184 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER • IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 139.— Plywood consumption, exports, imports, and domestic production, selected years 1950-72 with projections under 

 alternate price assumptions {medium projections of growth in population and economic activity) to 2000 



[ 3 ^-inch basis] 



Year 



Domestic consumption 



Exports 



Imports 



Domestic production i 



Total 



Per capita 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



Total 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 2 



Total 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



Total 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



1950 



Billion 



square 



feet 



Square 

 feet 



Billion 



square 



feet 



2.7 



5.3 



7.8 



12.4 



12.8 

 12.8 

 14.3 

 13.4 

 14.0 



16.3 

 18.1 



Billion 



square 



feet 



Billion 

 square 



feet 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



0.1 

 .1 

 .1 



.2 

 .2 



.1 



2 



Billion 

 square 



feet 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 0.1 

 .1 

 .2 

 .1 



.1 

 .2 



Billion 



square 

 feet 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 0.1 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



Billion 



square 



feet 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



0.7 



1.1 



1.3 

 1.2 

 1.9 

 2.1 

 2.0 



2.5 

 3.2 



Billion 



square 



feet 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



Billion 



square 



feet 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 0.7 

 1.0 



1.3 

 1.2 

 1.9 

 2.1 

 2.0 



2.5 

 3.2 



Billion 



square 



feet 



Billion 



square 



feet 



2.7 



5.3 



7.8 



12.4 



12.8 

 12.8 

 14.4 

 13.5 

 14.1 



16.4 

 18.3 



Billion 



square 



feet 



I960 



1965 



ir6fi 



1967 

 1968 



1069 



1970 



1971< 

 1972 « 



7.1 

 9.6 

 15.5 



16.1 

 16.9 

 18.2 

 17.3 

 17.8 



20.7 

 23.5 



43 

 53 



80 



82 

 80 

 91 

 85 



87 



100 

 112 



1.8 

 1.8 

 3.1 



3.3 

 3.2 

 3.9 



4.0 

 3.8 



4.5 

 5.4 





6.6 

 8.9 

 14.5 



14.9 

 14.8 

 16.4 

 15.4 

 15.9 



18.3 

 20.5 



1.4 



1.1 

 2.0 



2.1 

 1.9 

 2.0 

 1.9 

 1.8 



1.9 

 2.2 



Projections— 1970 relative prices 



Year 



Domestic demand 



Exports 



Imports 



Demand on U.S. mills 



1980 



1990 



2000 



26.8 

 32.6 

 36.8 



118 

 128 

 131 



20.9 

 25.4 

 28.7 



5.9 

 7.2 

 8.1 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



3.5 

 3.5 

 3.5 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



3.5 

 3.5 

 3.5 



23.3 20.9 

 29.1 25.4 

 33.3 28.7 



2.4 

 3.7 

 4.6 



Projections — rising relative prices 5 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2900. 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



23.9 

 27.6 

 29.5 



105 

 108 

 105 



18.6 

 21.5 

 23.0 



5.3 

 6.1 

 6.5 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 (?) 



3.3 



3.9 

 4.2 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



3.3 



3.9 

 4.2 



22.8 

 27.7 

 31.3 



100 

 109 

 111 



17.8 

 21.6 

 24.4 



Projections— relative prices 30 percent above 1970 average 



20.6 

 23.7 

 25.3 



18.6 

 21.5 

 23.0 



2.0 

 2.2 

 2.3 



5.0 

 6.1 



6.9 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 M 

 P) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



4.1 

 4.2 

 4.3 



( 3 ) 



( 3 ) 

 ( 3 ) 



4.1 

 4.2 

 4.3 



18.7 

 23.5 

 27.0 



17.8 

 21.6 

 24.4 



0.9 

 1.9 

 2.6 



1 Includes production from both domestic and imported species. 



2 Includes mixed species (not classified as hardwoods and softwoods). 



3 Less than 50 million square feet in the years 1950-72 and 500 million square 

 feet in 1980, 1990, and 2000. 



4 Preliminary. 



s With relative prices rising at an annual rate of 1.0 percent from the 1970 

 trend level. 



8 This approximates prices of softwood plywood in early 1972. 



Veneer exports (not included in table 139) in 

 1972 totaled 492 million square feet (surface 

 measure) roughly eight times the volume shipped 

 in the early 1960's. Despite this increase veneer 

 exports are not expected to become a significant 

 source of demand for domestically produced veneer 

 logs. 



In contrast to limited exports, imports of hard- 

 wood plywood have risen rapidly in the last two 

 decades to a total of 3.2 billion square feet 

 (%-inch basis) in 1972 (table 139). Imports of 

 softwood plywood, on the other hand, have not 

 been significant and no change is assumed in the 

 next few decades. 



Over four-fifths of all plywood imports in 1972 

 were composed of lauan from the forests of insular 

 Southeast Asia. Most of the remainder consisted 

 of other tropical species such as sen, mahogany, 

 and shiva. 



Note: Data may not add to totals because of rounding. 



Sources: 1950-72— U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 

 Production— Softwood plywood. Curr. Ind. Reps. Ser. MA24H (annual)- 

 Hardwood plywood. Curr. Ind. Reps. Ser. MA24H (annual); Exports— U.S. 

 exports— schedule B commodity and country. FT 410 (monthly); Imports— 

 1XS. imports— general and consumption, schedule A commodity and country. 

 FT 135 (monthly). 



Projections: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 



Assuming 1970 relative prices, hardwood ply- 

 wood imports have been projected to rise to 3.5 

 billion square feet by 1980 and remain at this 

 level through the rest of the projection period. 

 Under the alternative higher price assumptions, 

 plywood imports are projected to go as high as 

 4.3 billion square feet by 2000. 



Veneer imports have also increased rapidly, mov- 

 ing up from around 400 million square feet (surface 

 measure) in the early 1950's to 3.2 billion square 

 feet in 1972. Hardwood veneer imports are ex- 

 pected to continue to rise for use in domestic 

 production of plywood. 



Demand on U.S. mills for plywood. — Domestic 

 plywood production in 1972 reached 20.5 billion 

 square feet (%-inch basis) — more than 4 times the 

 level of output in the early 1950's (table 139). 

 Softwoods accounted for nearly all of the growth 

 in this period. 



