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National Hardwood Magazine - April 2024

The April 2024 issue of National Hardwood Magazine has the latest hardwood industry news. This issue features stories on Lewis Lumber & Milling, H & T Chair Company, the IHLA convention and much more.

The April 2024 issue of National Hardwood Magazine has the latest hardwood industry news. This issue features stories on Lewis Lumber & Milling, H & T Chair Company, the IHLA convention and much more.

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AHEC REPORT<br />

Despite Current Headwinds, AHEC Sees Europe As An<br />

Important Growth Market For U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong>s<br />

WE’LL MAKE<br />

YOU FAMOUS<br />

Guest Column by David Venables, Regional Director<br />

American <strong>Hardwood</strong> Export Council European Director<br />

There’s no denying 2023 was a challenging<br />

year for U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong> mills: production<br />

hit historically low levels and demand has<br />

declined both domestically and in export<br />

markets around the world, including in Europe,<br />

where lumber exports are down nearly<br />

40 percent compared to 2022. In the current<br />

economic and geopolitical situation, we’re<br />

under no illusions things will suddenly get<br />

better overnight.<br />

But in the longer term, we see Europe, including<br />

the UK, as a significant growth market<br />

for American <strong>Hardwood</strong>s. When demand<br />

improves, U.S. mills have historically shown<br />

the flexibility and dynamism to respond. That<br />

was demonstrated clearly during the recovery from the<br />

pandemic, when the industry reacted rapidly to dramatic<br />

growth in demand across and around the globe, leading<br />

to record exports in many major markets in 2022.<br />

AHEC will continue to support the <strong>Hardwood</strong> industry<br />

to meet the demands of international markets, especially<br />

when it comes to environmental policies, which we see<br />

as a huge advantage for American <strong>Hardwood</strong>s given their<br />

sustainability credentials. In the EU, of course, we face<br />

the challenge of proof of legality and deforestation-free<br />

supply, with the impending implementation of the EU Deforestation<br />

Regulation (EUDR). Against that backdrop, in<br />

our marketing and PR programs we’ll be highlighting the<br />

status of the U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong> forest as one of the world’s<br />

great breadbaskets of sustainable wood fiber.<br />

In addition, we (AHEC) have a strategy to help the industry<br />

meet the requirements of the EUDR, developing<br />

a solution to demonstrate legal and sustainable<br />

supply using risk assessment, satellite<br />

and data technology. It will enable the U.S.<br />

<strong>Hardwood</strong> industry to make a global legality<br />

and deforestation-free claim, that we believe<br />

can provide more credibility than established<br />

third-party certification schemes, that<br />

have failed to address the challenge of small<br />

non-industrial forest ownership which is the<br />

dominate factor in U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong> forests.<br />

Although there is still uncertainty surrounding<br />

how the EUDR will operate, data from the<br />

newly launched EU Observatory of the Joint<br />

Research Council of the EC, which will be the<br />

main resource for EUDR risk assessment by<br />

the EU regulators, shows that the deforestation risk associated<br />

with U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong>s is, to all intents and purposes,<br />

zero.<br />

AHEC’s marketing focus next year will be on promoting<br />

and encouraging European markets, to accept a greater<br />

variety of species of U.S. <strong>Hardwood</strong>. It makes sense<br />

commercially and environmentally. Providing a wider<br />

range of timber types increases customer choice. You<br />

can’t grow the market on a limited number of species.<br />

If buyers don’t stock and sell the sort of variety offered<br />

in the past, they’re limiting their business and not taking<br />

full advantage of the fiber available. Offering a limited<br />

choice also heightens the risk of consumers turning to<br />

timber substitutes, which often have a significantly higher<br />

environmental impact.<br />

We will continue to argue the importance of making full<br />

use of what the forest provides on grounds of sustainabil-<br />

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Ready for your close-up? Because as a Cole customer all eyes will be on you<br />

to make sure you get V.I.P. treatment from species selection to quick<br />

quotes, and from fair pricing to on-time shipments.<br />

GET THE RED CARPET TREATMENT. CALL COLE.<br />

HARDWOOD LUMBER FOR ALL YOUR HARDWOOD NEEDS<br />

Quotes: 800-536-3151 • Export: 574-753-3151 • colehardwood.com<br />

Please turn to page 87<br />

18 APRIL <strong>2024</strong> n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE www.RealAmerican<strong>Hardwood</strong>.com/industry

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