FUTURE DEMAND FOR TIMBER 



453 



roundwood and roimdwood-equivalent volume 

 was as follows: 



Million cubic feet 



Imports Exports Net imports 



1952 1,390 214 1,176 



1955 1,626 315 1,311 



Trends m Lumber Imports and 

 Exports 



Lumber has been a substantial item in the 

 international trade of this country since colonial 

 times. Prior to 1941, exports exceeded imports, 

 but since that year (excepting 1947) imports have 

 exceeded exports (table 265). 



The bulk of the trade has been softwoods — 

 mere than 90 percent of total imports during most 

 years since 1923, and from 70 to 85 percent of the 

 exports. In 1955, the principal softwoods im- 

 ported were spruce, Douglas-fir, cedar, white pine, 

 hemlock, and larch: 



Million 

 Species: bd.-ft. Percent 



Spruce ], 167 35 



Douglas-fir 983 30 



Cedar 285 8 



Pine 247 7 



Hemlock 192 6 



Not specified 453 14 



Total 3,327 100 



Most of the imported softwood lumber has come 

 from Canada. In 1955, for example, more than 

 97 percent was from tliis source (table 264). 

 Small quantities of Parana pine have been im- 

 ported from Brazil and some softwood was 

 obtained from Mexico in the early 1940's, but such 

 imports have declined to a mere trickle in more 

 recent years. The comparatively small volume 

 of hardwood lumber imported consists chiefly of 

 maple, birch, and beech from Canada and a 

 variety of tropical hardwoods such as teak, 

 mahagony, rosewood, ebony, and granadilla, 

 chiefly from the Philippines, Latin America, and 

 Africa. 



Shipro.ents of lumber from the United States 

 have gone to all parts of the world. Formerly the 

 largest share went to Europe, particularly to the 

 United Kingdom.; the rest went to Latin Ameri- 

 can, Asian, and African countries. In most re- 

 cent years a sizable share has been going to Canada 

 and Mexico. 



Softwood has made up 70 to 85 percent of an- 

 nual lumber exports since 1923. Douglas-fir and 

 southern pine have been the two major species. 

 Smaller quantities of the other pines and of spruce, 

 redwood, hemlock, and cypress have been shipped 

 abroad. The bidk of the hardwood export has 

 been oak, with lesser amounts of gum, ash, poplar, 

 and other species. 



Although the United States international trade 

 in lumber has involved substantial quantities, it 



has been of relatively minor importance in com- 

 parison with domestic production and consump- 

 tion (table 266 and fig. 130). In the period 

 1951-52, for example, domestic production aver- 

 aged 37.4 billion board-feet wliile imports aver- 

 aged 2.5 billion board-feet and exports 0.8 billion 

 board-feet. 



The general pattern of international trade in 

 lumber shows the United States changing from a 

 net exporting to a net importing country after 

 1941 (fig. 131). Since that time tariffs and other 

 restrictions on United States imports have been 

 reduced, and domestic demand for lumber has 

 been at a high level. During World War II the 

 lack of transportation and other factors associated 

 with the war caused a loss of United States export 

 markets. Subsequently, many of the countries 

 that formerly received lumber from the United 

 States have found it necessary to limit their pur- 

 chases because of currency-exchange problems. 

 The effect of these factors is that the United States 

 has become a net importing nation and appears 

 likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. 



The United States has assumed a leading role 

 in the cooperative efforts of the Free World to 

 strengthen the economic security and to foster the 

 economic growth of underdeveloped countries. 

 It therefore seems logical to expect that the United 

 States will be called upon to supply quantities of 

 lumber required in this program. In looking to 

 the future it has been assumed that the United 

 States will make some increases in lumber exports, 

 but that its own expanding economy will, at the 

 same time, require increasingly larger lumber 

 imports. 



As the timber resources of Canada become more 

 fully developed, it is reasonable to expect that the 

 United States can count on some increases in 

 lumber imports from that source. On this basis, 

 it is estimated that our net imports (the difference 

 between imports and exports) mav amount to 3 

 billion board-feet in 1975 and 2000. Althougli 

 this figure is only slightly above net lumber im- 

 ports in 1955, it is 43 percent greater than the 

 1951-55 average of 2.1 billion board-feet and 71 

 percent more than net imports in 1952. Distribu- 

 tion by softwoods and hardwoods is expected to 

 follow the pattern of recent 3-ears as shown below: 



Million bd.-ft. 



Total Softwood Hardwood 



1952 1,752 1,701 51 



1955 2,755 2,675 80 



1975 3,000 2,900 100 



2000 3,000 2,900 100 



Trends in Imports and Exports of 

 pulpwood and pulpwood products 



In United States international trade in pulpwood 

 and pulpwood products, imports have far ex- 

 ceeded exports in recent years. Exports of pulp. 



