tion of offices, stores, churches, and a wide variety of other 
nonresidential buildings, and in other types of construction 
such as roads, dams, and water and sewer systems. Al- 
though expenditures for the various classes of construction 
have fluctuated widely in response to changing economic 
conditions, the longrun trend for all types combined has 
been strongly upward. 
Projections based on the close historical relationship between 
changes in the Nation’s overall economic growth (gross 
national product) and changes in expenditures for 
nonresidential building and nonbuilding construction 
indicate substantial additional expenditures over the next 
45 years. However, the rates of growth underlying these 
projections drop throughout the projection period. There is 
also a decline in new nonresidential construction 
expenditures as a percentage of gross national product. This 
is consistent with trends since the late 1960’s, and with 
estimates that the service industries will account for a 
growing share of the Nation’s gross national product in the 
years ahead. 
Manufacturing—Since the mid-1970’s about 10 percent of 
the lumber, 5 percent of the structural panel products, and 
nearly 25 percent of the nonstructural panel products have 
been used for the manufacture of a wide range of products 
such as household furniture—the largest manufacturing use 
of timber products—sports equipment, games and toys, and 
commercial and industrial equipment. 
Since World War II, as the Nation’s population, income, 
and gross national product have grown, demands for manu- 
factured products have increased markedly. Estimates, based 
on the close correlations between the values of shipments 
of certain groups of manufactured products and projected 
changes in the economic and demographic variables dis- 
cussed earlier, indicate continued growth in the years ahead. 
However, as in the case of nonresidential construction, the 
rates of increase in the value of shipments for all groups of 
products, including household furniture, drop significantly 
over the projection period. 
Shipping—In recent years, nearly 18 percent of the lumber 
and about 3 percent of the structural and nonstructural 
panel products consumed have been used in the production 
of wooden pallets, container manufacture, and for dunnage, 
blocking, and bracing of goods for shipping. About three- 
fourths of the lumber and nearly two-thirds of the panel 
products consumed in shipping were used for pallets. 
Over the past three decades, pallet production has risen rap- 
idly as new methods of materials handling were introduced, 
94 
facilities geared to the use of pallets were constructed, and 
the volumes of manufactured and agricultural goods shipped 
have increased. Projections of pallet output, based on its his- 
torically close relationship with the value of manufacturing 
shipments and the assumed growth in shipments as the gross 
national product rises, indicate continued growth in de- 
mands for pallets. 
Although increased demand for pallets is expected over the 
entire projection period, the rates of growth drop rapidly. 
In addition to increasing competition from alternate systems 
and materials, such a falloff means that growth in pallet de- 
mand for use in new materials-handling systems gradually 
ends, and that expansion thereafter depends to a large de- 
gree on growth in industrial and agricultural production. 
The other timber-products shipping markets—wood con- 
tainers, and dunnage, blocking, and bracing—are likely to 
decline slowly over the projection period, in response to 
continued displacement by metal and fiber barrels and pails, 
and other fiber and plastic containers, and due to the ris- 
ing use of palletized, containerized, and other bulk ship- 
ment systems. 
Trends in Unit Use—The projected levels of activity in 
the major markets discussed above are only one of the deter- 
minants of future demands for lumber and panel products. 
Also important are changes in product unit-use factors, that 
is, the volume of timber products used per square foot of 
housing unit floor area, per dollar of construction expen- 
diture, per pallet, or other measure of market change. 
In recent decades, pallet production has 
increased rapidly and created a new and 
large market for lumber, chiefly hardwood 
lumber. 
