AVAILABILITY OF WORLD TIMBER RESOURCES 



131 



T.ble 101.— Consumption and domestic supplies oj industrial wood in Europe in 1965 and 1970, with 



projections to 1980 



[Million cubic feet, roundwood equivalent] 



Item 



Consumption of sawn wood, plywood and veneers . 

 European removals of saw logs, veneer logs, etc. 



Apparent shortfall - 



Consumption of other industrial forest products ~S'"a~~^Za 



European removals of pulpwood, pitprops, and miscellaneous roundwood, and 

 transfer of residues 



1965 



5,579 

 4,661 



918 



4,696 

 4, 449 



Apparent shortfall. 



Consumption of all products 



Total European removals and residues transfer- 



Total apparent shortfall. 



247 



10, 275 

 9, 110 



1970 



6,073 

 5,049 



1, 165 



424 



11,970 

 10, 522 



Projections 



1975 



6, 179 

 5, 155 



1,448 



848 



13,312 

 11, 440 



1,872 



1980 



6,426 



5, 438 



1,342 



15, 183 

 12, 853 



2,330 



Sources: 1965, 1975 and 1980— Food and Agriculture 

 Organization of the United Nations and United Nations 

 Economic Commission for Europe. European timber 

 trends and prospects, 1950-1980, an interim review. Vol. 1, 

 182 p. Geneva. May 1969. 



demands will continue to increase. These expec- 

 tations in part underlie the projections of U.S. 

 exports of pulp and paper products shown in 

 Chapter V. In the case of lumber and logs, it 

 seems likely that nearly all of the growth in 

 European demands for these products will be 

 met by imports from the Soviet Union, Canada, 

 and tropical hardwood regions. 



The Situation in Japan 



The phenomenal economic growth of Japan 

 in the last couple of decades resulted in a sixfold 

 increase in industrial wood consumption between 

 1950 and 1972 to 3.6 billion cubic feet, round- 

 wood equivalent (table 102). 



Although Japan is heavily forested, its timber 

 resources are relatively limited in relation to 

 population. Japanese forests were also severely 

 depleted by heavy cutting during World War II. 

 To meet the rapidly increasing domestic and 

 export demands for" timber products, imports 

 of logs and other products into Japan have in- 

 creased sharply to 56 percent of total supplies 

 in 1972. 



For many years imports were mainly tropical 

 hardwood logs for use in production of plywood, 

 but since the early 1960's imports of softwood 

 logs for the manufacture of lumber, and imports 

 of chips for pulp manufacture, also have risen 

 sharply. Most of the softwood log imports have 

 originated in the United States and the Soviet 

 Union. By far the largest part of the chip imports 

 have come from the United States. Canada 



J970 — United Nations Economic and Social Council, 

 Economic Commission for Europe, Timber Committee. 

 TIM Working Paper No. 173/ Add. 1, 19 p. July 12, 1972. 



and the United States have supplied most of the 

 imported pulp and paper. 



Estimates of the Japanese Forestry Agency 

 indicate that demand for timber products will 

 continue to grow rapidly to an estimated 4.8 

 billion cubic feet by 1981 (table 103). Imports are 

 expected to play an increasingly important role, 

 rising to about" 3 billion cubic feet by 1981, or 

 63 percent of total projected demands. In time 

 Japanese forests are expected to be capable of 

 supplying an increasing share of total demands. 

 By the year 2021, for example, domestic wood 

 production is projected to reach 3.3 billion cubic 

 feet— double the 1972 level of domestic timber 

 harvests. , 



This outlook could, of course, be changed by 

 shortfalls in forestry programs, diversions of forest 

 land to other uses, or constraints on timber 

 production associated with protection of the 

 environment. In any event, it seems clear that 

 Japan is likely to continue to be a major importer 

 of timber products from North America, Siberia, 

 Southeast Asia, and perhaps other areas during 

 the next few decades. 5 



The projections of U.S. exports, summarized at 

 the end of this chapter, assume that without 

 U.S. export controls shipments to Japan of logs, 

 chips, woodpulp, and lumber will continue to 

 rise somewhat. However, it was also assumed 



• Crawford, G. S. The Japanese lumber market, some 

 trends in factors of significance for British Columbia. 

 British Columbia Res. Counc, \ancouver, B.O. iyt>t>. 



