Shanghai, China, Oct. 29--U.S. hardwood sales to China are expected to increase "in the neighborhood of 25% to 30%" this year as the country's real estate boom continues, Michael Snow, executive director of the American Hardwood Export Council, said Tuesday.
In the first seven months of the year, the value of China's direct imports of U.S. hardwood products jumped 13.9% year on year to $109 million, the trade group said.
Last year, China's U.S. hardwood imports reached $165 million, making the country one of the largest buyers of these products.
Snow said his industry isn't among those clamoring for China to revalue its currency, the yuan or renminbi, which critics of Beijing's foreign exchange policy argue is being kept artificially weak.
"Clearly, with the growth rate (in terms of hardwood imports into China) that we had in the past few years, the currency value didn't play a major part in it," Snow said. "It's not anything that anyone in our industry is talking about."
China buys hardwood products from the U.S. mainly for furniture and interior fittings, Snow said. Some of the hardwood furniture is exported to other countries.
Hong Kong's imports of U.S. hardwood products slowed during the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak earlier in the year. "In Hong Kong, we would be lucky to match the 2002 numbers (of $147 million in sales)," Snow said.
The council represents over 100 U.S. hardwood exporters and the major U.S. hardwood product trade associations in the U.S.
