FUTURE DEMAND FOR TIMBER 



459 



Anticipated Net Import Position in 

 1975 and 2000 



With regard to pulpwood products as a whole, 

 the United States has been a net importer since 

 before 1900 (table 269). Net imports increased 

 with hardly a pause from the equivalent of 0.3 

 million cords in 1899 to 7.5 million cords in 1929. 

 Following some cutbacks in the depression years 

 of the early 1930's and again at the outbreak of 

 World War II, which shut off supplies from 

 Europe, net imports resumed their climb — reach- 

 ing a peak of 12.3 million cords in 1951. Net 

 imports declined moderately thereafter to about 

 11.2 million cords in 1952 and 10.5 million cords 

 in 1955. 



The net imports of pulpwood and pulpwood 

 products in 1952 accounted for about 74 percent 

 of United States net imports (roundwood equiv- 

 alent) of timber products. They represented 

 about 32 percent of total United States consump- 

 tion of pulpwood products in 1952 — and about 9 

 percent of total United States consumption 

 (roundwood equivalent) of industrial wood. 



Close to 95 percent (10.6 million cords) of 1952 

 net imports of pulpwood and pulpwood products 

 came from Canada. The rest came from Scandi- 

 navian countries. 



Table 269. — United States net imports of pulpwood 

 and pulpwood products 



(Thousand standard cords) 



Year 



Quan- 



Year 



Quan- 



Year 



Quan- 





tity ' 





tity 1 





tity 1 



1899-__. 



349 



1923 



5,320 



1940 



5, 647 



1904 



765 



1924.. _. 



5,474 



1941 



7,079 



1905.__. 



828 



1925 



5,772 



1942.__. 



7, 142 



1906 



944 



1926 



6, 617 



1943 



6,486 



1907,.. . 



1,283 



1927.___ 



6,679 



1944 



6,022 



1908 



1,022 



1928 



7, 134 



1945 



7,571 



1909___. 



1,339 



1929 



7,486 



1946.... 



9,251 



1910___- 



1,728 



1930... . 



7,088 



1947 



10, 602 



1911 



1,791 



1931 



6,090 



1948___- 



11,376 



1914 



2, 154 



1932___. 



5, 596 



1949 



10, 158 



1916 



2,211 



1933 



6, 277 



1950.__. 



11,839 



1917.... 



2, 129 



1934 



6,569 



1951 



12, 273 



1918 



2,060 



1935 



7,219 



1952 



11,236 



1919 



2,306 



1936 



8,439 



1953.. ._ 



11, 170 



1920... _ 



3,226 



1937.... 



9, 391 



1954 



10, 203 



1921 



2, 881 



1938 



6, 949 



1955-._. 



10, 459 



1922.... 



4,523 



1939_.-. 



7,652 







•In terms of roundwood equivalent volume. Factors 

 used for conversion of tonnages of woodpulp and of paper 

 and paperboard to roundwood equivalent volume are shown 

 in footnotes to tables 267 and 268 above. 



Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

 Census; U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; 

 and American Pulp and Paper Association, The Statistics 

 of Paper, reporting statistics of the Bureau of the Census. 



Net imports of paper and paperboard, woodpulp, 

 and pulpwood in 1955 and anticipated net imports 

 in 1975 and 2000 are summarized as follows: 



Roundwood equivalent 

 volume (million cords) 



1966 1975 2000 



Paper and paperboard 5.8 9.0 10.0 



Woodpulp 2.8 4.0 4.0 



Pulpwood 1.9 1.0 1.0 



Total 10.5 14.0 15.0 



The estimates imply that total net imports of 

 pulpwood, including the pulpwood equivalent of 

 paper and woodpulp imports, will increase 35 

 percent and 44 percent respectively by 1975 and 

 2000. It is estimated that about two-thirds 

 would be in the form of newsprint and other paper, 

 and most of the remainder in the form of woodpulp. 

 More than 90 percent would be softwoods. 



Trends in Imports and Exports of 

 Veneer Logs and Bolts and Veneer 

 Products 



Prior to about 1947, exports of veneer and ply- 

 wood exceeded imports. Since that time the 

 position has been reversed, and exports now make 

 up only a small fraction of the volume imported. 

 About the same situation exists with respect to 

 veneer logs and bolts, except that the changeover 

 occurred about 10 years earlier. At present 

 veneer logs and bolts are relatively minor items in 

 United States international trade in timber prod- 

 ucts. 



Plywood Imports Mostly Hardwood 



Imports of plywood amounted to about 4.5 

 million square feet in 1937 but declined thereafter, 

 particularly during World War II (table 270 and 

 fig. 132). After the war, imports increased to 

 several times the prewar level, but the total 

 quantities remained small until after 1949. Since 

 then imports have increased sharply, rising from 

 63 million square feet in 1950 to 628 million square 

 feet in 1955. 



Hardwood plywood has comprised more than 

 90 percent of plywood imports since 1950. About 

 68 percent of plywood imports in 1955 originated 

 in Japan, 16 percent in Canada, and the remaining 

 16 percent in Finland, the Philippines, French 

 Equatorial Africa, Mexico, and various other 

 countries. The imports from Japan consisted 

 predominantly (some 80 percent or more) of the 

 tropical wood known as luan. Nearly all of the 

 imports from Canada were birch. Plywood im- 

 ported from other countries included a variety of 

 species — oak, poplar, beech, mahogany, and some 

 softwoods. 



