Forest Service | September 2017

e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-118

Mississippi’s

Timber Industry—Timber Product Output and Use, 2013

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Introduction

This science update contains the findings of a 2013 canvass of all 

primary wood-using plants in Mississippi, 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 2013 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 Mississippi was 

conducted in 2014 to obtain information for 2013. In addition, 

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

harvested from Mississippi timberland was incorporated into 

Mississippi 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 

used to update the current survey. Surveys for all timber products 

other than pulpwood began in 1948, 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://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/.

The SRS gratefully acknowledges the tremendous cooperation and 

assistance provided by the Mississippi Forestry Commission in 

collecting mill data. Appreciation is also extended to forest industry 

and mill managers for providing timber products information.

Product and

species group 2011 2013 Change Change

percent

 Softwood 152,128 184,044 31,916 21.0

 Hardwood 60,627 51,851 -8,776 -14.5

 Total 212,755 235,895 23,140 10.9

 Softwood 47,662 49,791 2,129 4.5

 Hardwood 2,372 4,294 1,922 81.0

 Total 50,034 54,085 4,051 8.1

 Softwood 343,728 355,587 11,859 3.5

 Hardwood 96,008 118,131 22,123 23.0

 Total 439,736 473,718 33,982 7.7

 Softwood 21,297 37,170 15,873 74.5

 Hardwood 954 6,767 5,813 609.3

 Total 22,251 43,937 21,686 97.5

 Softwood 564,815 626,592 61,777 10.9

 Hardwood 159,961 181,043 21,082 13.2

 Total 724,776 807,635 82,859 11.4

Table 1—Output of industrial products by product 

and species group, Mississippi, 2011 and 2013

Year

 - - - - thousand cubic feet - - - - 

Saw logs

Veneer logs

Pulpwood

Other industrial

All industrial
e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-118

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All Products

Industrial timber product output from roundwood increased 82.9 

million cubic feet, or 11 percent, to 807.6 million cubic feet.

Output of industrial softwood roundwood products was up 11 

percent, to 626.6 million cubic feet, while output of industrial 

hardwood roundwood products increased 13 percent to 181 million 

cubic feet (fig. 1).

Pulpwood and saw logs were the principal roundwood products in 

2013. Combined output of these two products totaled 709.6 million 

cubic feet and accounted for 88 percent of the State’s total industrial 

roundwood output (fig. 2).

Total receipts at Mississippi mills, which included roundwood 

harvested and retained in the State and roundwood imported from 

other States, were up 4 percent from 544.7 million cubic feet to 

566.3 million cubic feet.

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

in Mississippi increased from 63 in 2011 to 64 in 2013 (fig. 3). 

Across all products, 65 percent of roundwood harvested was 

retained for processing at Mississippi mills. Exports of roundwood 

to other States amounted to 282.8 million cubic feet, while imports 

of roundwood amounted to 41.4 million cubic feet making the 

State a net exporter of roundwood. 

Pulpwood

Total pulpwood production increased 8 percent to 473.7 million 

cubic feet and accounted for 59 percent of the State’s total roundwood TPO compared to 61 percent of total TPO in 2011. Softwood 

output was up 4 percent to 355.6 million cubic feet; hardwood output increased 23 percent to 118.1 million cubic feet (fig. 4). 

Five pulp mill facilities were operating and receiving roundwood in 

Mississippi in 2013, the same since 2005. Total pulpwood receipts 

for these mills decreased to 257.4 million cubic feet, accounting for 

45 percent of total receipts for all mills.

Figure 1—Roundwood production for all products by species 

group and year, Mississippi.

Figure 2—Roundwood production by type of product, 

Mississippi, 2013.

Figure 3—Primary wood-using mills, Mississippi, 2013.
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e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-118

Fifty-one percent of roundwood cut for pulpwood was retained for 

processing at Mississippi pulpmills. Roundwood pulpwood 

accounted for 81 percent of total known exports and 34 percent of 

total imports. 

Saw Logs

Saw logs accounted for 29 percent of the State’s total roundwood 

products. Output of softwood saw logs increased 21 percent to 184 

million cubic feet, while that of hardwood saw logs was down 15 

percent to 51.9 million cubic feet (fig. 5).

In 2013, Mississippi had 47 sawmills, 1 mill less than in 2011. 

Total saw-log receipts were up 16.8 million cubic feet to 221.7 

million cubic feet. Softwood saw-log receipts increased 18 percent 

to 171.2 million cubic feet, while those of hardwoods were down 

16 percent to 50.4 million cubic feet. 

Mississippi retained 85 percent of its saw-log production for within 

State manufacture, with saw-log exports exceeding imports by 14.2 

million cubic feet in 2013. 

Other Industrial Products

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

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

composite panels and all other industrial products totaled 43.9 million cubic feet. Softwood made up 85 percent of the other industrial 

products volume.

Veneer Logs

Output of veneer logs in 2013 totaled 54.1 million cubic feet, an 8 

percent increase since 2011, and accounted for 7 percent of the 

State’s total roundwood TPO volume (fig. 6).

The number of veneer mills operating in Mississippi remained 

stable at six for 2013. Receipts of veneer logs increased 6 percent 

to 56.5 million cubic feet. 

The number of plants producing other industrial products totaled 6 

in 2013. Combined receipts of other industrial products from 

softwood and hardwood totaled 30.7 million cubic feet. Industrial 

fuel accounted for 14.3 million cubic feet, or 47 percent, of receipt 

volume for this category.

Figure 4—Roundwood pulpwood production by species group 

and year, Mississippi.

Figure 5—Roundwood saw-log production by species group and 

year, Mississippi. 

Figure 6—Roundwood veneer-log production by species group 

and year, Mississippi.
e-S c i e n c e U p d a t e S RS-118

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Plant Byproducts

In 2013, processing of primary products in Mississippi mills 

generated 218.3 million cubic feet of wood and bark residues. 

Coarse residues from all primary products amounted to 91.1 million 

cubic feet, while bark volume totaled 57.1 million cubic feet. 

Collectively, sawdust and shavings made up 32 percent of total 

residues, or 70.2 million cubic feet (fig. 7).

The processing of saw logs generated 149.9 million cubic feet of 

mill residues, accounting for 69 percent of the total residues 

produced (fig. 8).

Nearly 100 percent, or 218.3 million cubic feet, of the wood and 

bark residues were used for a product. While <1 percent of the 

residues were not used for a product, 55 percent of the residues were 

used for industrial fuel and 36 percent were used for fiber products 

(fig. 9). Eighty-seven percent, or 105 million cubic feet, of residues 

used for industrial fuel were used on site, while 13 percent were 

used at other plants. More than 71.5 million cubic feet, or 78 

percent, of the coarse residues were used for fiber products. Ninetyfour percent of the bark was used for industrial fuel, while 80 

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. Mississippi’s 

timber industry—timber product output and 

use, 2013. e-Science Update–SRS-118. 

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 4 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: https://srsfia2.fs.fed.us

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

James 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: https://srsfia2.fs.fed.us

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

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

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

Figure 7—Primary mill residue by residue type, Mississippi, 

2013.

Figure 8—Primary mill residue produced by roundwood 

type, Mississippi, 2013.

Figure 9—Disposal of residue by product, Mississippi, 

2013.