TTJ: For which products, or in which sectors, do you think there’s a good chance of red oak substituting other species?
DV: Red oak is one of North America’s most robust and versatile species. It is hard and strong but not too heavy. It is one of the easiest of the oaks to machine and consistency of grain and texture makes it ideal for a range of applications. In the US it has been the first choice for furniture, flooring and joinery for more than 100 years.
Europe used it more widely in the past, but in the last 15-20 years it has concentrated on its own variety and American white oak. Reintroducing red oak offers manufacturers a reliable supply and good availability in all grades, at a time when more oak is needed to meet demand. Given its availability across the eastern US, there is a red oak production to suit all uses. If a joinery manufacturer needs longer lengths in clear, straight-grained material for architectural interiors, such as stairs, doors, handrails and panelling, supplies are available. Equally, there are lower grades for a rustic appearance and wider boards to meet flooring fashion. Another advantage is ready availability as lumber and veneer.
Red oak also offers the quality branding and image that is “oak”. In a world where wood species knowledge is limited, most consumers have at least heard of it.
Some traditional hardwood supplies are also under pressure; meranti from Asia, iroko from Africa, mahogany from Brazil and even black walnut from the US. To protect the market and ensure designers and manufacturers don’t switch to alternative materials, we need to offer species that are affordable, available and perform well. This also aids the substitution of other products with wood. Examples of success here can be found in southern Europe where wood flooring is challenging the traditional dominance of stone and marble and in architectural interiors, where hardwoods are competing in detailing with plastics and metals. As an important commercial species, red oak is a vital part of the “armoury” in the war against “non-wood materials”. To ignore it is to throw away a key card from the pack.
TTJ: Is red oak a possible substitute for American white oak or European oak?
DV: Of course. Red oak is a true Quercus with a similar grain and some of oak’s distinctive characteristics, such as “ray flecks”. It has similar properties and can be used for all the same applications, including structural use. In strength tests carried out by the BRE, red oak came just behind white and both had higher overall strength than European oak. It does have less natural resistance to decay in a high moisture environment, so needs a suitable preservative treatment for external use. The good news is that greater porosity means it is easier to treat than white or European oak.
Red oak does tend to have a pinker tinge than other oaks and can, at its extreme, be quite red. But it can be very light in colour too and, even with a natural finish, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate from white oak. But the aim of the AHEC campaign is not to substitute red oak for white oak. It has massive potential to be more widely accepted in its own right. AHEC has interviewed over 500 architects at EU building shows about red oak. The majority (80%) didn’t know the species, but liked and would be prepared to use it.
TTJ: What is the strategy of the current AHEC red oak campaign? Is it linked to a slowdown in US domestic consumption?
DV: It is an anomaly that red oak is not more widely used or accepted in Europe where oak has such a strong tradition. It accounts for over 30% of available standing timber in the US forest and is therefore, by definition, our most sustainable species. To maintain the sustainable balance we must market what the forest is growing.
I always felt that red oak could play a more important role in Europe, but to do so, market conditions had to be more favourable. AHEC is convinced these conditions now exist. Oak demand in Europe is strong and pressure is increasing on existing supplies of white oak from Europe and North America. Manufacturers are concerned about rising prices and some cannot get the specifications and qualities they need. Red oak has also become a more competitive option and slowing demand in some sectors in the US has focused suppliers into finding new export markets. Europe is an obvious target. AHEC has therefore deliberately intensified red oak promotion and developed the current campaign. At the core is a US$250,000 advertising campaign in the architectural, manufacturing and wood trade press across Europe. A website has also been created, www.americanredoak.info, and AHEC is exhibiting at the Interzum show with a 150m2 red oak pavilion.
TTJ: Is the campaign having an impact?
DV: Some European markets had started buying more red oak in 2006. For example, red oak veneer exports to Germany increased by 35% in value and red oak lumber exports to Italy more than trebled from 2005 to 3,100m3, putting it ahead of maple. Red oak lumber exports to Greece and Ireland also increased, taking volumes to around 2,000m3.
However, it is during 2007 that we expect to see more significant activity. There is already anecdotal evidence that there is growing interest from manufacturers – especially in flooring and joinery – and US exporters are getting more enquiries. Italian window and joinery manufacturers say they are using more red oak to obtain a price advantage and because clients like the colour and grain, and door manufacturers in Spain are investigating the potential of producing new ranges in the timber. At the Cologne furniture fair in January, leading Italian furniture maker RIVA 1620 showed a new red oak collection designed by American designer Terry Dwan and this will feature in the red oak pavilion at Interzum in May.
