The JW Marriott Hotel in Chengdu, China was the site of the return of the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) Greater China and Southeast Asia Convention. This marked the 26th anniversary of the event after a three-year absence.
AHEC Executive Director Michael Snow welcomed attendees, stating, “While it seems that we are always reacting to the next major disruption, it is vital that we don’t lose sight of the major long-term issues that confront us and that the global wood industries remain united and focused on the opportunities ahead of us.
“This Convention is designed to help further strengthen these bonds, as our aim is not only to introduce U.S. exporters to Asian importers, but to also help foster the relationships between Asian end users and specifiers and the local wood processing industry and distributors of American hardwoods.”
A warm welcome was also echoed by John Chan, Regional Director for AHEC SE Asia & Greater China. He noted: “Comparing with 2022, U.S. hardwood exported to China reached $112.5 million in January this year, increased 3 percent year on year, with U.S. hardwood lumber up 5 percent year on year to $80 million. The most popular U.S. hardwood species in China by value were Red Oak, Walnut, Cherry, White Oak, Ash and Yellow Poplar. They accounted for over 91 percent of the total hardwood lumber exports to China. We hope that through this important Convention, we can further strengthen the trade links of different timber-related industries and convey our environmental protection approach to a greater audience. We will be promoting the design and application of U.S. hardwood for the consumer market while addressing low carbon environmental protection, outstanding properties and design advantages of American hardwoods to furniture manufacturers, architects, interior designers, engineers and real estate developers.”
At this Convention, several keynote presentations were featured, including the application, sustainability and lower carbon future of American hardwood for interior design and furniture manufacturing, new technology and lumber grading rules of American hardwoods.
The head of the Chengdu Furniture Industrial Chamber of Commerce also presented an update on Sichuan province’s solid furniture manufacturing situation and the needs of imported timber to meet the increasing demand in the years to come.
Hosted by AHEC and supported by the Chengdu Furniture Association, over 300 delegates were registered and at least 20 AHEC hardwood exporting members.
To learn more, visit www.ahec.org.
