FLOORING: Hardwoods remain a popular flooring option

January 30, 2008

How much wood are we using? Where does it come from? Where do we send it? When we ship it out, does it come back to the US? Building Product Digest shares some aggregated factoids/statistics…

By David Koenig (Editorial & Production - Cutler Publishing, Inc.)
BPD-Building Products Digest

Use of American hardwoods has remained stable over the past five years, according to the Hardwood Manufacturers Association.

Total hardwood usage in 2006 was 10.7 billion bd. ft., the same as in 2002. Although usage in furniture has declined over the past decade, other uses have increased: kitchen and bath cabinets have grown 61%; flooring grew 56%, and mouldings, dimension, and millwork increased 38%.

Usage in furniture has declined because 53% of all wood furniture sold in the U.S. is produced overseas. However, American hardwoods are increasingly exported to countries such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia, and then returned to the U.S. as imported furniture. The trend is one reason for the 3.4% increase in exports in 2006.

Despite a 6.4% decline in shipments of strip flooring over the last decade, flooring will remain important as remodeling keeps the market strong.

Use of American hardwoods for moulding and millwork is 38% higher over the same period, even though significant amounts are imported from Canada, China and Brazil.

According to HMA’s new report, domestic hardwoods are a natural choice for green building projects. They are abundant, remove carbon from the air as they grow, and can be locally sourced to eliminate overseas shipping costs.

via Building Product Digest