank flooring. For production of species such as walnut, cherry, hard maple, red birch and hickory America plays a key supplying role because of the commercial availability and sustainable production of these species in the US hardwood forests.
At a time when the European oak resource is increasingly under pressure from manufacturers, the very strong Euro and relatively weak US dollar are helping to ensure American oak lumber is competitively priced in European and increasingly, the Asian export markets including China and India. American hardwoods are in a good position to take advantage of the current environment of worldwide flooring markets.
American black walnut and white oak are the recognised darlings on the flooring scene, but AHEC’s focus is strongly on American Red Oak. “At the centre of our strategy is a specially focused promotional campaign to educate those markets about American Red Oak. In specification terms it ticks all the boxes, it’s sustainable, naturally regenerated, abundant, strong and adaptable and it is increasingly finding favour among designers and architects. In today’s fiercely competitive global markets flooring manufacturers need an edge and here is an oak that is affordable, widely available and ideal for all styles of oak production. With growing evidence that consumers and architects do like the look of red oak and the fact that in many instances once a finish is applied it is hard to differentiate from white oak, it’s only a matter of time before red oak is much more widely used”.
The balance of species available in the US hardwood forest is heavily weighted towards red oak, which accounts for as much as a third of the forest. Venables argues that “…any take up of this species is a good thing, as it makes for a more responsible use of the resource. While we may have a range of around 22 species to offer the market, providing choice, the mix is unbalanced not just by quantities available, but also to market demand. As highlighted by the current pressure on American black walnut, which is experiencing very high levels of demand yet only represents around 1% of the growing hardwood resource.”
Looking at world markets competing for highgrade supply over the past decade, it is China that stands out. It has become a key market for American hardwoods with direct US hardwood lumber exports to China in rapid growth. The Chinese flooring market is an important industry for hardwood exporters and one which has been at the centre of AHEC’s promotional efforts in the region. The expansion of the flooring sector in China has averaged between 20-30% annually in recent years. And according to Lu Bin, Secretary-General of the Flooring Committee in the China Forest Products Industry Association, growth in the industry is likely to continue at an annual rate of around 20% over the next decade. With wood having the significant advantage of being associated with both traditional Chinese aesthetic tastes as well as contemporary western fashion, there is enormous potential for American hardwoods in this growing and lucrative market.
But it is not just the Chinese market which has shown growth. The last few years have seen an emerging trend in the UK and Europe towards oak flooring. It is fair to say there has been increasing consumption of European Oak as new supplies have opened up in central and Eastern Europe providing competitive sources of lower grade lumber and short strips. Venables says there are signs that manufacturers are looking to American oaks for quality and consistency. Past years have seen designers and architects showing a preference creative rustic finishes, more recently there seems to be a return to the lighter, cleaner look that was fashionable a few years ago. And the lighter varieties of American hardwoods are perfect for this trend.
