AHA inspires Jodhpur manufacturers

The AHA Platform drew a high level of interest from wood products manufacturers attending an educational seminar hosted by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and the Jodhpur Handicrafts Exporters Association (JHEA) in Jodhpur, India, on February 23, 2026. Manufacturers in the Jodhpur region were particularly drawn to the AHA by the opportunities it offered to provide a robust assurance of legal and deforestation-free U.S. hardwood provenance to satisfy their own overseas customers’ requirements for legal and sustainable furniture products.

The seminar, which attracted just under 150 furniture manufacturers, built on previous successful activities jointly hosted by AHEC and JHEA designed to strengthen business ties between the manufacturers in Jodhpur and American hardwood exporters. Having not visited Jodhpur for some time, AHEC also took the opportunity to introduce a delegation of U.S. hardwood exporters to some of the leading manufacturers in the region, to understand their requirements and the emerging challenges they now face in regards to their raw material supplies. In all these discussions there was a significant focus on AHA and what it can deliver for manufacturers.

The furniture and handicraft manufacturers in Jodhpur consume significant volumes of hardwood lumber, with their products almost exclusively destined for export to the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. The keen Interest in AHA in this region partly reflects a concern to demonstrate American hardwood provenance in finished products destined for the U.S., their largest export market, in order to assure customers that they are buying American materials with all the attendant advantages of guaranteed Lacey compliance, good forest governance, deforestation-free status, and support for U.S. forests and rural communities. They also had one eye on the possibility of U.S. tariff reductions in the future for products with a demonstrably large U.S. component. Furthermore, the EU is the second largest export market for India’ s wooden handicraft manufacturers and, understandably, the manufacturers are extremely concerned about future access to this market with EUDR enforcement due to start on 30 December this year.

Manufacturers in the region are also now having to deal with the challenges of decreasing traditional sources of wood supply and ensuring the wood they use does not come from illegal sources. There is a decrease in the availability of traditional domestically produced hardwoods, such as mango (Magnifera indica) and acacia (Acacia nilotica), upon which the handicraft manufacturers rely heavily. Availability of imported teak, which in previous decades could be sourced notably from Myanmar, is now negligible following years of heavy over-exploitation. And in any case, manufacturers cannot use Myanmar teak in any exports to the US or EU due to strict sanctions imposed in both regions. Availability of other natural forest tropical hardwoods from other parts of Southeast Asia and from Africa is also now much reduced following the belated introduction of tighter logging regulations and export controls in these countries.

The U.S. delegation highlighted the considerable advantages of manufacturing products using American hardwoods that are not only abundant but now also backed by the AHA to provide a robust assurance of legal and sustainable provenance. “India offers significant potential for the consumption of American hardwoods across sectors, both for domestic and export manufacturing. Jodhpur is just one production centre for wooden furniture and handicrafts. There are several others — in Rajasthan as well as across India. The scale of manufacturing is significant and the requirement for hardwood lumber is substantial. This has been further highlighted by the Indian companies that attended the event and expressed a keen interest in importing and using American hardwoods for the first time,” said Roderick Wiles, regional director, AHEC.