American Hardwood Supplement 2019

AMERICAN HARDWOOD Southeast Asia Supplement 2019
Uncertainties in world trade prospects for 2019 cannot be
denied even when the politicians have moved from their
2018 positions – on trade wars, Brexit and FDIs – but here are
some real certainties to consider. Asia will remain a dynamic
region, especially with the aid of the Comprehensive and
Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) being enlarged
now with over 500 million consumers with a combined GDP of
$13.5 trillion, accounting for 13 per cent of global GDP.
Vietnam, with the expected continuation of its annual growth
around 7 per cent, will focus heavily on wood and wood products
as a key industry. The United States will continue to grow more
hardwoods than are harvested or lost by mortality, a true measure
of sustainability. There is data online to demonstrate the fact State
by State and species by species:
See www.americanhardwood.org/en/environmental-profile/
interactive-forest-map
Michael Buckley,
Consultant Editor
Front cover: American oak door manufactured
by AA Corporation in Vietnam
Photo credit: Turnstone Singapore
Some markets may shift and new ones emerge, but one thing is
certain – consumers like and trust American hardwoods for their
homes, offices and the hotels and hospitality places to which
they travel. Consumers in China will continue to need American
hardwoods. Popularity of species comes and goes as fashion
changes, so this supplement highlights red oak and cherry among
the twenty six commercial species that American exporters offer
to the world. They are widely available from members of the
American Hardwood Export Council listed at the end of this annual
supplement – also available online at www.ahec.org/all-members
Visitors to the website can sort AHEC company members by
species, product, and location to find, for example, companies that
can provide Appalachian or southern red oak or northern cherry.
2