DEVELOPMENT OF PULPWOOD RESOURCES. 19 



FUEL. 



Fuel for steam power can be obtained from three main sources : 



(1) Wood waste from logging, pulp mill, wood room, and saw- 

 mill operations. 



(2) Coal now delivered by colliers from the Vancouver Island 

 mines and from the Alaska fields of coal and lignite when they have 

 been developed. 



(3) Fuel oil delivered in tank steamers from the California fields. 



MARKETS. 



The leading market for pulp and paper from the Tongass National 

 Forest will be the United States. Its transition in 10 years from the 

 position of an exporter of newsprint to that of an importer, securing 

 two-thirds of its supply abroad subject to any restriction which it 

 may be to the interest of the exporter to impose, will make it ad- 

 vantageous to paper users to patronize the manufacturers of Alaskan 

 pulpwood. The successful installation of pulp and paper plants in 

 British Columbia after a number of trials has proved that the ex- 

 ploitation of this general region is practicable. They represent a 

 logical, progressive exploitation of known proportions. The condi- 

 tions of acquirement of timber in British Columbia are no more 

 advantageous than those in Alaska, nor are they likely to become so. 



In 1919 the pulp and paper mills of British Columbia produced 

 120,000 tons of paper (mostly newsprint) and 170,000 tons of pulp 

 (ground wood, sulphite, and sulphate). 8 Their principal markets 

 are the Pacific coast States of the United States, the western Prov- 

 inces of Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. 



The product of Alaskan mills will come into direct competition 

 in markets now supplied by Canadian and American mills. By 

 reason of the accessibility of timber to the Alaskan mills and favor- 

 able operating conditions, this competition should be successfully 

 met. Manufactures in British Columbia and Alaska have little 

 to fear from each other and much to gain in the common develop- 

 ment of the region. 



Norwegian paper was formerly shipped to Seattle and the west 

 coast, South America, and the Orient. Because of the disadvantages 

 they suffer as to fuel supply and raw materials European producers 

 are likely to be supplanted in many markets by west coast mills. 



The largest potential market in the Orient for the Alaskan pro- 

 ducer is China. The annual per capita consumption there is less 

 than one-quarter of a pound. The per capita consumption of the 

 United States is 33 pounds per annum of newsprint alone, or 100 



8 Pulp and Paper Magazine of Canada, Jan. 15, 1920. 



