17 February 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has launched the 1-15 February issue of the Tropical Timber Market (TTM) Report, which highlights the expansion of the wooden window market, an increase to 18 percent of the total window market in 2014, in the United States.

The report also highlights the upcoming Malaysian International Furniture Fair, which will be held from 4-8 March 2014, and is expected to draw more than 500 furniture manufacturers. Also in Asia, the report exposes an emerging debate around the export of roughly hewn teak logs (baulk squares) from Myanmar, the decision on which is soon expected from the government.

With regard to market development, the report features the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) and the National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA) aimed at industrializing the bamboo market in northern India.

On market statistics, while the proportion of Brazilian sawnwood imported by China grew, overall exports decreased by 5 percent, although factory outputs in China fell in January. Slowdowns were also reported in European Union (EU) imports of tropical timber, with a reversal in trends unlikely to occur in 2014.

Meanwhile, in the USA, furniture manufacturing reported the highest December growth rates of any manufacturing industry and in Japan, housing starts increased by 11 percent compared to 2012, a rate not seen in twenty years.

In addition to the headline stories, the report contains tropical timber market reports from Brazil, China, Ghana, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Peru. The report further recounts regional tropical timber market statistics from Central and West Africa, Europe and North America.

The TTM is published through the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS) and requires free registration to access the reports. [Publication: Tropical Timber Market Report – Issue 18 Number 3]