Summary
• American white oak accounts for around 50% of the UK’s hardwood imports from the US.
• Tulipwood’s price and versatility make it popular.
• The emerald ash borer infestation is causing ash prices to rise.
• Importers continue to look for markets for red oak.

Ask any US hardwood timber importer what the most popular product coming into the UK is, and you’ll only get one reply: white oak.

Cheaper than its European counterpart and more readily available in certain dimension stocks, US white oak makes up around 50% of hardwood imports into the UK from America – a situation that hasn’t really altered in the best part of a decade.

“As a hardwood in our overall group of species, it is probably our major seller,” said Paul Mitchard, office manager at Morgan Timber. “This is down to its look, but also its price compared with European oak and the availability of certain dimension stock – inch boards, for example, are produced in strips, so wastage elements are kept down, which ultimately saves money on price.”

In fact, Andy Craig, a director at the newly-formed Barnswell Timber, estimates that European oak is 15-20% more expensive than American white oak, by the time it’s been imported and sold on to the end user for anything from flooring, kitchens or furniture.

“The reason we like white oak from America is that it is very similar to traditional English oak,” he said. “But the big factor is price. Over the last 5-10 years though, European oak has taken over some of the American market, and certainly on the thicker species it seems to have done very well.”

Tulipwood

Of the other US hardwood species, suppliers said tulipwood was doing well, thanks to its price and versatility – it can be painted or stained to look like anything else. However, they warned that prices had begun to creep upwards by as much as 10% in recent weeks as a result of a lack of product coming through the sawmills and some inclement weather, and the price rises could affect demand.

“We seem to be doing a lot more tulipwood due to the requests for more paint-grade hardwood – and that is the automatic choice,” said Paul Mitchard. “It seems criminal to paint a hardwood, but yellow poplar gives a super finish.”

Meanwhile, there is reasonable demand for maple and cherry and, according to John May, timber director at James Latham plc, “walnut is very popular, demand is still strong and there’s no real sign of that changing”.

Despite the enthusiastic efforts of its supporters, there is still not much of a market for red oak. “The major issue in the UK for red oak is that white oak provides extra durability,” said Paul Mitchard. “This really shouldn’t affect it, but it does give people the option of selling white oak for exterior applications. Red oak you can’t put outside, but it has a warmth and look that is far superior. We need new customers for red oak that aren’t already buying white.”

John May agreed. “It’s a good species and I’d like to trade in it – but we just can’t sell it.”

Most importers were keeping tight-lipped about demand for other lesser-known species, but Andy Craig said he’d seen some demand for hickory and aspen.

“These are proving more popular in the south-west of the country among kitchen manufacturers who are using them for cabinet fronts and drawer fronts,” he said. “We’re also seeing hard maple picking up, and we’ve got some very good enquiries in the pipeline for it. We get the impression that it is making a bit of a comeback. We also might look at American beech.”

While most importers agree that demand and supply for the major species are steady, the market for US hardwood imports is not bulletproof.

“It seems North American sawmills are still very hesitant to produce large unsold inventory,” said Damian Thomas, who is responsible for temperate purchases at Lathams Direct Timber. “Recent bad weather has hampered logging and affected green supply. Container availability still has an impact on shipping so let’s hope that with any recovery this becomes easier.”

Ash problems

One US hardwood that is experiencing problems is ash. The infestation of emerald ash borer in North America has created a shortage of ash over the last two quarters, and resulted in UK companies importing from limited sources outside the affected geographical areas. Lack of availability has also started to push the price up.

Now, the UK trade is waiting to see how the situation develops. “We haven’t had any cargoes go back, although we are not big buyers of ash,” said Paul Mitchard. “We are fully aware of the issues they have over there, and we’ve seen prices start to climb – not in a big way, but they are showing the difficulties in getting hold of product. Ash has always been under-priced, but it is a very good universal hardwood.”

While there is some growth in demand for FSC-certified product from the US, it remains a small percentage of the overall volumes of imported American hardwood into the UK.

“The environmental story is so good from America,” said John May. “It’s conscience-free buying of a very attractive species. The story is very good but it doesn’t supersede the need for certified product – and we do need certified product from the US. It’s very difficult to get the specifications you need in US hardwood that are FSC certified. This is only going to get more difficult, unless the US forest industry accepts the need for certifying its products.”

It’s a view echoed by Damian Thomas. “Overall, demand for FSC certified is not consistent and demand is linked to specification. We stock FSC white oak and FSC poplar and while sales are steady for FSC-certified products, volumes are outstripped by non-FSC North American hardwoods.”

Forecast for 2012

As for the future of the market, while most people agreed that 2012 would continue to be relatively tough due to the ongoing global economic problems, there was reason to be optimistic. The London Olympics have led to an increase in specification for US hardwood, and some felt this would continue through to 2013.

“I’d like to think there will be a few more copycat projects coming out of the Olympics, perhaps not on that scale,” said Paul Mitchard. “The demand for it being FSC will be mimicked by projects thereafter; it’s dropped off during the recession because price has been the dominant factor but we should see more of it. I’d like to think the feel-good factor will continue.”

Damian Thomas is also optimistic. “Our overall outlook is positive as we aim to grow our market share in quality North American lumber and continue to forge strong relationships with our suppliers, while developing niche markets and bringing on board new product,” he said.