Valuable broadleaved timber in China

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As China's modernization accelerates wood demand, the country faces a significant shortage of high-grade hardwood timber, constrained by its domestic supply capacity. To bridge this gap, China must import large quantities of valuable hardwoods, such as ash wood, merbau, and North American cherry, which are essential for high-value furniture and products like solid wood flooring and veneers. The scarcity of these resources has heightened their market value, making it crucial to understand the status of hardwood timber in China. Despite the importance of this issue, few studies have focused on it, prompting this research to fill the information gap. Utilizing a value chain analysis framework, the study systematically examines wood demand and supply, production of value-added products, and consumption and trade flows in the hardwood timber market. It identifies desired wood qualities and lists highly demanded tree species for high-value products. Statistical data indicates that China will increasingly rely on imports, projecting a need for 50 million cubic meters of valuable hardwood timber by 2010, with 42 million cubic meters sourced from abroad. The analysis reveals a growing processing capacity for value-added products and forecasts 23 million cubic meters for export and 27 million cubic meters for domestic use by 2010. The thesis also outlines trade flow patterns and current wood prices in major wholesale markets, while iden