Table %.M. — Characteristics of the plywood and veneer industry in the United States, by section, 



1972 



Section 



Number of 

 establishments 



Thousands of 

 employees 



Value of shipments in 

 millions of dollars 





Hardwood 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



Softwood 



North 



South 



Rocl<y Mountains 



Pacific Coast 



114 

 200 



52 



57 



11 



156 



8.8 

 12.6 



4.0 



11.9 



2.2 



29.2 



258.2 

 428.6 



225.0 



501.4 



104.5 



1,386.6 



United States 



366 



232 



25.1 



43.7 



911.8 



2,011.5 



Source: See source note table 6 8. 



Northwest. Hardwood veneer log production in 1976 

 amounted to 0.6 billion board feet. About two-thirds 

 of this came from the South. 



Woodpulp Manufacturing 



There were 331 pulp mills in the United States in 

 1972 (table 6.8). This included 60 mills that produced 

 market pulp and 271 mills that were integrated with 

 paper, paperboard, building paper, and board mills. 

 Employment, which included employees in the paper 

 and board mills, was 161,000 or 25 percent of total 

 employment in the primary timber processing indus- 

 tries. The combined value of shipments was almost $9 

 billion. 



The softwood lumber and plywood industries are concentrated in 

 the West, as is most of the inventory of softwood sawtimber. 



The number of mills in the woodpulp industry in 

 1972 was slightly higher than in 1958 and substan- 

 tially above the number reported in the early 1960's 

 (table 6.10). Employment has trended up to the 

 160,000 level of 1976. The value of shipments in con- 

 stant 1972 dollars has more than doubled, rising from 

 $4.9 billion in 1958 to $10.5 bilHon in 1976. 



Almost one-half of woodpulp manufacturing estab- 

 lishments reported in 1972 were in the North, but the 

 average size was smaller than in the other geographic 

 sections (table 6.1 1). More than one-half of the value 

 shipments of the industry and nearly one-half of its 

 employment was in the third of the establishments 

 located in the South. Almost all of the remaining 

 establishments were in the Pacific Coast section. The 

 Rocky Mountain section had only three woodpulp 

 mills. 



Most of the growth in the woodpulp industry in 

 recent decades has been in the South. This, in large 

 part, has reflected a relatively favorable timber 

 supply and cost situation. Pulpwood harvests (round- 

 wood) from the forests in this section were 32 million 

 cords in 1976. In addition to the roundwood, about 

 15 million cords of chips, largely obtained from the 

 byproducts of sawmills and veneer plants, were used 

 in the southern pulp industry in 1976. Total regional 

 consumption amounted to 47 million cords or 65 per- 

 cent of the wood consumed in United States pulp- 

 mills in that year. 



The forests in the Pacific Coast section supplied 

 about one-sixth of the wood used in the woodpulp 

 industry in 1976. Most of this wood was chips 

 obtained as byproducts from sawmills and veneer 

 plants. The forests of the North supplied another 15 

 percent of the wood consumed, nearly all of it round- 

 wood. The remaining 3 percent came from the forests 

 in the Rocky Mountains. 



226 



