Price index (1984 = 100) 
300 
250 
200 
150 
100 
50 
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 
Southeast 
South Central 
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 
Figure 4.2—Softwood pulpwood stumpage price indexes in the South, 1935—85, with base projections by region, 1990-2030 
ity of large and increasing inventories of hardwood timber. 
After 2000, as timber removals rise above net annual growth 
and inventories begin to decrease, prices begin to rise. In 
the last two decades of the projection period, they are going 
up at a rate of 1.4 percent per year in the South Central 
region and |.2 percent in the Southeast. Prices are rising in 
the Northeast and North Central regions at a slower rate. 
These projected price increases for hardwood sawtimber 
stumpage are for the smaller, lower quality hardwood tim- 
ber that composes the bulk of hardwood timber inventories. 
The stumpage price outlook for larger hardwood timber of 
preferred species, such as select white and red oak, ash, and 
black cherry, is different. Removals of higher quality saw- 
timber of most preferred species have been close to or above 
net annual growth, and there have been large increases in 
stumpage prices in the past. This situation seems likely to 
continue. 
200 
The regional differences in stumpage prices in the South, 
and in the Nation, are caused by a number of complex 
forces. In general, they reflect the intensity of the competi- 
tion for the available timber; differences in stumpage 
characteristics; and variations in regional logging, 
manufacturing, and transportation costs. 
Increases in stumpage prices are reflected in the prices 
of sawlogs, pulpwood, and other roundwood used in the for- 
est industries. These roundwood price increases, which 
represent increased costs to the processing industries, are 
passed on in the prices of products, especially those of lum- 
ber and softwood plywood, where roundwood represents a 
large part of the product cost. 
The projected increases in softwood and hardwood lum- 
ber prices are shown in figure 4.4 and appendix tables 4.2 
and 4.4. The trends are similar to those for stumpage. Soft- 
