CHAPTER IV 

 AVAILABILITY OF WORLD TIMBER RESOURCES 



This chapter presents information on recent 

 trends in U.S. imports and exports of timber 

 products together with an appraisal of the timber 

 demand and supply situation in the major im- 

 porting and exporting countries or regions of the 

 world. 



This appraisal, along with the anaylsis of the 

 domestic timber situation contained in other 

 chapters of this report, provides the basis for the 

 projections of timber product imports and ex- 

 ports summarized at the end of this chapter and 

 shown in detail in Chapter V. In view of the 

 projected growth in demand for timber products 

 in the United States, and the economic and en- 

 vironmental constraints on increasing domestic 

 timber supplies, potentials for future timber 

 imports and exports are matters of major signifi- 

 cance in evaluating the U.S. timber situation. 



TRENDS IN U.S. IMPORTS OF TIMBER PRODUCTS 



As consumption of industrial timber products 

 has risen to higher levels in the United States, this 

 country has purchased increasing amounts of 

 lumber, newsprint, woodpulp, plywood, and other 

 products from other parts of the world. In 1972, 

 U.S. imports of timber products reached an all- 

 time high of 2.9 billion cubic feet, roundwood 



equivalent. 1 This was nearly two times the level 

 of 1950 (fig. 47 and Append. IV, table 1). Timber 

 imports in 1972 represented one-fifth of the total 

 supply of timber products available to the United 

 States. 



The value of imports of timber products has 

 also climbed rapidly, reaching $3.6 billion in 1972, 

 or nearly double the value of exports (table 99). 

 This represented about 6.5 percent of the 

 value of all U.S. imports of merchandise. 



Lumber. — Prior to 1941 the United States was a 

 net lumber exporter but since then lumber imports 

 have climbed steadily and rapidly. Between 1950 

 and 1972 lumber imports rose from 0.5 billion cubic 

 feet (3.4 billion board feet) to 1.5 billion cubic 

 feet (9.4 billion board feet) (fig. 47 and Append. 

 IV, table 2) — a rise that accounted for over half 

 of the total growth in imports during this period. 



1 "Roundwood equivalent" represents the volume of 

 logs or other round products required to produce woodpulp, 

 paper, plywood, or other processed materials. It is rec- 

 ognized that portions of imports and exports of products 

 such as woodpulp are produced from plant residues and 

 thus do not actually represent roundwood production in 

 addition to the logs used primarily for lumber or plywood. 

 Figures for roundwood equivalent are used to indicate 

 relative volumes of processed products. 



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