FUTURE DEMAND FOR TIMBER 



441 



Table 256. — Quantity of pulpwood consumed per 

 ton of woodpulp output, specified years, 1935-55 



[Cords of wood per ton of pulp] 







Type of pulp 



















Aver- 















age 



Year 











Semi- 



for 





Ground- 



Sul- 



Sul- 



Soda 



chemi- 



all 





wood 



fite 



fate 





cal and 

 other 



types 



1935--- 



0. 93 

 .93 

 .92 



1. 97 

 1.91 



2. 02 



1.65 

 1. 64 

 1.67 







1. 55 



1936--. 







1. 53 



1937--. 



1.76 



0. 76 



1.58 



1938-.. 



. 91 



1. 92 



1. 65 



1. 82 



.91 



1. 55 



1939... 



.91 



1. 90 



1. 64 



1.73 



.95 



1. 55 



1940... 



. 97 



1. 90 



1. 59 



1. 84 



. 94 



1. 53 



1947--- 



.98 



2. 01 



1. 77 



1.95 



1. 02 



1. 62 



1955-.- 



1. 02 



1. 99 



1.80 



1. 90 



1. 07 



1. 63 



Source: United States Pulp Producers Association. 

 Woodpulp Statistics. 1956 ed. New York. (Reporting 

 statistics of the Bureau of the Census.) 



Table 257. — Shifts toward increased production 

 of bleached pulps, 1940-55 



[Thousand tons) 





Sulfite 



Sulfate 



Year 



Total 

 produc- 

 tion 



Bleached 



Total 

 produc- 

 tion 



Bleached 





Quan- 

 tity 



Per- 

 cent 



Quan- 

 tity 



Per- 

 cent 



1940 



1945 



1950 



1955 



2,608 

 2,360 

 2,844 

 3,251 



1, 612 

 1,544 



2, 103 

 2, 605 



62 

 65 

 74 

 80 



3,748 



4,472 



7,506 



11, 577 



585 



854 



1,793 



3,625 



16 

 19 

 24 

 31 



Source: United States Pulp Producers Association. 

 Woodpvlp Statistics. 1956 ed. New York. (Reporting 

 statistics of the Bureau of the Census.) 



(for nonpaper products as well as for paper and 

 paperboard) are converted to corresponding esti- 

 mates of pulpwood: 



IVoodpuIp Pulpwood 

 {million (million 



Grade : tons) cords) 



Sulfite 7.9 15.0 



Sulfate 23.4 39.0 



Soda .7 1.5 



Groundwood 10.4 10.0 



Semichemical and other 7.0 6.5 



Total 49.4 72.0 



By 2000, assuming a further shift toward the 

 use of dense hardwoods, increased use of the high- 

 yield pulping processes, and further improvement 

 in plant operating efficiency, use of pulpwood per 

 ton of woodpulp requirements may decline still 

 more from 1.5 cords in 1975 to 1.3 in 2000. 



Summary of Projected Demand for 



Pulpwood 



Estimates of 1952 consumption of pulpwood, 

 and projections of pulpwood demand to 1975 and 

 2000, are as follows: 



Million 

 cords 



Consumption in 1952 35. 4 



Projections to 1975: 



Lower 65. 



Medium 72. 



Projections to 2000: 



Lower 90. 



Medium . 100. 



Upper 125. 



The medium projection rests on the assumptions 

 that the United States population will grow to 

 215 million by 1975 and 275 million by 2000. 

 The upper projection anticipates a 2000 popula- 

 tion of 360 million. Both of these projections also 

 assume no change in the real price of woodpulp 

 products, woodpulp, or pulpwood. 



Lacking clear historical indications of what 

 effect a substantial increase in prices would have 

 upon demand for pulpwood, the lower projections 

 are largely a matter of judgment. Wood, because 

 of lower costs of handling, storing, and processing, 

 is the cheapest source of raw material for pulp 

 and is the only present economic source of raw 

 material existing in sufficient volinnes. There is 

 no immediate prospect that any other fiber will 

 replace pulpwood. If, however, the price of pulp- 

 wood increases substantially faster than the price 

 of substitute materials, it is estimated that waste 

 paper and materials such as straw and bagasse 

 may displace pulpwood to the extent of about 10 

 percent of the medium projection in both 1975 

 and 2000. 



The softwood-hardwood distribution of future 

 pulpwood demand is likely to be determined more 

 by supply factors than demand factors. With 

 the sulfate and semichemical processes, most 

 hardwood species can be used. Since hardwoods 

 are likely to be more plentiful than softwoods in 

 1975 and 2000, a marked increase in the propor- 

 tions of hardw'oods used is expected — from about 

 12 percent in 1952 to 26 percent in 1975 and 2000. 



FUTURE DEMAND FOR VENEER 



LOGS AND BOLTS 



Logs and bolts utilized for manufacture of 

 veneer and plywood comprised about 4 percent 

 of United States consumption of industrial wood 

 in 1952. The vohune increased from 329 million 

 board-feet hi 1906 to 3,431 million in 1955— a 

 tenfold growth in 50 years (table 258). The 1955 

 figure includes about 2.4 billion board-feet of 

 softwoods and about 1 billion board-feet of hard- 

 woods. Since 1945 the softwood sector of the 

 industry has been expanding at a phenomenal 

 rate (fig. 128). 



