DEMAND FOR TIMBER PRODUCTS 



201 



Softwoods have long been preferred for pulp 

 and paper products because of such factors as 

 relatively high strength properties and light 

 color. In recent decades, however, use of hard- 

 woods has increased rapidly in response to techno- 

 logical improvements in pulping, availabilitjr of 

 substantial volumes of hardwood at relatively 

 lower costs per ton of fiber, improvements in 

 properties of many grades of paper and board with 

 the addition of hardwood pulps, and rising com- 

 petition and prices for softwood timber. The trend 

 toward increased use of hardwoods is likely to be 

 encouraged b}^ a comparatively favorable supply 

 situation, as indicated by the timber demand- 

 supply comparisons in Chapter VI. 



Based on recent trends and available technology, 

 proportions of softwoods in the pulpwood harvest 

 were assumed to continue to decline from 71 

 percent of the total round wood used in 1972 to 

 about 66 percent by 1980 and 60 percent by 2000, 

 with corresponding increases in proportions of 

 hardwood pulpwood. 



Although pulpwood generally is obtained from 

 smaller sizes and lower grades of timber, sub- 

 stantial volumes of sawtimber suitable for lumber 

 and plywood also are consumed in the production 

 of paper and board. In 1970, for example, an 

 estimated 7 billion board feet of softwood saw- 

 timber, and 2 billion board feet of hardwood 

 sawtimber, were used in pulp manufacture. In 

 many cases the saw-log material used for pulp 

 was of relatively low grade. In other cases, where 

 sawtimber trees are scattered, for example, or 

 where pulp timber is harvested from small tracts 

 by small producers, considerable volumes of 

 sawtimber of high quality have been used. 



Other developments such as rising timber 

 values and local shortages of wood have been 

 encouraging greater use of small trees and ma- 

 terial formerly left as logging residues. It also 

 seems likely that new technological developments 

 leading to practical methods of bark-chip separa- 

 tion, and/or acceptance of bark in the furnishes 

 of some grades of paper and board, will lead to 

 greater use of small stems, limbs, and cull trees 

 that have been previously unused. It has, 

 therefore, been assumed that while the total 

 quantity of sawtimber used for pulp will continue 

 to increase, the proportion of the total pulpwood 

 mix made up of sawtimber will decline moderately. 

 Demand for pulpwood including the roundwood 

 equivalent of net imports of paper, board, and wood- 

 pulp— In addition to pulpwood from U.S. forests, 

 a substantial volume of wood is represented by 

 imports of pulp, paper, and board. In 1972, for 

 example, the roundwood equivalent of such net 

 imports was 6.9 million cords. With this added to 

 domestic production, the total volume of pulpwood 

 required to manufacture the paper, board, and 

 woodpulp consumed in the United States in 1972 

 was 79.3 million cords. 



Exports of pulpwood and pulpwood products 

 (pulp, paper, and board) in 1972 were equivalent 

 to 9.5 million cords. Thus, total domestic and 

 export demand for pulpwood in 1972 amounted to 

 88.8 million cords. 



Projected demands for pulpwood for U.S. con- 

 sumption, including the roundwood equivalent 

 of net imports of woodpulp and paper and board, 

 rise from 79.3 million cords in 1972 to 166 

 million cords by 2000 (medium projection, 1970 

 relative prices). 



Total pulpwood demands for both U.S. con- 

 sumption and exports — to be supplied from U.S. 

 or foreign resources — are projected to increase to 

 178 million cords by 2000, or double the 1972 

 levels. 



Demand for pulpwood under alternative assump- 

 tions. — The alternative population and gross 

 national product assumptions adopted in this 

 study have a sizeable impact on demands for 

 pulpwood at 1970 relative prices (table 148). For 

 example, in 2000 projected demands for pulpwood 

 for U.S. consumption vary between 139 million 

 and 201 million cords. 



As indicated in the introductory section of this 

 Chapter, it has been assumed that demands for 

 paper and board are quite inelastic, that is, price 

 changes have relatively little effect on demand. 

 Thus, the alternative price assumptions used in 

 this study have relatively little effect on projected 

 demands for pulpwood (table 149). For example, 

 a rise in relative prices of paper and board at the 

 longrun historical rate — about 0.5 percent per 

 year — would reduce the medium projection of 

 pulpwood demand in the United States by only 1.7 

 percent in the year 2000 (table 149). 



If timber supplies are not adequate in future 

 years to meet the projected increases in demands 

 for both pulpwood and other timber products, as 

 indicated by the data in Chapter VI, sizeable 

 price increases for paper and board will be 

 necessary to enable the pulp industry to compete 

 for wood. Also other fibers — wastepaper, bark, 

 limbs and tops, tropical hardwoods, kenaf, and 

 plastics — would be used to a greater extent. 



DEMAND FOR MISCELLANEOUS TIMBER 

 PRODUCTS 



As shown in the tabulation below, a variety of 

 miscellaneous industrial roundwood products are 

 consumed in the United States. 



Standard unit of 



Product measure 1952 



Cooperage Million board feet 355.3 



Piling Million linear feet 41.2 



Poles Million pieces 6.5 



Posts. Millionpieces 306.0 



Mine timbers Million cubic feet 81.0 



Other industrial products'. Million cubic feet 235.2 



All miscellaneous products.. Million cubic feet 



216.0 



41.5 



6.7 



168.7 

 48.4 



157.6 



1970 



214.7 



28.8 



5.4 



97.7 



32.1 



198.8 



. 8 465. 4 424. 



1 Includes charcoal wood, roundwood used in the manufacture of particleboard; 

 poles and rails used in fencing; bolts used for products such as shingles, wood 

 turnings, and handles, and other miscellaneous items such as hop poles. 



