By Rose Braden, President Softwood Export Council
The Softwood Export Council (SEC) is pleased to be included in the Softwood Forest Products Buyer. We look forward to sharing news about how SEC and its members are working to create new markets for U.S. Softwood lumber and increase sales to existing international markets.
The SEC is a non-profit association that exists to increase the use of U.S. Softwood lumber and building materials around the world. Funded in part by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, SEC has been promoting U.S. Softwood lumber and building materials since 1998.
The association is made up of U.S. Softwood lumber grading agencies, Softwood building materials trade associations, state export trade offices, preservative treating associations, and universities. The group brings their individual expertise together to represent U.S. interests in codes and standards committees, identify and address trade barriers, and educate international buyers and end-users about U.S. species and grades.
Clearly, COVID-19 changed the way that we reach our international audience. Prior to COVID, SEC participated in approximately 15 trade shows per year, which helps SEC reach importers and generate trade leads for U.S. suppliers. Our offices in Japan, China, Mexico, and the U.K. are also normally busy meeting with local importer and construction associations, holding seminars, and leading trade missions for U.S. suppliers. This year we were also planning to host inbound buyer groups from Pakistan, India, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
So how do you replace the face to face contact made during trade shows and trade missions? Like much of the world, SEC quickly shifted to virtual meetings. Since March, SEC hosted seminars and supplier-buyer exchanges with users in Mexico and China and we will be holding seminars and exchanges with government and industry contacts in Chile, Pakistan, and Morocco over the next two months. While virtual meetings cannot replace the effectiveness of in-person meetings, they allow U.S. suppliers to have ongoing contact with buyers. Virtual meetings also help us to have more frequent contact than we did prior to COVID. Rather than meeting with buyers from Pakistan (a strong market for Eastern White Pine) once a year at Dubai Wood Show, webinars are helping SEC introduce prospective international buyers to U.S. species and grades so that when we meet at a trade show or host an inbound mission, the buyers come with information that helps them specify the products they want.
Virtual seminars are also helping SEC reach buyers in areas where we do not typically travel. For example, Mexico’s pallet industry, which is expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2024, is made up of manufacturers located across the country – often in rural areas. SEC research determined that over 30 percent of pallets made in Mexico are used to ship agricultural or high value manufactured goods to the U.S. and as such, they must meet U.S. phytosanitary requirements – including kiln drying. SEC’s Mexico webinar helped the association reach these manufacturers and introduce information about the benefits of U.S. species and software to help manufacturers compare the strength of U.S. species to domestic and South American species.
SEC and its members are also expanding our library of e-based educational tools such as the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturer’s multi-language online grader academy, the Tall Wood Design Institute’s CLT training program for architects. Many of these videos and modules are being added to SEC’s new YouTube channel “American Softwoods” and our international office websites.
While we await the ability to travel and host inbound buyer groups again, distance learning and virtual meetings will remain a large part of SEC’s programs and the way we do business. For more information about SEC and its members, visit our website at: www.softwood.org.
