A 23-year trend in India’s 1Q consumption of U.S. hardwood lumber reveals the story. The absolute volumes to India are insignificant compared to large-market destinations like Canada, China, or Vietnam, etc. But, is a trend brewing?
Reasons for asking/noticing:
In 2003, China was a footnote in U.S. hardwood lumber/log export analysis (see chart, further below). The “shape of the curve” for Indian purchases of U.S. hardwood lumber (today) is similar to that of China 20 years ago.
India is the 2nd most populus country (behind China). India has a 0.8% annual population growth rate, while China’s is 0.1%; and the U.S.’s is 0.1%
What’s next for this watch-list item?: we’ll keep an eye on it, and will get into serious discussion when India’s annual purchase U.S. hardwood lumber tops 100,000 cubic meters for all species.
