Amsterdam Convention 2007: American Hardwood Export Council

Amsterdam Convention 2007

THREE WAY FOCUS FOR AHEC’S EUROPEAN CONVENTION 2007

 

AHEC’s (American Hardwood Export Council) European Convention 2007 was held in Amsterdam from 24th - 25th October 2007.  The Convention focused on three key topics influencing on the performance of American hardwood exports.   

Around 150 delegates, including producers, distributors and agents from 17 countries, attended two days of presentations and workshops. Marketing (matching the market  to the resource), the impact of China on the global hardwood market and the increasing challenge of procuring legal and sustainable hardwood took centre stage in the main one-day session, with presentations and open discussions led by panels of experts.  

AHEC’s European Director David Venables opened the Convention with a session on matching the market to the resource, highlighting the importance of market and trend analysis, the need to be responsive to customers needs and the enormous potential of “our species-rich” resource.   And the rise and rise of the Chinese economy, with its potential impact on the global hardwood market, presented by AHEC’s Executive Director, Mike Snow, occupied the minds of delegates in a session dominated by facts and figures which put China’s unprecedented economic growth into sharp focus.

And the Convention provided a timely opportunity to present more detail about the Legality Study currently being undertaken for AHEC by Seneca Creek Associates.  With Rupert Oliver from Forest Industries Intelligence setting the scene on procuring legal and sustainable hardwood, Project Leader Al Goetzl presented details of the scale of the Study which is being carried out over the 33 US states and the individual eco-regions which make up the American hardwood resource.   With the key objective of demonstrating that American hardwoods can be traded in the confident knowledge that they are derived from legal sources the Study is a complex piece of work which will tackle state-by-state variance in laws and regulations on sustainability.  Described as “data rich” by Al Goetzl the Study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, will assess adherence to the standards developed by FSC and PEFC on using wood from controversial or controlled sources.   

For David Venables there were some very clear messages about the future of American hardwood in increasingly challenging markets.  He says: “With sustainability fast becoming the procurement watchword across the world the potential for specifying timber as the material of choice is tremendous. The US hardwood industry grows more than it cuts, it’s well regulated and it offers a wide range of species fit for a wide variety of purposes.  And we are confident that the Legality Study will reassure buyers worldwide that the US is a low-risk supplier.  All this adds up to a very strong proposition for American hardwoods but we must be market responsive and always ready to tap into the design trends and fashions which drive that market.  We have an abundant and renewable resource and although the market is increasingly competitive we have a great opportunity to benefit from a growing interest in timber across the world.”