Forest Service | December 2017

e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-133

Tennessee’s

Timber Industry—Timber Product Output and Use, 2015

1

Introduction

This science update contains the findings of a 2015 canvass of all 

primary wood-using plants in Tennessee, and presents changes in 

product output and residue use since 2011. It complements the 

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annual inventory of volume 

and removals from the State’s timberland. The canvass was 

conducted to determine the amount and source of wood receipts and 

annual timber product drain, by county, in 2015 and to determine 

interstate and cross-regional movement of industrial roundwood. 

Only primary wood-using mills were canvassed. Primary mills are 

those that process roundwood in log or bolt form or as chipped 

roundwood. Examples of industrial roundwood products are saw 

logs, pulpwood, veneer logs, poles, and logs used for composite 

board products. Mills producing products from residues generated at 

primary and secondary processors were not canvassed. Trees 

chipped in the woods were included in the estimate of timber drain 

only if they were delivered to a primary domestic manufacturer. 

A 100-percent canvass of all wood processors in Tennessee was 

conducted in 2016 to obtain information for 2015. In addition, 

roundwood from out-of-State mills known to be using logs or bolts 

harvested from Tennessee timberland was incorporated into 

Tennessee production estimates. Each mill was canvassed by mail 

or through personal contact at plant locations. Telephone contacts 

followed mailed questionnaire responses when additional 

information or clarification of a response was necessary. In the 

event of a nonresponse, data collected in previous surveys were 

updated using current data collected for mills of similar size, 

product type, and location. Surveys for all timber products other 

than pulpwood began in 1949, and are currently conducted every 2 

years.

Pulpwood production data were taken from an annual canvass of all 

southern pulpmills. Medium density fiberboard, insulating board, 

and hardboard plants were included in this survey.

The FIA Research Work Unit of the Forest Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture developed the Timber Product Output 

(TPO) Database Retrieval System to help customers answer 

questions about timber harvesting and use in the Southern region. 

This system acts as an interface to a standard set of consistently 

coded TPO data for each State and county in the region and Nation. 

The database is well documented and easy to use. The retrieval 

system allows the user to select the TPO variables of interest and 

generate a standard set of timber products, removals, and mill 

residue tables for the specified resource area, State, or region. The 

Excel® core tables and figures that complement this science update 

are available on the TPO database. The system is available through 

the FIA Web site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/srsfia/. 

The SRS gratefully acknowledges the tremendous cooperation and 

assistance provided by the Tennessee Division of Forestry in 

collecting mill data. Appreciation is also extended to forest industry 

and mill managers for providing timber products information.

Product and

species group 2011 2015 Change Change

percent

 Softwood 2,782 5,595 2,813 101.1

 Hardwood 115,975 116,487 512 0.4

 Total 118,757 122,082 3,325 2.8

 Softwood 45,682 52,153 6,471 14.2

 Hardwood 82,131 50,200 -31,931 -38.9

 Total 127,813 102,353 -25,460 -19.9

 Softwood 1,637 2,382 745 45.5

 Hardwood 2,382 3,727 1,345 56.5

 Total 4,019 6,109 2,090 52.0

 Softwood 50,101 60,130 10,029 20.0

 Hardwood 200,488 170,414 -30,074 -15.0

 Total 250,589 230,544 -20,045 -8.0

Table 1—Output of industrial products by product 

and species group, Tennessee, 2011 and 2015

Year

 - - - - thousand cubic feet - - - - 

Saw logs

Pulpwood

Other industrial

All industrial
e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-133

2

All Products

Industrial timber product output from roundwood decreased 20.0 

million cubic feet, or 8 percent, to 230.5 billion cubic feet.

Output of industrial hardwood roundwood products was down 15 

percent, to 170.4 million cubic feet, while output of industrial 

softwood roundwood products increased 20 percent to 60.1 million 

cubic feet (fig. 1).

Total receipts at Tennessee mills, which included roundwood 

harvested and retained in the State and roundwood imported from 

other States, was up 2 percent from 289.4 million cubic feet to 

294.0 million cubic feet.

At the same time, the number of primary roundwood-using plants 

in Tennessee declined from 255 in 2011 to 244 in 2015 (fig. 3, see 

next page). The number of sawmills decreased by 9, composite 

and miscellaneous mills decreased by one each, while pulpmills, 

veneer, post and pole and bioenergy mills remained unchanged.

Across all products, 79 percent of roundwood harvested was 

retained for processing at Tennessee mills. Exports of roundwood 

to other States amounted to 49.4 million cubic feet, while imports 

of roundwood amounted to 112.9 million cubic feet making the 

State a net importer of roundwood. 

Pulpwood and saw logs were the principal roundwood products in 

2015. Combined output of these two products totaled 224.4 million 

cubic feet and accounted for 97 percent of the State’s total industrial roundwood output (fig. 2).

Figure 1—Roundwood production for all products by 

species group and year, Tennessee.

Figure 2—Roundwood production by type of product, 

Tennessee 2015.

0

50

100

150

200

250

1960 1970 1979 1989 1995 1997 1999 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011 2015

Production (million cubic feet)

Year

Softwood Hardwood

Saw logs

53%

Pulpwood

44%

Other 

Industrial

3%

Total 231 million cubic feet
3

e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-133

Figure 3

—Primary wood-using mills, Tennessee 2015.
e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-133

4

Sixty-seven percent of roundwood cut for pulpwood was retained 

for processing at Tennessee pulpmills. Roundwood pulpwood 

accounted for 67 percent of total known exports and 93 percent of 

total imports. 

Five pulpmill facilities were operating and receiving roundwood in 

Tennessee in 2015, the same since 1995. Total pulpwood receipts 

for these mills increased to 174.5 million cubic feet, accounting for 

59 percent of total receipts for all mills.

In 2015, Tennessee had 235 sawmills, 9 fewer mills than in 

2011. Total saw-log receipts were up 1 percent to 119.3 million 

cubic feet. Hardwood saw-log receipts increased 1 percent to 

117.1 million cubic feet, while those of softwoods were up 1 

percent to 2.2 million cubic feet. 

Tennessee retained 92 percent of its saw-log production for 

within State manufacture, with saw-log exports exceeding 

imports by 2.8 million cubic feet in 2015.

Other Industrial Products

Roundwood harvested for other industrial uses such as poles, posts, 

mulch, residential firewood, industrial fuel, logs for log homes, 

composite panels, veneer and all other industrial products totaled 

6.1 million cubic feet. Hardwood made up 61 percent of the other 

industrial products volume.

The number of plants producing other industrial products totaled 4 

in 2015. Combined receipts of other industrial products from softwood and hardwood totaled 240 thousand cubic feet. 

Pulpwood

Total pulpwood production decreased 20 percent to 102.4 million 

cubic feet and accounted for 44 percent of the State’s total roundwood TPO compared to 51 percent of total TPO in 2011. Hardwood output was down to 50.2 million cubic feet, a decrease of 39 

percent from 2011. Softwood output increased to 52.2 million cubic 

feet, an increase of 14 percent from 2011 (fig. 4). 

Saw logs

Saw logs accounted for 53 percent of the State’s total roundwood 

products. Output of hardwood saw logs increased < 1 percent to 

116.5 million cubic feet, while that of softwood saw logs increased 

101 percent to 5.6 million cubic feet (fig. 5).

Figure 4—Roundwood pulpwood production by species group and year, Tennessee.

Figure 5—Roundwood saw-log production by 

species group and year, Tennessee.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1960 1970 1979 1989 1995 1997 1999 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011 2015

Production (million cubic feet)

Year

Softwood Hardwood

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1960 1970 1979 1989 1995 1997 1999 2001 2005 2007 2009 2011 2015

Production (million cubic feet)

Year

Softwood Hardwood
5

e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-133

Plant Byproducts

In 2015, processing of primary products in Tennessee mills 

generated 98.5 million cubic feet of wood and bark residues. Coarse 

residues from all primary products amounted to 41.8 million cubic 

feet, while bark volume totaled 31.9 million cubic feet. Collectively, 

sawdust and shavings made up 25 percent of total residues, or 24.8 

million cubic feet (fig. 6).

The processing of saw logs generated 79.1 million cubic feet of mill 

residues, accounting for 80 percent of the total residues produced 

(fig. 7).

Ninety-five percent, or 94.0 million cubic feet, of the wood and bark 

residues were used for a product. While 5 percent of the residues 

were not used for a product, 50 percent of the residues were used for 

industrial fuel and 25 percent were used for fiber products (fig. 8). 

Fifty-seven percent, or 24.0 million cubic feet, of the coarse residues 

were used for fiber products. Seventy-one percent of the bark was 

used for industrial fuel, while 68 percent of the sawdust and 

shavings were used for industrial fuel.

 How to Cite This Publication

Gray, James A.; Bentley, James W.; Cooper, 

Jason A.; Wall, David J. 2017. Tennessee’s 

timber industry—timber product output and 

use, 2015. e-Science Update–133. Asheville, 

NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest 

Service, Southern Research Station. 5 p.

Contact Information

James A. Gray, Forester

Forest Inventory and Analysis

Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service

4700 Old Kingston Pike

Knoxville, Tennessee 37919

Phone: 865-862-2008 / Fax: 865-862-0248

Email: jagray@fs.fed.us

Southern FIA: http://www.fs.usda.gov/srsfia/

National FIA: http://fia.fs.fed.us

James W. Bentley, Forester

Forest Inventory and Analysis

Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service

4700 Old Kingston Pike

Knoxville, Tennessee 37919

Phone: 865-862-2056 / Fax: 865-862-0248

Email: jamesbentley@fs.fed.us

Southern FIA: http://www.fs.usda.gov/srsfia/

National FIA: http://fia.fs.fed.us

The published report is available online at http://treesearch.fs.fed.us

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

Sawdust

25%

Shavings

< 1%

Bark

32%

Coarse

42%

Total 99 million cubic feet

Figure 6—Primary mill residue by residue type, 

Tennessee, 2015.

Saw logs

80%

Pulpwood

20%

Other 

industrial

<1%

Total 99 million cubic feet

Figure 7—Primary mill residue produced by 

roundwood type, Tennessee, 2015.

Figure 8—Disposal of residue by product, Tennessee, 

2015.

Industrial 

fuel

50%

Not 

used

5%

Fiber 

products

25%

Charcoal/

chemical 

wood

6% Miscellaneous

4%

Animal 

bedding

1%

Mulch/soil

additive

9%

Total 99 million cubic feet