In recent decades, there have been substantial improvements in utihzing timber harvested from forests. Small inefficient mills, such as this 

 small sawmill, are largely things of the past. 



The above projections represent total domestic 

 demands for roundwood and sawtimber. A part of 

 these demands will be met by imports. There will also 

 be a substantial export demand. Thus, in deriving 

 demands on domestic forests, it is necessary to take 

 into account projected trade in timber products. 



Trade in Timber Products 



In the early 1900's, the United States changed from 

 a net exporter of timber products to a net importer, 

 and since that time has depended to an increasing 

 degree on Canada and other countries as a source of 

 supply. Even so, exports have been growing; and the 

 United States has remained an important source of 

 timber products for many countries, especially those 

 in western Europe and Japan. 



Post-World War II recovery of the Japanese and 

 European economies, coupled with trade liberaliza- 

 tion and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies in 

 the 1950's and 1960's, has led to a severalfold expan- 

 sion in the economies of industrialized countries. This 



has had profound impact on trade in timber products 

 including that of the United States, which has in gen- 

 eral followed the world pattern. 



Trends in Timber Product Exports 



Most of the growth in timber product exports has 

 occurred since the early 1950's — the volume has 

 increased from 0.1 billion cubic feet roundwood 

 equivalents^ to 1.5 billion cubic feet in 1978 (fig. 6.2). 

 This volume represented about 13 percent of the 

 roundwood produced in domestic forests. 



23 "Roundwood equivalent" represents the volume of logs or 

 other round products required to produce the woodpulp, paper, 

 plywood, or other processed materials imported or exported. It is 

 recognized that portions of imports (and exports) of products such 

 as woodpulp are produced from plant residues and thus do not 

 actually represent direct roundwood use. Roundwood equivalent 

 data do indicate relative volumes of traded products and provide a 

 measure of trade that is comparable to the estimates of demand 

 presented above. 



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