Figure 6.2. 



Imports and Exports of Timber Products 



Bil. Cubic Ft., Roundwood Equivalent 

 4.0 r- 



Imports 





 1950 



Lumber 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I M I I I I I I t 



Exports 



Other 



Lumber 

 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



1960 



1970 



1980 1950 



1960 



1970 



1980 



Exports of lumber, chiefly softwoods, have tripled 

 since the early 1950's, rising from 0. 1 billion cubic feet 

 roundwood equivalent (0.5 billion board feet) to 0.3 

 billion cubic feet in 1978 (1.8 billion board feet) — a 

 volume equal to about 5 percent of United States 

 production. The bulk of the increased shipments in 

 recent years has gone to Japan and Canada, with 

 smaller amounts to Europe, Latin America, and 

 other countries. 



Most of the increased lumber exports to Japan 

 have originated in Alaska. These exports peaked at 

 about 400 million board feet in 1973. The potential 

 exists for increases in lumber production in the inte- 

 rior of Alaska, and timber harvest may be accelerated 

 in Southeast Alaska on lands selected by Alaskan 

 Natives. This could result in a further rise in softwood 

 lumber exports to Japan. 



Exports of pulp products also grew rapidly in the 

 1950-78 years moving up from 50 million cubic feet to 

 about 0.7 billion cubic feet roundwood equivalent. 

 This represented about 20 percent of domestic pro- 

 duction. The bulk of the increase in exports of pulp 



products has been in the form of pulp and linerboard 

 shipped to Western Europe and the Far East, princi- 

 pally to Japan. 



Pulp chips produced from slabs and other by- 

 products of primary timber processing plants on the 

 Pacific Coast have made up an increasing part of the 

 shipment of pulp products to Japan since the mid- 

 1960's. Small volumes of roundwood pulpwood have 

 also been exported to Canada. In addition, a grow- 

 ing, but still relatively small, trade has developed in 

 the export of chips from the South to Scandinavia. 



Exports of products such as plywood and veneer, 

 poles, piling, etc., have grown; but the volumes 

 involved have represented a small part of United 

 States production. 



The volume of logs exported has increased rapidly 

 since the early 1950's, rising from 10 million cubic feet 

 to about 0.5 billion cubic feet in 1978 (3.4 bilUon 

 board feet local log scale). By far the largest part of 

 these exports consisted of softwood logs (3.3 bilhon 

 board feet in 1978), with 80 percent of these going to 

 Japan. In 1976, these softwood log exports amounted 



214 



