Status and Trends for the

U.S. Forest Products Sector

A Technical Document Supporting

the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

Kenneth E. Skog, David B. McKeever, Peter J. Ince,

James L. Howard, Henry N. Spelter, and Albert T. Schuler
February 2012

Skog, Kenneth E.; McKeever, David B.; Ince, Peter J.; Howard, James L.; 

Spelter, Henry N.; Schuler, Albert T. 2012. Status and Trends for the U.S. 

Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 

2010 RPA Assessment. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-207. Madison, 

WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products 

Laboratory. 35 p.

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Abstract

Forest products sector products and income help sustain the 

social, economic, and ecological benefits of forestry in the 

United States. Solidwood products consumption increased 

with population between 1965 and 2008 and varied with 

housing starts. Lumber’s share declined from 83% to 70%, 

and structural panels’ share increased from 9% to 17%. 

Paper and paperboard consumption increased with gross 

domestic product until 1999, then stopped increasing partly 

due to a shift in advertising to electronic media and a shift 

from domestic manufacturing to imports of manufactured 

products. Roundwood needed to make products consumed, 

including imports, have remained remarkably stable at 1.75 

m3 per capita although the portion from imports has varied. 

Per capita consumption declined during the recent recession. 

Net imports have varied with the U.S. dollar exchange rate. 

Net import share varied between 5% and 10% from 1965 to 

the early 1990s, increased to over 20% by 2004–2005 and 

declined with the recession to 12% in 2009. Structural panel 

and lumber production have increased with increasing housing starts but declined more than 40% in 2009 - associated 

with a 72% decline in housing starts through 2010. Paper and 

paperboard production increased faster than lumber production from 1965 to 1999, after which paperboard production 

leveled off and paper production declined. Prospects for 

solidwood, paper and paperboard production will be influenced by the economic recovery, particularly housing starts 

and intensity of wood use per unit of economic activity; by 

global demand and supply, and by the long-term value of 

the dollar. Consumption of wood for energy was stable from 

1950 through the mid 1970s. Roundwood fuelwood and black 

liquor/residue use doubled by the mid 1980’s then declined. 

Residential fuelwood use declined the most until about 1999 

and has since been stable to increasing. Because most wood 

energy is linked to pulp or solidwood products production, 

the wood energy share of outputs has remained relatively 

Contents

Executive Summary............................................................ 1

 Solid Wood Products Consumption ................................ 1

 Paper and Paperboard Consumption............................... 1

 Contribution of Net Imports to Domestic 

 Consumption................................................................... 1

Introduction......................................................................... 2

Drivers of Consumption of Wood and Paper Products....... 3

Drivers of Production of Wood and Paper Products........... 6

Solid Wood Products Consumption, Trade, Production, 

and Prices............................................................................ 7

 Consumption in Construction: Overview ....................... 8

 Consumption in Residential Repair and 

 Remodeling....................................................................14

 Consumption in Manufacturing .....................................16

 Trends in U.S. Furniture Production, Consumption 

 and Trade........................................................................16

 Consumption in Packaging and Shipping......................18

 Wooden Pallet and Container Shipments.......................19

 Total Solid Wood Products Consumption for Packaging 

 and Shipping ..................................................................19

 Consumption in Other Uses...........................................19

 Consumption Summary .................................................20

Summary............................................................................20

Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Consumption, Trade, 

Production, and Prices .......................................................23 

 Drivers of Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Consumption 

 and Trade........................................................................23

 Relationship to GDP Growth .........................................25

 Wood Pulp Production ...................................................27

 Pulpwood Consumption and Prices for Pulpwood, 

 Paper, and Paperboard....................................................28

 Pulpwood Consumption.................................................28

 Summary........................................................................29

Wood Energy Consumption, Trade, Production, and 

Prices..................................................................................30

 Industrial Wood Energy Consumption...........................30

 Residential Wood Energy Consumption ........................30

 Electric Power Wood Energy Consumption ..................31

 Wood Pellet Consumption, Trade, and Production........31

 Wood Feedstocks and Pulpwood for Energy–

 Consumption of Roundwood, Mill Residue, and Black 

 Liquor.............................................................................32

Overview–Trends in U.S. Output of Wood and Paper 

Products and Energy and Required Inputs of Wood and 

Wood Fiber.........................................................................32

References..........................................................................35

constant. Wood energy consumption could move above the 

industry associated amounts with continuing change in the 

price of fossil fuel versus wood fuel, changes in wood energy 

technologies, or changes in regulations or incentives. 

Keywords: Forest sector, housing, lumber, panels, paper, 

pulp, consumption, production, trade, wood requirements, 

wood energy
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest 

Products Sector

A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 

2010 RPA Assessment

Kenneth E Skog, Supervisory Research Forester 

David B. McKeever, Research Forester

Peter J. Ince, Research Forester

James L. Howard, Economist

Henry N. Spelter, Economist (retired)

Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin

Albert T. Schuler, Research Forester (retired)

Northern Research Station, Princeton, West Virginia

Executive Summary

The forest products sector helps sustain the social, economic, and ecological benefits of forestry in the United States. 

Product revenues sustain economic benefits that include jobs 

and income. Ecological and social benefits can be supported 

by timber revenue to landowners that help keep land in forests and by forest treatments that can help maintain ecological functions. The degree to which the forest products sector 

helps sustain benefits is influenced by levels of demand and 

consumption of forest products and how technology, markets, and demand for timber translates into harvest of different species and sizes of trees in different regions. 

Our overall objective in this report is to explain how, over 

the last 40 to 50 years, a range of forces driving solid wood 

and paper product consumption and trade and use of wood 

for energy have resulted in certain trends in the use of wood 

and wood fiber resources in the United States. We also 

discuss the possibility of continuation or change in trends, 

particularly in response to the recession beginning in 2008 

or changing use of wood for energy. 

Solid Wood Products Consumption 

In the United States, consumption in weight of products 

increased roughly in line with population between 1965 and 

2008 with variation that roughly corresponds to variation in 

U.S. housing starts. However, the composition of consumption has changed with lumber’s share declining from 83% 

to 70%, while structural panels’ share increased from 9% to 

17% and nonstructural panels’ share increased from 8% to 

13%. 

The harvest needed to provide for total U.S. consumption, 

including harvest to make products imported to the United 

States, has remained surprisingly stable over much of the 

last 50 years at about 1.7 m3 per capita. However, per capita 

consumption declined in 2006 through 2010, when a 

collapse in housing demand followed by economic recession greatly reduced housing construction. This relatively 

stable relationship in periods of economic growth and even 

modest recessions suggests that in a general way, wood and 

paper products fulfill fundamental needs per capita and have 

remained competitive with alternate means of meeting those 

needs. Even though consumption per capita has been stable, 

the portion of consumption from net imports has varied.

Consumption of solid wood products is influenced by its 

intensity of use per unit of economic activity, such as square 

meter of housing or dollar spent for nonresidential construction, building repair and remodeling, or manufacturing. For 

each category, the intensity of wood use has been decreasing. For example, lumber use per square meter of new single 

family housing decreased 18% between 1999 and 2009. 

Paper and Paperboard Consumption

Consumption in weight of products increased in line with 

gross domestic product (GDP) until 1999, after which consumption stopped increasing partially because of the shift 

in advertising from print to electronic media and because of 

more imports of manufactured products instead of domestic 

production. 

Roundwood requirements to make solid wood and paper 

and paperboard products consumed in the United States, 

including imports, have remained remarkably stable at about 

1.3 and 0.45 m3 per capita for softwoods and hardwoods, 

respectively (1.75 m3 total). 

Contribution of Net Imports to Domestic 

Consumption

Net imports (and resultant effect on domestic production) 

have varied in part with the U.S. dollar exchange rate with 

foreign currencies. The net import share in roundwood 

equivalents varied mostly between 5% and 10% from 1965 

to the early 1990s, then increased to over 20% by 2004–

2005 and then declined with the recession to 12% in 2009. 
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

2

With total consumption (in roundwood equivalents) increasing at the pace of population and net imports varying with 

exchange rate, U.S. harvest increased from 333 to 

445 million cubic meters (×106 m3) between 1965 and 1989, 

remained relatively stable to 2005, then declined to 307 × 

106 m3 in 2009. This total trend holds for softwood harvest, 

whereas hardwood harvest peaked in about 1995 with a 

steady decline since then. The increase in net imports since 

the 1990s allowed for stable to declining U.S. harvest. 

Because of consumption and trade drivers, lumber production increased with increasing housing starts, despite increasing net lumber imports, from 72 to 96 × 106 m3 

between 1965 and 2005 and declined more than 40% to 

56 × 106 m3 in 2009. Structural panel production increased 

steadily until about 1999, remained steady at about 

25 × 106 m3 until 2005, then declined by almost 40% to 

16 × 106 m3 in 2009. Through 2007, oriented strandboard 

(OSB) production increased steadily, overtaking declining 

softwood plywood production in 2005. The declines after 

2005 are associated with a 72% decline in housing starts 

through 2010 and because of the recession beginning in 

December 2007. There is a question going forward about 

whether housing starts will return to a level given by the 

several year averages prior to the recession. The amount and 

size of housing will likely be lower with more restrictive 

lending practices.

Paper and paperboard production increased even faster than 

lumber production from 1965 to 1999, after which paperboard production leveled off and paper production declined 

sharply. 

Going forward, the prospects for solid wood, paper and 

paperboard production, and required U.S. roundwood harvest will be influenced not only by the degree of economic 

recovery, particularly housing starts and intensity of wood 

use per unit of economic activity, but also by global demand 

and global sources of supply and by the value of the dollar 

relative to other currencies. Recently, the dollar exchange 

rate has been at a level that corresponds to net imports at 5% 

of consumption in the early 1990s (compared with 20% in 

2008). To the extent that exchange rate is a driver of competitive advantage, this could mean import share could decrease and U.S. production, and U.S. timber harvest would 

cover a greater fraction of consumption needs as wood and 

paper product consumption increases with recovery from the 

recession. 

Although consumption is not likely to soon return to its 

previous high consumption level of 555 × 106 m3 (roundwood equivalent) in 2005, such a consumption level could 

increase U.S. harvest above the 2005 level of 438 × 106 m3

to above 520 × 106 m3. This higher harvest level would be 

about 20% above the 2005 level if the low dollar exchange 

rate continues, and the effect of a low dollar exchange rate 

on net imports is similar to the effect it had in the early 

1990s. 

In the longer run, if historical consumption trends resume 

after recovery from the recession, then structural panel consumption could increase faster than population growth, lumber and paperboard consumption could increase in line with 

population growth, and paper consumption would not keep 

pace with population growth. 

Total consumption of wood feedstocks for energy was relatively stable between 1950 and the mid 1970s just above 

150 × 10 6 m3 wood equivalent. These consumption numbers 

include roundwood, mill residue, and black liquor from 

pulping. From the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, roundwood 

fuelwood and black liquor/residue use both roughly doubled, then both declined. Residential fuelwood use declined 

the most until about 1999 and has since been stable to increasing with increasing fuel oil and natural gas prices.

Wood energy (including wood or wood residue energy 

used in production of forest products) can be viewed as the 

largest single use of wood and wood fiber, which includes 

roundwood, residues, black liquor, and recovered paper. 

The share of wood used for energy was about 46% in 1965, 

declined to 34% in the late 1980s, and increased to 48% in 

2009. The share had been relatively stable around 44% since 

the late 1990s through 2008. 

The pulp and paper industry could also be viewed as the 

largest single consumer of wood and wood residues if we 

include wood residues used for energy and recycled and residue fiber used for pulp. Most wood energy is used by pulp 

and paper mills or solid wood products mills with a smaller 

fraction used for residential heating. Because most wood 

energy is linked to pulp or solid wood products production, 

the wood energy share of outputs has remained relatively 

constant. In the future, if significant structural changes occur, such as a change in the relationship between the price 

of fossil fuel and wood fuel, changes in wood energy technologies, or changes in regulations or incentives, then wood 

energy consumption would move above the amounts closely 

associated with production of wood and paper products. 

Introduction

The forest products sector helps sustain social, economic, 

and ecological benefits of forestry in the United States. Economic benefits are sustained by product sales revenues that 

support jobs and income from forest industries. Ecological and social benefits can be supported by timber revenue 

to forest landowners that help keep land in forests and by 

forest treatments that can help maintain forest ecological 

functions. The degree to which the forest products sector 

helps sustain benefits is influenced by levels of demand and 

consumption of forest products and how technology, markets, and supply of forest timber and biomass translate this 

demand into harvest of different species and sizes of trees in 

different regions. 
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

3

The objective of this paper is to explain how, over the last 

40 to 50 years, a range of forces driving solid wood and 

paper product consumption and trade and use of wood for 

energy have resulted in certain trends in the use of wood and 

wood fiber resources in the United States. These wood and 

wood fiber resources include harvest of roundwood from 

forests, imports of roundwood in the form of logs and chips, 

use of recovered paper, and use of wood residues generated 

from processing roundwood into primary products such as 

lumber. To attain this objective we describe the following:

1. General trends in U.S. consumption of solid wood and 

paper products 

2. General trends in trade and U.S. production of products 

3. Detailed trends in consumption of solid wood products, 

trade in solid wood products, and U.S. production and 

product price 

4. Detailed trends in consumption, trade, production, and 

prices for pulp, paper, and paperboard and for resulting 

pulpwood harvest, including use for oriented strandboard 

5. Detailed trends in consumption of wood for energy by 

end use and prospective use of more wood for electric 

power or biofuels 

6. Detailed trends in total U.S. output (production) of solid 

wood, paper products, and wood for energy and inputs 

of wood and wood fiber sources to make those outputs 

The relative abundance or scarcity of timber and biomass 

supply and the efficiency of conversion processes to meet 

demand for products can be judged in part by trends in prices for lumber, panels, paper and paperboard, and by prices 

for sawlogs, pulpwood, and biomass. If prices are decreasing, this suggests that supply and technology are more than 

sufficient to meet demand needs. If prices are increasing, 

then the product may be viewed as becoming more economically scarce. Price increases may be due in part to increasing production costs (e.g., if energy prices are increasing). 

Increasing volumes and prices of harvested wood can help 

keep value of forest land somewhat higher and result in fewer acres of forest where the value for alternate uses is higher. 

Drivers of Consumption of Wood 

and Paper Products

Consumption of solid wood and paper products in the United States is driven in large part (but not exclusively) by consumer and business needs for shelter, infrastructure, shipping, and communications. Proxies for growth or change in 

these needs include (but are not limited to) population, gross 

domestic product, housing starts, nonresidential construction expenditures, industrial production, and paper media 

advertising. 

Four high-level aggregates of wood and paper products 

consumption to consider in looking at the influence of drivers are 1) solid wood products, 2) paper and paperboard, 

3) weight of total wood and paper products, and 4) roundwood required to make wood and paper products. Roundwood required to make products is termed roundwood 

equivalent. For consumption the roundwood harvest is 

needed to make wood and paper products, including imported products. Within these consumption aggregates, the 

consumption of individual products is sensitive to progressively more specific drivers. 

Solid wood products consumption in air-dry metric tons has 

grown at about the same rate as population over the last 

50 years. Metric tons are used so wood consumption may 

be compared with paper consumption, which is reported in 

metric tons. Much of the variation in consumption is associated with variation in housing starts (Fig. 1), which have 

an influence on wood use based on house size and wood 

use per m2 of floor space. House sizes have been increasing 

while wood use per m2 has been decreasing. Wood use per 

unit has increased 56% between 1962 and 2009 for single 

family units and 15% for multifamily units (Table 1). Wood 

products consumption varies sharply with housing starts 

over time and has deceased sharply with the decreasing 

housing starts during the recession. This indicates that population growth is not a sufficient condition to create increasing growth in consumption. Housing starts and drivers of 

housing starts have a major influence on consumption levels 

and growth. Drivers of housing starts include jobs, wage 

levels, and home financing costs. In the post World 

War II era, a growing economy and a benign environment promoting a rising middle class eased the way for 

Americans to break off into smaller and more numerous 

0.0 

0.5 

1.0 

1.5 

2.0 

2.5 

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

196519701975198019851990199520002005

Housing starts (×106

)

Air-dry metric tons (×106) 

Wood products consumption

Wood product consumption if per capita 

consumption were constant

Housing starts

Figure 1. Solid wood products consumption if per capita 

consumption were constant at the 1965 level and annual 

housing starts, 1965–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

4

Table 1—Production of and timber products used in new housing by product and type of unit, selected years 1962–2009 Year and type of unit 

Units

produced 

(×103)

Floor area 

per unit 

(m2)

Lumbera

Structural

panelsb

Nonstructural

panelsc

Total, all 

wood products 

Total 

use

(×103 m3)

Per m2

(m3)

Per

unit

(m3)

Total 

use

(×103 m3)

Per m2

(m3)

Per 

unit

(m3)

Total 

use

(×103 m3)

Per m2

(m3)

Per 

unit

(m3)

Total 

use

(×103 m3)

Per m2

(m3)

Per

unit

(m3)

1962 

 Single family 991 125 20,585 0.166 20.8 2,598 0.021 2.6 1,582 0.013 1.6 24,766 0.200 25.0  Multi-family 472 90 4,816 0.113 10.2 795 0.019 1.7 529 0.012 1.1 6,139 0.144 13.0  Mobile homes 118 57 328 0.049 2.8 89 0.013 0.8 129 0.019 1.1 547 0.082 4.6  Total 1,581 — 25,729 — — 3,482 — — 2,241 — — 31,452 — — 1970  Single family 813 139 17,742 0.157 21.8 3,590 0.032 4.4 3,255 0.029 4.0 24,587 0.217 30.2  Multi-family 621 92 6,419 0.112 10.3 1,260 0.022 2.0 680 0.012 1.1 8,358 0.146 13.5  Mobile homes 401 68 1,395 0.051 3.5 408 0.015 1.0 754 0.028 1.9 2,557 0.094 6.4  Total 1,835 — 25,556 — — 5,257 — — 4,690 — — 35,502 — — 1976  Single family 1,162 158 28,877 0.157 24.8 6,566 0.036 5.6 5,224 0.028 4.5 40,667 0.222 35.0 

 Multi-family 375 87 3,533 0.108 9.4 871 0.027 2.3 311 0.009 0.8 4,714 0.144 12.6  Mobile homes 246 90 1,201 0.054 4.9 267 0.012 1.1 820 0.037 3.3 2,287 0.104 9.3  Total 1,784 — 33,610 — — 7,704 — — 6,354 — — 47,668 — — 1986  Single family 1,179 170 31,721 0.159 26.9 8,668 0.043 7.3 5,352 0.027 4.5 45,741 0.229 38.8 

 Multi-family 626 85 5,569 0.105 8.9 1,387 0.026 2.2 471 0.009 0.8 7,428 0.140 11.9  Mobile homes 244 103 1,996 0.079 8.2 351 0.014 1.4 822 0.033 3.4 3,169 0.126 13.0  Total 2,050 — 39,286 — — 10,407 — — 6,645 — — 56,338 — — 1996  Single family 1,161 197 31,532 0.138 27.2 11,908 0.052 10.3 2,369 0.010 2.0 45,808 0.200 39.5 

 Multi-family 316 99 2,909 0.093 9.2 994 0.032 3.1 378 0.012 1.2 4,281 0.136 13.5  Mobile homes 363 129 3,757 0.080 10.3 1,620 0.035 4.5 670 0.014 1.8 6,047 0.129 16.6  Total 1,840 — 38,198 — — 14,521 — — 3,417 — — 56,136 — — 1998  Single family 1,271 203 35,513 0.137 27.9 13,901 0.054 10.9 2,802 0.011 2.2 52,216 0.202 41.1 

 Multi-family 346 99 3,312 0.097 9.6 1,217 0.036 3.5 401 0.012 1.2 4,930 0.144 14.3  Mobile homes 373 135 4,064 0.081 10.9 1,441 0.029 3.9 805 0.016 2.2 6,310 0.125 16.9  Total 1,990 — 42,889 — — 16,559 — — 4,008 — — 63,456 — — 2005  Single family 1,716 226 47,680 0.123 27.8 17,032 0.044 9.9 5,828 0.015 3.4 70,540 0.182 41.1 

 Multi-family 352 116 3,826 0.094 10.9 1,154 0.028 3.3 668 0.016 1.9 5,648 0.139 16.0  Mobile homes 147 148 2,599 0.119 17.7 958 0.044 6.5 424 0.020 2.9 3,982 0.183 27.1  Total 2,215 — 54,105 — — 19,144 — — 6,920 — — 80,170 — — 2009  Single family 445 226 11,375 0.113 25.5 4,452 0.044 10.0 1,375 0.014 3.1 17,201 0.171 38.6  Multi-family 109 114 1,117 0.090 10.2 334 0.027 3.1 180 0.014 1.6 1,631 0.131 14.9  Mobile homes 50 142 724 0.102 14.5 298 0.042 6.0 118 0.017 2.4 1,140 0.161 22.9  Total 604 — 13,216 — — 5,084 — — 1,672 — — 19,972 — — 

aIncludes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. bIncludes softwood plywood and OSB. cIncludes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. Sources: McKeever 2009, USDOC Bureau of the Census 2010. 
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

5

households. Following the excesses leading up to the recent 

recession, a strict lending environment for financing home 

purchases has now become an impediment to household 

formation. Thus, with restrictions on the ability to get longterm loans with minimal down payments, individuals have 

to wait longer before they can break off to form separate, 

independent households, dampening the effect of rising population and changing the mix of demand from single-family 

units to less expensive apartments. 

A key question going forward is how quickly and to what 

degree incomes and loan conditions will improve, and given 

those changes, to what degree individuals will be more cautious in buying new housing. It is unlikely that loan terms 

will return to previous generous levels, and individuals 

may remain more cautious in investments. This could mean 

housing starts and house sizes may be lower than recent 

levels, and solid wood consumption may not return to the 

former high level per capita.

Wood use for repair and alteration of housing will continue 

to increase relative to wood use for new construction. This 

is because the average age of housing stock, now about 

35 years, is increasing.

Paper and paperboard products consumption, in metric 

tons, grew at a steady pace with increasing GDP for many 

years up until about 1999, when consumption declined 

and has continued to decline (Fig. 2). The two trends were 

not directly proportionate, as the average rate of growth in 

GDP was higher than the average growth rate for paper and 

paperboard consumption, but clearly both trends were growing in tandem up until 1999. The divergence between GDP 

growth and U.S. consumption is a clear reflection of structural changes that have occurred in paper and paperboard 

demands, primarily a result of higher imports of manufactured goods and slower growth in U.S. industrial production 

and shifts in advertising expenditures from print media to 

electronic media. 

We next asked if there is a relationship between total 

consumption of solid wood and paper products and U.S. 

population growth. To answer this, we used two measures 

of total consumption of solid wood and paper. The first is 

total weight of products consumed per capita. The second is 

cubic volume of roundwood required to make the products 

consumed. In each case, consumption includes net imports. 

The weight of products measured includes virgin wood fiber (including mill residues), and recycled fiber content in 

paper, and the weight of wood (including mill residue) that 

ends up in solid wood products. The second measure differs 

from the first in that it excludes recycled fiber content in paper and includes mill residues used for energy. 

Using the second measure of total consumption, roundwood 

equivalent, we note that roundwood required to make solid 

wood and paper was roughly constant per capita for the 

40 years from 1965 through 2005, but then declined 

significantly during the recent recession and collapse in 

housing construction since 2005 (Fig. 3). This means the 

harvest needed to provide for total U.S. consumption, including harvest to make imports, has remained stable over 

much of the last 50 years at about 1.7 m3 per capita. However, per capita consumption declined in 2006 through 2010, 

when a collapse in housing demand followed by economic 

recession greatly reduced housing construction. This relatively stable relationship in periods of economic growth 

and even modest recessions suggests that wood and paper 

products, in a general way, fulfill fundamental needs per 

capita that have remained competitive with alternate means 

of meeting those needs. Figure 3 shows that this stability applies to consumption of hardwood and softwood separately 

as well. This seeming stability began in the 1940s during the 

Second World War. This overall stability masks considerable 

change in per capita consumption of individual solid wood 

and paper products. 

45

53

61

69

77

85

93

101

109

117

125

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

1975

1980

198519901995

200020052010

Paper and

b

oard consum

ption

(×106/t

per year)

U.S. GDP

(Billions of chained 2005 d

ollars)

Real GDP Paper and board consumption

Figure 2. Trends in U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) 

and U.S. paper and paperboard consumption, 1975–2008.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Consumption 

per capita (m3

)

Softwood industrial roundwood

Hardwood industrial roundwood

Figure 3. Solid wood and paper products consumption 

per capita in terms of roundwood required for production, 

including imports (Howard, in production).
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

6

Using the first measure of total consumption, the weight of 

separate products, we note that consumption of major solid 

wood and paper products per capita had certain general 

trends up to the collapse in housing demand that began in 

2006 (Fig. 4). Lumber consumption per capita had been relatively stable although quite variable depending on the level 

of construction. Structural panels’ consumption per capita 

was steadily increasing since the early 1980s. Paperboard 

consumption was increasing but leveled off in the 1990s and 

after. Paper consumption per capita was increasing until the 

mid 1980s, then was stable until about 2000 and has since 

declined. If historical consumption trends resume after recovery from the recession beginning in 2007, then structural 

panel consumption would increase faster than population 

growth, lumber and paperboard consumption would increase 

in line with population growth, and paper consumption 

would not keep pace with population growth. 

Note that even though weight of consumption per capita for 

three of the four primary product categories was increasing or level, the overall roundwood required per capita has 

remained relatively stable. This is possible because a greater 

fraction of roundwood harvested makes it into solid wood 

products, paper, or composite panels. Also, more recovered 

paper is being used to make each ton of paper and paperboard. For paper and paperboard production in the United 

States, about 37% of the feedstock in 2009 was recovered 

paper rather than virgin wood, up from 25% in 1965, and 

recovered paper is not included in Figure 3.

Drivers of Production of Wood 

and Paper Products

U.S. production of solid wood and paper products is driven 

by overall demand for consumption and by competitiveness 

of solid wood and paper products in import and export 

markets. Competitiveness of U.S. primary forest products 

is determined by cost factors in the United States compared 

with cost factors for foreign producers and by tariffs, non 

tariff trade barriers, and the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar. Cost factors in various countries include cost of wood 

feedstock (logs, chips) and nonwood feedstock (e.g., recovered paper, nonwood fiber pulp), capital and operating 

costs per unit of output (which includes the kind and level 

of conversion technologies). Most solid wood and paper 

products are commodity products that can be produced to 

set standards from a wide range of wood species around the 

world. Some solid wood products such as various species of 

hardwood lumber and veneer are specialty products in the 

sense that appearance features are unique, so trade in products with special features is also influenced by the domestic 

or foreign location of wood feedstock and its popularity for 

applications in various countries.

The average U.S. dollar exchange value relative to foreign 

currencies has a notable influence on overall net imports of 

solid wood and paper products. Figure 5 shows that increases in the amount of foreign currency (or products) that can 

be obtained per U.S. dollar are associated with an increase 

in net imports share of consumption of wood and paper 

products as measured using the ratio of roundwood equivalent for those products. 

Figures 6 and 7 show that variation in net import share of 

consumption differs by wood or paper product and variation 

in share of consumption is greatest for softwood lumber and 

oriented strandboard. Softwood lumber and OSB are the 

two products with the highest share of consumption coming from net imports, about 35% until the recent collapse in 

housing demand and housing construction.

The level of U.S. production that is competitive in meeting U.S. consumption needs had been declining between 

1991 and 2004 (Fig. 8). Competitiveness varies notably by 

product. Hardwood lumber and paperboard production are 

at levels that exceed U.S. consumption needs by 5% to 10% 

(Figs. 6, 7). Softwood plywood was competitive in providing for consumption plus up to 5% more (relative to 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

Consumption per capita (kg)

Lumber

Structual panels

Paper

Paperboard

Figure 4. Primary solid wood and paper products 

consumption per capita. 

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

0

5

10

15

20

25

1965197019751980198519901995200020052010

U.S. dollar exchange value

 index 2006 = 100

Net imports as a share of consumption

Real trade weighted U.S. dollar value index

Share of 

consumption (%)

Figure 5. Wood and paper products net imports as a share 

of consumption in roundwood equivalents, 1965–2009. 
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

7

consumption) until the late 1990s. Softwood lumber and 

OSB production have been competitive only in providing 

a portion of consumption needs and that share has been decreasing until recently when it has increased. Production in 

the United States fell short of softwood lumber consumption 

by 12% 2004. It fell short by over 35% by 2004, but during the recession the deficit fell to 25% by 2009. Oriented 

strandboard production in the United States has had a similar pattern of covering consumption since the mid 1980s. 

Paper production coverage in the United States was 25% to 

35% short of consumption between 1965 and 2004 but was 

only 7% short in 2009. 

One factor that has decreased import share of consumption 

is that most imports of softwood lumber, OSB, and paper 

have been from Canada, and the Canadian dollar has gotten 

stronger in recent years. The recession decreased the need 

for imports and the increasingly strong Canadian dollar supported that decrease. The share of softwood lumber imports 

from Canada had been 95% or more from 1965 to 2004, 

declined to 85% in 2004 and increased somewhat during the 

recession to 94% in 2009. The share of paper imports from 

Canada had been 69% in 2006 but declined to 34% in 2009. 

The net effect of increasing wood and paper product consumption and increasing competitiveness of U.S. production 

to meet consumption needs resulted in overall wood and paper production in roundwood equivalents increasing at about 

the pace of population between 1965 and 1991. From 1991 

to 2005, net imports increased from less than 5% of consumption to more than 20% of consumption (Fig. 5). The 

result has been declining U.S. timber harvest since a high of 

466 × 106 m3 in 1986 to 395 in 2008, before the recession, 

and 307 in 2009, which includes the effect of the recession. 

The dollar exchange rate has shifted to a weaker dollar, now 

at an index level that corresponds to a level of net imports of 

5% of consumption in the early 1990s (versus 20% in 2008) 

(Fig. 5). This plus rapidly expanding demands for wood 

products in Asia that are shifting global trade flows from the 

United States to Asia could mean U.S. production and timber harvest would cover a greater fraction of consumption 

needs as wood and paper product consumption increases 

with recovery from the recession. Even with a recovery to 

the previous high consumption level of 554 × 106 m3 in 

2008, U.S. harvest may increase above the 2008 level of 

395 × 106 m3 to above 500 × 106 m3 or more than 25% above 

the 2008 level if the low dollar exchange rate continues and 

the effect of a low dollar exchange rate on net imports is 

similar to the effect it had in the early 1990s. 

Solid Wood Products Consumption, 

Trade, Production, and Prices

Solid wood products are used extensively to meet needs in 

construction, manufacturing, and shipping segments of the 

U.S. economy. 

•	 Nearly all new single-family houses and low-rise 

multifamily residential structures are wood framed 

and sheathed. 

–15

–5

5

15

25

35

45

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Share of consumption (%)

Softwood lumber

OSB & waferboard

Softwood plywood

Hardwood lumber

Figure 6. Net imports as a share of consumption, 1965–2009 

(product volume ratio).

–15

–5

5

15

25

35

45

197019751980198519901995200020052010

Paper Paperboard Pulp

Share of consumption (%)

Figure 7. Net imports as a share of consumption 1965–2009 

(product weight ratio).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

19651970

1975

19801985199019952000

2005

2010

Production/harvest

Consumption (with net imports)

Production with fuelwood

Roundwood equivalent (×106 m3

) Figure 8. Solid wood and paper products production 

and net imports plus fuelwood consumption 1965–2009 

(roundwood equivalent). 
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

8

•	 Large amounts of solid wood products are used in new 

nonresidential buildings and in the upkeep and improvement of existing structures. 

•	 Solid wood is used extensively in various manufactured 

products, particularly furniture, and nearly all manufactured products are shipped on wooden pallets. 

•	 Solid wood also provides a renewable energy source for 

industrial, commercial, and residential applications.

Roundwood equivalent is defined as the volume of logs or 

other round products required to produce given quantities of 

lumber, plywood, wood pulp, paper, or other similar products (Haynes 1990). In 2009, an estimated 406 million cubic 

meters (×106 m3), roundwood equivalent, of timber was 

used for fuelwood and to make products used in the United 

States (including net imports). This is 32% less than the 

599 × 106 m3 used in 2005, the highest level on record 

(Fig. 9). For 2009, 89% of roundwood equivalent of consumption was industrial roundwood used to make lumber, 

panels, paper, other industrial products, and 11% was for 

fuelwood (Fig. 9). The portion of roundwood that is not 

fuelwood is termed industrial roundwood. Lumber, panels, 

and other industrial products used about 63% of the industrial roundwood. Pulpwood products used about 37%. 

Production of solid wood products generate residues that 

are about 10% to 15% of total industrial roundwood used. A 

portion of this residue is used to make paper or panel products and a portion is used for energy. Wood material in the 

form of black liquor remaining after pulping wood for paper 

is also used for energy. More details on the portions used for 

energy are noted in the energy section below. 

This section presents estimates of solid wood products 

consumed in the United States since 1950 in major end-use 

markets. Solid wood products include the following:

•	 Lumber (softwood and hardwood) 

•	 Structural panels (softwood plywood, and oriented 

strandboard (OSB))

•	 Nonstructural panels (combined hardwood plywood, 

particleboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), hardboard, and insulation board) 

•	 Engineered wood products, (wood I‐joists, gluedlaminated (glulam) timbers, and structural composite 

lumber (SCL) consisting of laminated veneer lumber 

(LVL), parallel strand lumber (PSL), and oriented 

strand lumber (OSL)). Estimated amounts are included 

with softwood lumber consumption and production. 

Solid wood products consumption by end use is determined 

by demand in major end-use markets including construction, 

manufacturing, packaging and shipping, and other uses. 

“Other industrial wood products” are evaluated separately 

and include cooperage logs, poles and piling, fence posts, 

round mine timbers, box bolts, excelsior bolts, chemical 

wood, shingle bolts, and other miscellaneous items. 

Estimates of solid wood products consumption are based 

on findings from a limited number of public and private research reports that were conducted at irregular intervals over 

the past 60 years (For a partial listing of these studies, see 

McKeever 2009.) Information on wood products use from 

these reports was related to more readily available, annual 

time series economic data to generate end-use factors, the 

amount of a specific wood product used in a specific year in 

a specific application per unit of the economic variable. The 

amount of specific wood products (e.g., lumber) used in a 

given end us (e.g., single-family housing) across a range of 

years has been estimated by multiplying wood-use factors 

(wood use per unit of end-use activity) times year by year 

estimates of the end use activity. End-use activities include 

square feet of single-family housing, and dollar value of 

nonresidential construction. End-use factors have been developed by special studies for selected years. 

Consumption in Construction: Overview

In 2009, 60% of solid wood products were consumed in 

1) new housing units; 2) housing repair and remodeling; 

3) nonresidential buildings; 4) nonresidential nonbuilding 

structures including highways, dams, and other structures; 

and 5) nonresidential alterations and renovations (Fig. 10). 

These used about 59% of all lumber, 76% of all structural 

panels, and 41% of all nonstructural panels consumed. 

Changes in wood use in construction over the last several 

decades include 1) substitution of nonwood for wood building products (e.g., vinyl for wood siding); 2) substitution 

of new wood products for existing wood and nonwood 

products (e.g., OSB for softwood plywood and structural 

panels for lumber), 3) changes in architectural characteristics of buildings and in building codes that favor one type 

of building product over another; and 4) changes in the 

ways structures are built. These and other changes caused 

a decline in the share of solid wood products that are used 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

 Roundwood equivalent (×106 m3

)

Log and pulpwood chip net imports

Fuelwood

Other industrial products

Pulpwood-based products

Plywood and veneer

Lumber

Figure 9. Roundwood used to produce fuelwood and 

products for U.S. consumption (including net imports, 

by type, 2005–2009).
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

9

in construction rather than other end uses from record high 

levels achieved in the mid-1980s. In 1976, new housing and 

nonresidential construction accounted for 51% of all timber 

products used in the United States. In 2009, this was down 

to 33% (Tables 1–6). 

The current economic downturn, which began in 2007–

2008, continues to negatively affect residential construction, which is at its lowest levels in 60 years. Despite these 

changes, construction remains the principal market for 

lumber and panel products. Reported consumption includes 

onsite waste and loss: 10% for lumber, 5% for structural and 

nonstructural panels, and 2% for engineered wood products. 

Consumption in New Residential Construction

New housing construction has historically been the largest 

single market in the United States for solid wood products 

using about one-third of the lumber, one-half of the structural panels, and about one-fifth of the nonstructural panels. 

Because of declines in housing starts, in 2009, housing used 

just 18% of lumber, 27% of structural panels, and 12% of 

nonstructural panels. Overall housing construction used 

about 19% of total solid wood products consumption 

(Fig. 10). Amounts of solid wood products consumed in new 

residential construction depend on the number and type of 

units built, their average size, and wood products use per 

unit.

The composition of solid wood products used in new residential construction has also changed over time. In 1962, 

lumber made up 82% of the timber used in new housing. 

Structural panels (11%) and nonstructural panels (7%) 

made up the remainder (Table 1). By 2009, lumber’s share 

decreased to 66%. Structural panels more than doubled to 

25%, while nonstructural panels decreased to 8%.

New Housing Unit Production

In 2009, 604,000 new housing units were produced in the 

United States (Fig. 11). This is only 27% of the number 

of units produced in 2005 and 21% of the record high 

Single family 16% Multifamily 2%

Mobile homes 1%

Residential 

repair & 

remodeling 27%

Nonresidential

buildings 11% 

Nonresidential other 

3% Furniture mfg 8%

Other mfg 8%

Packaging & 

shipping 14%

Other 10%

Total use = 107.3 x 106 m3

Figure 10. Solid wood products consumption by end-use 

market, 2009.

Table 2—Expenditures and timber products used in residential repair and remodeling, selected years 1962–2009 

Year 

Expenditures Lumbera

Structural

panelsb

Nonstructural

panelsc

Total, all 

wood products 

(×109

current $) 

(×109

2005 $)d

Total use 

(×103

 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3

)

Per 103

2005 $ 

(m3

)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3

)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3

)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3

)

Per 103

2005 $ 

(m3

)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3

)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3

)

1962 11.0 57.8 7,800 0.708 0.135 1,478 0.134 0.026 1,239 0.112 0.021 10,517 0.954 0.182 

1970 14.8 60.7 9,009 0.610 0.148 2,078 0.141 0.034 1,465 0.099 0.024 12,552 0.850 0.207 

1976 29.0 81.8 11,445 0.394 0.140 2,872 0.099 0.035 1,938 0.067 0.024 16,255 0.560 0.199 

1986 94.3 149.9 29,179 0.309 0.195 6,208 0.066 0.041 3,762 0.040 0.025 39,148 0.415 0.261 

1996 131.4 158.1 29,662 0.226 0.188 6,440 0.049 0.041 2,818 0.021 0.018 38,920 0.296 0.246 

1998 133.7 156.3 27,300 0.204 0.175 6,206 0.046 0.040 2,399 0.018 0.015 35,905 0.269 0.230 

2005 215.0 215.0 35,805 0.167 0.167 8,362 0.039 0.039 3,953 0.018 0.018 48,119 0.224 0.224 

2009 142.9 130.1 21,173 0.148 0.163 5,329 0.037 0.041 2,499 0.017 0.019 29,002 0.203 0.223 

a

Includes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. b

Includes softwood plywood and OSB. 

c

Includes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. d

Based on table 1.1.9. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2010). Sources: McKeever 2009, USDC BC 

2010, USDOC Bureau of Economic Analysis 2010. 

Mobile homes

Multifamily

Single family

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Housing starts (×103

) Figure 11. Housing starts in the United States by type, 

1950–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

10Table 3—Expenditures and timber products used in nonresidential construction, selected years 1962–2009 

Year 

and type 

Expenditures Lumbera

Structural

panelsb

Nonstructural

panelsc

Total, all 

wood products 

(×109

current $) 

(×109

2005 $)d

Total use 

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $ 

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Buildings 

 1962 19.0 164.9 4,057 0.214 0.025 1,018 0.054 0.006 707 0.037 0.004 5,781 0.305 0.035  1970 39.4 255.7 4,259 0.108 0.017 1,053 0.027 0.004 974 0.025 0.004 6,286 0.160 0.025  1976 53.0 206.8 3,867 0.073 0.019 960 0.018 0.005 955 0.018 0.005 5,782 0.109 0.028  1986 150.5 320.7 6,465 0.043 0.020 2,151 0.014 0.007 1,261 0.008 0.004 9,877 0.066 0.031  1996 216.0 347.6 7,093 0.033 0.020 1,851 0.009 0.005 1,005 0.005 0.003 9,949 0.046 0.029  1998 263.1 390.0 8,095 0.031 0.021 2,110 0.008 0.005 1,099 0.004 0.003 11,304 0.043 0.029  2005 311.8 311.8 6,607 0.021 0.021 2,668 0.009 0.009 1,466 0.005 0.005 10,741 0.034 0.034  2009 432.3 351.5 7,549 0.017 0.021 3,160 0.007 0.009 1,573 0.004 0.004 12,281 0.028 0.035 Other construction  1962 16.4 142.5 4,130 0.252 0.029 443 0.027 0.003 81 0.005 0.001 4,653 0.284 0.033  1970 29.5 191.4 4,958 0.168 0.026 623 0.021 0.003 79 0.003 0.000 5,659 0.192 0.030  1976 49.6 193.3 5,024 0.101 0.026 730 0.015 0.004 104 0.002 0.001 5,858 0.118 0.030  1986 89.3 190.2 4,193 0.047 0.022 575 0.006 0.003 75 0.001 0.000 4,844 0.054 0.025  1996 111.4 179.2 2,815 0.025 0.016 315 0.003 0.002 40 0.000 0.000 3,170 0.028 0.018  1998 128.9 191.0 2,885 0.022 0.015 365 0.003 0.002 38 0.000 0.000 3,288 0.026 0.017  2005 173.4 173.4 2,910 0.017 0.017 402 0.002 0.002 53 0.000 0.000 3,365 0.019 0.019  2009 245.2 199.4 2,245 0.009 0.011 421 0.002 0.002 62 0.000 0.000 2,727 0.011 0.014 Total nonresidential  1962 35.3 307.5 8,187 0.232 0.027 1,460 0.041 0.005 788 0.022 0.003 10,435 0.295 0.034  1970 68.9 447.1 9,217 0.134 0.021 1,675 0.024 0.004 1,053 0.015 0.002 11,945 0.173 0.027  1976 102.6 400.1 8,891 0.087 0.022 1,690 0.016 0.004 1,058 0.010 0.003 11,640 0.113 0.029  1986 239.7 510.9 10,658 0.044 0.021 2,726 0.011 0.005 1,336 0.006 0.003 14,720 0.061 0.029  1996 327.4 526.8 9,908 0.030 0.019 2,166 0.007 0.004 1,045 0.003 0.002 13,119 0.040 0.025  1998 392.0 581.0 10,980 0.028 0.019 2,475 0.006 0.004 1,138 0.003 0.002 14,592 0.037 0.025  2005 485.2 485.2 9,517 0.020 0.020 3,070 0.006 0.006 1,519 0.003 0.003 14,106 0.029 0.029  2009 677.5 550.9 9,794 0.014 0.018 3,581 0.005 0.006 1,634 0.002 0.003 15,009 0.022 0.027 aIncludes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. bIncludes softwood plywood and OSB. cIncludes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. dBased on table 1.1.9. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Sources: McKeever 2009, USDOC BC 2010, 

USDOC BEA 2010.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

11

Table 4—Shipments and timber products used in manufacturing, selected years 1962–2009 Year and type 

Shipments Lumbera

Structural

panelsb

Nonstructural

panelsc

Total, all 

wood products 

(×109

current $) 

(×109

2005 $)d

Total use 

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $ 

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Furniture

 1962 5.5 29.1 6,599 1.190 0.227 331 0.060 0.011 1,095 0.197 0.038 8,025 1.447 0.276  1970 9.1 37.3 6,820 0.751 0.183 395 0.044 0.011 2,343 0.258 0.063 9,559 1.053 0.256  1976 14.2 40.1 5,302 0.372 0.132 373 0.026 0.009 2,109 0.148 0.053 7,784 0.547 0.194  1986 33.1 52.6 7,531 0.228 0.143 523 0.016 0.010 4,100 0.124 0.078 12,154 0.367 0.231  1996 55.7 67.0 10,544 0.189 0.157 1,195 0.021 0.018 6,939 0.125 0.104 18,678 0.335 0.279  1998 57.4 67.1 11,243 0.196 0.168 1,599 0.028 0.024 7,641 0.133 0.114 20,484 0.357 0.305  2005 60.9 60.9 6,305 0.104 0.104 734 0.012 0.012 4,865 0.080 0.080 11,904 0.195 0.195  2009 55.0 50.1 4,233 0.077 0.084 502 0.009 0.010 3,352 0.061 0.067 8,087 0.147 0.161 Other manufacturing  1962 386.7 2,028.9 3,182 0.008 0.002 315 0.001 0.000 304 0.001 0.000 3,801 0.010 0.002  1970 611.8 2,516.1 3,019 0.005 0.001 413 0.001 0.000 425 0.001 0.000 3,857 0.006 0.002  1976 1,145.5 3,227.8 4,683 0.004 0.001 628 0.001 0.000 1,947 0.002 0.001 7,258 0.006 0.002 

 1986 2,169.1 3,446.4 5,321 0.002 0.002 1,033 0.000 0.000 1,909 0.001 0.001 8,262 0.004 0.002  1996 3,553.2 4,276.4 6,488 0.002 0.002 1,499 0.000 0.000 1,825 0.001 0.000 9,812 0.003 0.002  1998 3,751.2 4,386.9 6,837 0.002 0.002 1,590 0.000 0.000 2,028 0.001 0.000 10,455 0.003 0.002  2005 4,569.1 4,569.1 5,803 0.001 0.001 1,456 0.000 0.000 2,965 0.001 0.001 10,224 0.002 0.002  2009 5,345.0 4,869.3 4,149 0.001 0.001 1,601 0.000 0.000 3,157 0.001 0.001 8,907 0.002 0.002 Total  1962 392.3 2,058.0 9,781 0.025 0.005 646 0.002 0.000 1,398 0.004 0.001 11,826 0.030 0.006  1970 620.9 2,553.4 9,839 0.016 0.004 808 0.001 0.000 2,768 0.004 0.001 13,416 0.022 0.005  1976 1,159.7 3,267.9 9,984 0.009 0.003 1,002 0.001 0.000 4,056 0.003 0.001 15,042 0.013 0.005  1986 2,202.2 3,499.0 12,851 0.006 0.004 1,556 0.001 0.000 6,008 0.003 0.002 20,416 0.009 0.006  1996 3,608.9 4,343.5 17,032 0.005 0.004 2,695 0.001 0.001 8,763 0.002 0.002 28,490 0.008 0.007  1998 3,808.6 4,454.0 18,080 0.005 0.004 3,189 0.001 0.001 9,669 0.003 0.002 30,938 0.008 0.007  2005 4,630.0 4,630.0 12,108 0.003 0.003 2,190 0.000 0.000 7,831 0.002 0.002 22,128 0.005 0.005  2009 5,400.0 4,919.4 8,382 0.002 0.002 2,103 0.000 0.000 6,509 0.001 0.001 16,994 0.003 0.003 

aIncludes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. bIncludes softwood plywood and OSB 3/8-in. basis. cIncludes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board 3/8-in. basis. dBased on table 1.1.9. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Sources: McKeever 2009, USDOC BC 2010, 

USDOC BEA 2010. 
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

12Table 5—Shipments and timber products used for packaging and shipping, selected years 1962–2009 

Year and type 

Shipments Lumbera

Structural

panelsb

Nonstructural

panelsc

Total, all 

wood products 

(×109

current $) 

(×109

2005 $)d

Total use 

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $ 

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $ 

(m3)

Total use

(×103 m3)

Per 103

current $

(m3)

Per 103

2005 $

(m3)

1962 0.6 3.1 9,626 16.128 3.074 186 0.311 0.059 199 0.334 0.064 10,011 16.773 2.685 

1970 0.7 2.8 12,075 17.650 4.292 255 0.373 0.091 279 0.407 0.099 12,609 18.431 3.605 1976 1.0 2.8 12,436 12.629 4.482 230 0.234 0.083 173 0.175 0.062 12,839 13.038 3.415 1986 1.8 2.9 12,958 7.104 4.471 350 0.192 0.121 133 0.073 0.046 13,441 7.368 2.846 1996 3.9 4.7 14,116 3.648 3.031 457 0.118 0.098 97 0.025 0.021 14,671 3.791 1.721 1998 4.5 5.3 15,823 3.488 2.983 529 0.117 0.100 111 0.024 0.021 16,463 3.629 1.673 2005 5.7 5.7 14,750 2.587 2.587 851 0.149 0.149 150 0.026 0.026 15,751 2.763 1.381 2009 6.5 5.9 14,175 2.181 2.394 959 0.148 0.162 216 0.033 0.036 15,350 2.362 1.236 aIncludes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. bIncludes softwood plywood and OSB. dIncludes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. dBased on table 1.1.9. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Sources: McKeever 2009, USDOC BC 2010, 

USDOC BEA 2010.

Table 6—Timber products used for other purposes, selected years 1962–2009 Year and type

Lumbera

(×103 m3)

Structural

panelsb

(×103 m3)

Nonstructural

panelsc

(×103 m3)

Total, all 

wood products

(×103 m3)

1962 13,403 1,163 1,210 15,776 1970 12,259 2,518 1,606 16,383 1976 8,044 2,269 1,571 11,884 1986 8,682 1,534 940 11,156 1996 14,604 1,677 2,383 18,664 1998 15,260 1,848 2,732 19,841 2005 26,813 3,288 3,424 33,525 2009 7,875 1,454 1,630 10,958 aIncludes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the 

lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. 

bIncludes softwood plywood and OSB. cIncludes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and 

insulation board. Sources: Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (in this report).
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

13

production in 1972. Of these 604,000 new units, 445,000 

were single-family houses, 109,000 multifamily units, and 

50,000 mobile homes. Housing production changes year to 

year depending on economic growth, interest rates, household formations, housing vacancy and replacement rates, 

and conversion of existing structures to alternative uses. In 

2010, there was very little growth in U.S. housing starts, 

which remain depressed at levels below the lowest levels 

of the previous 60 years (Fig. 3), with prognosis of gradual 

recovery in the years ahead. Solid wood products consumption is also affected by the types of units produced. Singlefamily houses are larger and require more solid wood products than multifamily and mobile homes. 

Solid wood Products Use Per Housing Unit

In 2009, the average single-family house used nearly 

38.6 m3 of wood products (Table 1). Included are 

25.5 m3 of lumber, 10.0 m3 of structural panels, and 

nearly 3.1 m3 of nonstructural panels. Amounts per house 

are down somewhat from 2005 but still reflect long-term 

averages. Multifamily units used, on average, about 38% 

of the wood as single-family houses. The average mobile 

home, because of its larger average size than multifamily 

units, used nearly 60% of the wood as new houses. 

The average size of a housing unit directly affects the 

amount of solid wood products required to build it. New 

single-family houses averaged 226 m2 of floor area in both 

2005 and 2009, up from 203 m2 in 1998 (Table 1). With few 

exceptions, the long-term trend in single-family houses has 

been toward increasing average size (Fig. 12). Growth in 

average size, in part a reflection of steadily rising real disposable personal income, contributed to the increases in the 

use of all wood products per house over the past 60 years. 

Multifamily housing average sizes have varied over the 

years. Since 1995, average size has been above 100 m2. 

In 2009, the average size measured nearly 114 m2. The 

average mobile home in 2009 had 142 m2 of floor area, 

more than 20% greater than the average multifamily unit. 

Mobile homes have shown the most dramatic and steady 

increases in size of all housing types since 1950. The growth 

is expected to continue. Much of the increase in size is attributable to changes in the types of units being produced. 

Single-wide units gave way to double-wide units and multisectional units. As size increased, more conventional construction practices were used, resulting in greater amounts 

of wood use.

In 2009, the average new single family house required 

0.17 m3 of wood per m2 of floor area to build. Multifamily units averaged 0.13 m3, and mobile homes 0.16 m3. 

Although annual variations in use are common, in general 

combined wood products use per square meter of floor area 

in single- and multifamily units has fallen over the past two 

decades, while mobile home use has increased (Table 1). 

Structural and architectural characteristics of new housing 

units can greatly affect both total amounts of solid wood 

products required to build the unit, as well as amounts 

needed per unit of floor area. These include foundation type, 

number of stories, exterior wall covering, presence and size 

of garages, and presence of porches and decks. Changes 

in the frequency in which these characteristics appear over 

time help explain some of the variation in solid wood products use per m2 of floor area.

Total Solid wood Products Use in New Housing

The 445,000 single-family houses, 109,000 multifamily 

units, and 50,000 mobile homes produced in 2009 required 

20.0 × 106 m3 of solid wood products to build (Table 1, 

Fig. 13) This consisted of 13.2 × 106 m3 of lumber, 

5.1 × 106 m3 of structural panels, and 1.7 × 106 m3 of nonstructural panels. These volumes include actual amounts of 

each wood product used along with allowances for onsite 

0

50

100

150

200

250

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Floor area (m2

)

Mobile homes

Multifamily

Single family

Figure 12. Average floor area of new housing units in the 

United States by type, 1950–2009.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Lumber Structural 

panels

Nonstructural

panels

1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 Consumption (×106 m3

)

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

Figure 13. Solid wood products used for new residential 

construction in the United States by product, selected 

years, 1962–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

14

waste. Also included are amounts of engineered lumber 

included with softwood lumber. These amounts are considerably below consumption just 4 years prior in 2005 due 

primarily to nearly a 75% drop in new housing unit production in 2009.

Engineered lumber currently accounts for about 11% of total 

softwood/engineered lumber in new single-family construction and about 15% in new multifamily construction.

Consumption in Residential Repair and 

Remodeling

Repair and remodeling, also referred to as upkeep and improvements, to residential units in the existing housing stock 

are an important market for solid wood products. Included 

are many and varied activities and projects, some of which 

require substantial amounts of solid wood products, some 

of which do not. Overall, about 27% of all solid wood products were used for residential repair and remodeling in 2009 

(Fig. 10), or about 28% of all lumber, 29% of all structural 

panels, and 18% of all nonstructural panels consumed in 

the United States. This market has become and remains important, as the Nation’s housing stock has grown larger, its 

average age has increased, and homeowner incomes have 

risen.

Residential Repair and Remodeling Expenditures

Annual activity in the residential repair and remodeling market is measured in terms of dollars of expenditure and was 

previously tracked by the USDOC Bureau of the Census. 

This tracking was discontinued after 2007. Estimates for 

2008 and 2009 were made based on recent trends and relationships to other types of construction. Expenditures, when 

converted to constant (2005) dollars, totaled more than 

$130 × 109 in 2009 (Table 2). This was $85 × 109 below 

2005 expenditures, and the lowest level of expenditure in 

the past 25 years (Fig. 14). Solid wood products consumption is not only affected by total expenditures but also by 

the types of expenditures in a given year. Three major repair and remodeling activity types exist: maintenance and 

repairs, additions and alterations, and major replacements. 

Maintenance and repairs expenditures are for upkeep of 

the residential property rather than additional investment in 

the property. Addition and alteration expenditures are for 

enlargements or improvements to or within the residential 

structure or the property. Major replacements are construction improvements to the property and are closely related 

to maintenance and repair. The scope of the project defines 

its classification. Of these three expenditure types, additions 

and alterations are the most wood intensive and important 

in determining overall levels of solid wood products 

consumption. 

Solid wood Products Use Per $1,000 of 

Residential Repair and Remodeling Expenditures

Solid wood products use per $1,000 of constant dollar 

expenditure measures the relative amounts of each timber 

product used per unit of repair and remodeling activity. Use 

per $1,000 of constant (2005) expenditures in 2009 was 

estimated to be 0.220 m3 to 0.163 m3 of lumber, 0.041 m3

of structural panels, and 0.017 m3 of nonstructural panels 

(Table 2). Little change in use factors occurred between 

2005 and 2009. This is because use factors are not dependent on the absolute dollars of expenditures but on the types 

of projects undertaken, and in a good economy many more 

homeowners will purchase a new home rather than upgrade 

their existing home. 

Total Solid wood Products Use in Residential 

Repair and Remodeling

The repair and remodeling of residential structures and 

properties consumed an estimated 29.0 × 106 m3 of solid 

wood products in 2009 (Table 2). This translates into 

21.2 × 106 m3 of lumber (including engineered wood products), 5.3 × 106 m3 of structural panels, and 2.5 × 106 m3 of 

nonstructural panels (Table 2, Fig. 15). Total use in 2009, 

0

50

100

150

200

250

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Expenditures (×109 constant 2005 $)

Figure 14. Residential repair and remodeling in the United 

States, 1950–2009.

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

Lumber Structural

panels

Nonstructural

panels

Consumption (×106 m3

)

1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 19761986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009

Figure 15. Solid wood products used for residential repair 

and remodeling in the United States by product, selected 

years, 1962–2009.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

15

29 × 106 m3, was only about 60% of that in 2005, but considerably higher than in the 1960s and 1970s when repair 

and remodeling had not yet become a major wood products 

market (Table 7). Engineered lumber in residential repair 

and remodeling has not yet achieved the levels seen in new 

residential construction. Currently only about 2% of the 

softwood/engineered lumber consumed is engineered lumber. 

Consumption in Nonresidential Construction

Nonresidential construction is a diverse mixture of new 

buildings and other structures, alterations and renovations 

to existing structures, and construction that does not include 

a building or structure at all. Two types of new nonresidential construction are considered here: (1) nonresidential 

buildings (includes stores, restaurants, office buildings, 

warehouses, hotels and motels, factories, schools, religious 

buildings, hospitals, and nonresidential farm buildings) and 

(2) all other types of nonresidential construction (typically 

does not include a building, such as streets and highways, 

water and sewer systems, dams, military, conservation and 

development projects, railroad construction, and other similar types of nonbuilding construction). 

The construction of nonresidential buildings and other nonresidential structures in the United States in 2009 used 

about 13% of all the lumber, 19% of all the structural panels, and 12% of all the nonstructural panels consumed domestically, equivalent to 14% of all solid wood products 

(Fig. 10). Consumption is dependent on the numbers, types, 

and sizes of buildings and other structures built, and the 

amounts and types of building products used in their construction. Because of the diversity inherent in nonresidential 

construction, activity in this sector is measured in the total 

annual value of construction put in place.

Value of Nonresidential Construction

Total value for all nonresidential construction in the United 

States in 2009, measured in constant 2005 dollars, was just 

over $550 × 109 (Table 3, Fig. 16). This is about $65 × 109

greater than in 2005 but below levels achieved in the 1990s. 

Nonresidential construction was a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster construction market in 2009. It tended to be 

somewhat insulated from the current economic downturn 

because (1) nearly all nonresidential construction projects 

require longer planning and construction times than residential construction projects, and (2) Federal stimulus money 

to help alleviate the current economic crisis was targeted 

at public works nonresidential construction. The value of 

buildings constructed in 2009 totaled $352 × 109 (64% of 

total expenditures), and although not a record high level was 

very respectable. Other nonresidential construction totaled 

nearly $200 × 109. 

Solid wood Products Use Per $1,000 of Nonresidential 

Construction Value

In 2009, solid wood products use per $1,000 of constant 

(2005) expenditures was estimated to be 0.027 m3 to 

0.018 m3 of lumber, 0.006 m3 of structural panels, and 

0.003 m3 of nonstructural panels (Table 3). As might be 

expected, use per $1,000 for buildings was greater than that 

for other construction, nearly 2 times greater for lumber, and 

more than 4 times greater for structural panels. In general, 

the use of lumber, structural panels, and nonstructural panels 

per $1,000 of constant construction value has been steady 

or rising in the 1990s and 2000s for buildings, and steady 

or falling for other construction. Recent efforts to promote 

the use of solid wood products in low-rise nonresidential 

buildings may be having an impact. In the past, restrictive 

codes and other building regulations were instrumental in 

limiting wood use in some types of buildings and locations. 

Building codes are continually being revised and changed. 

The recently adopted International Building Code (IBC) is 

a new, improved, state-of-the-art national building code, 

which may expand the role of wood in some nonresidential 

buildings.

Total Solid wood Products Use in New Nonresidential 

Construction

The construction of nonresidential buildings, their alterations and renovations, and other nonresidential construction 

required an estimated 15.0 × 106 m3 of solid wood products 

in 2009 (Tables 3, 7, Fig. 17). This volume consisted of 

9.8 × 106 m3 of lumber, 3.6 × 106 m3 of structural panels, 

and 1.6 × 106 m3 of nonstructural panels. Engineered lumber 

is included with lumber. All estimates include allowances 

for onsite loss and waste. 

In general, nonresidential buildings and their alterations and 

renovations have maintained or increased their use of solid 

wood products over the past 20 years (Table 3). Lumber 

(including engineered lumber) usage has tended to be more 

subject to annual variations than structural panels and nonstructural panels. Other nonresidential construction is losing lumber and nonstructural panel share. Structural panel 

share seems to be rebounding from losses experienced in 

the 1990s. Currently, engineered lumber accounts for about 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

 Expenditures (×109 constant 2005 $)

Other construction

Buildings

Figure 16. Nonresidential construction in the United States 

by type, 1950–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

16

15% of the total lumber/engineered lumber consumed. 

Consumption in Manufacturing

A number of manufacturing industries make products entirely from wood, and some use combinations of wood 

and nonwood materials. In addition, many use wood jigs, 

models, patterns, flasks, and other wood products during 

production. In recent years, many manufacturing activities 

have been relocated offshore to take advantage of labor and 

material cost savings. This has been especially true for furniture and fixtures manufacturing. See the following section 

on trends in furniture production and trade. Trends in solid 

wood products consumption reflect this offshore relocation, 

as outsourcing of furniture production resulted in declining 

U.S. consumption of hardwood lumber in furniture manufacturing. Production and consumption of hardwood lumber 

and saw logs in the United States has in fact dramatically 

declined through a combination of circumstances, including 

off-shoring of manufacturing, declines in housing demand, 

and the recent recession. In 2009, U.S. hardwood lumber 

production was about 50% less than recent peak levels in 

the late 1990s (USDOC BOC 2010, Current Industrial Reports). The last time that U.S. hardwood lumber production 

declined similarly by over 50% was during the Great 

Depression of the 1930s. 

Manufactured goods were divided into two major groups: 

(1) household, commercial, and institutional furniture and 

(2) other products. Other products include all NAICS industries coded 31, 32, or 33 but exclude furniture and furniture 

and related products manufacturing (NAICS 337) and wood 

products manufacturing (321). Although the “Other products” group accounts for more than 96% of the all industry 

shipments, solid wood products consumption for individual 

manufactured products is relatively small; therefore, they 

were combined.

Substantial amounts of solid wood products are used to 

produce pallets, containers, prefabricated wooden buildings, 

structural wood members, mobile homes, millwork and cabinets, flooring, and other wood products (NAICS 321), as 

well as custom architectural woodwork and millwork (NAICS 337212). To avoid double counting, these solid wood 

products were included in the report sections dealing with 

packaging and shipping and residential and nonresidential 

construction and are not included in manufacturing.

Overall, manufacturers used about 11% of all lumber, 11% 

of all structural panels, and 46% of all nonstructural panels 

consumed in the United States in 2009. This is equivalent to 

16% of all solid wood products consumed (Fig. 10). These 

percentages are somewhat misleading because although they 

seem to be in line with historic trends, they reflect the lesser 

decline in manufacturing in 2009 compared with the much 

more dramatic declines in construction. The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census measures activity 

in all major manufacturing industries annually. Annual value 

of industry shipments was used here to estimate solid wood 

products consumption. 

Trends in U.S. Furniture Production, 

Consumption and Trade

Over the past 10 to 30 years, the U.S. furniture industry has 

declined substantially in competitiveness relative to foreign producers, particularly the wood household furniture 

industry (NAICS 337122). Figure 18 shows a progressive 

loss of market share to imports by various furniture sectors, 

with one exception, kitchen cabinets (USDOC BOC 2010, 

USITC 2010). Cabinet makers invested in their production 

capacity, focused on changing designs for customers, 

produced higher value-added products and thus improved 

competitiveness with imported products. The rest of the 

wood furniture industry did not maintain its competiveness. 

The wood molding and millwork industry lost domestic 

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

Lumber Structural

panels

Nonstructural

panels

Consumption (×106 m3

) 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 19761986 1996 19982005 2009 19621970 1976 1986 19961998 2005 2009

Figure 17. Solid wood products used for nonresidential 

construction in the United States by product, selected years 

1962–2009.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1992 1996 2000 2004 2008

Share of consumption (%)

Wood household furniture

Molding (hardwood + softwood)

Wood office furniture

Upholstered furniture

Kitchen cabinets

Figure 18. Furniture imports as a fraction of U.S. domestic 

furniture consumption, 1992–2008.

Notes: Shares based on dollar value. Shares may be 

conservative because some imported components and 

finished furniture is included in domestic shipments. 

Source: U.S. Census, Annual Survey of Manufacturers 

(2010); International Trade Administration (2010).
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

17

market share in the 1980s, a decade before furniture, for 

both similar and different reasons. The spotted owl crisis 

dramatically increased ponderosa pine prices, the raw material for much of the molding/millwork production, and that 

opened the door to cheaper imports, mostly from South 

America. 

Looking more closely at wood household furniture, 

Figure 19 shows trends of decreasing production and increasing imports to meet consumption needs. These trends 

began in accelerating in 1999. Production declines continued despite the dramatic boom in housing starts during 

the period 2000 through 2005. Rising imports have been 

slowed by the recent housing collapse, and it is generally 

expected that imports will tend to resume their capture of 

market share once housing returns to normal. However, this 

gain in share will be limited if the U.S. dollar exchange rate 

remains low. There are several drivers of these changes, but 

the key one is globalization. Once the import tariffs were 

reduced and finally removed, U.S. borders were opened up 

to free trade, and that exposed the domestic furniture 

industry to tough price competition primarily from Asia. 

Initially, it was Taiwan, then mainland China, and now 

we’re seeing increasing imports from Vietnam and other 

places as furniture production moves to countries with still 

lower production costs. Other causes of our market share 

loss include a lack of investment in domestic plants by 

American manufacturers. This is especially relevant as most 

furniture in America is marketed as a commodity, and that 

means low price points. So, when U.S. industry was no longer protected by tariffs, manufacturers were vulnerable to 

lower priced furniture from overseas. Labor is the main ingredient to cheaper foreign imports with Chinese labor costs 

about one tenth of U.S. labor costs. 

Not all furniture suffered with increased global competition. 

The domestic metal household furniture industry production 

has not decreased as much as wood furniture production has 

(Fig. 20). There are several reasons for this: (1) it is a much 

smaller market than wood household furniture, so offshore 

manufacturers were not as interested, (2) metal household 

furniture manufactures have maintained plant efficiency, and 

(3) they have modified furniture designs to meet customers’ 

needs. 

What factors could lead to increased wood furniture production in the United States? Stronger domestic and world 

growth will help. However, a key ingredient will be modifying designs for customers and investing in plant capacity 

to keep costs competitive. An additional important factor 

would be to produce types of furniture with more value 

added – specialty markets - as opposed to commodity furniture because it is most difficult to compete with low-cost 

imported commodity furniture because of high U.S. labor 

costs and labor intensity of production. In addition, furniture 

production may come back to the U.S. as manufacturing 

costs increase in China and other exporting countries.

Manufactured Product Shipments 

Shipments of all manufactured products, measured in constant (2005) dollars totaled $4,919 × 109 in 2009, up from 

$4,630 in 2005 (Table 4, Fig. 21). Although not a record 

high level of expenditures, it is one of the highest in recent 

years. Overall growth in manufacturing shipments has been 

fairly steady, averaging about 2.2% per year since 1950.

In 2009, furniture and fixture shipments totaled 50 × 109

constant 2005 dollars compared with $61 × 109 in 2005 

(Table 4). Shipments peaked in 1999 and 2000 at nearly 

$69 × 109, and have steadily fallen ever since (Fig. 18). 

Shipments of other manufactured products totaled 

$4,869 × 109 in 2009, and continues on its long-term 

increasing trend. 

Solid wood Products Use Per $1,000 of Manufacturing 

Shipments

The use of lumber and structural and nonstructural panels 

per $1,000 of constant (2005) industry shipments has decreased considerably over the years, particularly in furniture 

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

1992 1996 2000 2004 2008

 Value (×109 constant 1982 $)

Production 

Imports

Exports

Figure 19. Wood household furniture production imports 

and exports, 1992–2008. Source: U.S. Census, Annual 

Survey of Manufacturers (2010); International Trade 

Administration (2010).

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

1997 2001 2005 2009

 Value (×109 constant 1982 $)

Wood 

Metal

Figure 20. Wood and metal household furniture 

production in the United States, 1997–2008.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

18

and fixtures manufacturing (Table 4). In 2009, furniture and 

fixtures manufacturing required an average of 0.161 m3 of 

solid wood products per $1,000 (2005) of industry shipments. This is 16% less than in 2005, and about half the 

1998 amount. For other manufacturing, solid wood products 

use per $1,000 of industry shipments, much smaller than 

that for furniture and fixtures, which average between 

0.001 and 0.002 m3 per $1,000. Trends in solid wood products consumption per $1,000 of shipments reflect the numerous and diverse changes in materials and technologies used 

to manufacture products. These trends also reflect changes 

in consumer preferences for specific products and the 

materials from which they are made. Lower cost materials 

such as nonstructural panels, plastics, and metal have eroded 

many of traditional lumber markets. Trends also reflect, to 

some extent, the mix of manufactured products consumed 

annually.

Total Solid wood Products Use in Manufacturing

Solid wood products consumption in manufacturing totaled 

17.0 × 106 m3 in 2009, consisting of 8.4 × 106 m3 of lumber, 

2.1 × 106 m3 of structural panels and 6.1 × 106 m3 of nonstructural panels (Tables 4, 7). Consumption in 2009 was 

down in each product category from 2005 levels, and from 

record high 1998 levels (Fig. 22). Much of the decline was 

due to falling furniture and fixture real dollar shipments, 

and declining solid wood products use per constant dollar of 

shipments. 

Furniture and fixtures are an important component of solid 

wood products consumption in manufacturing. In 2009, industry furniture and fixture shipments accounted for just 1% 

of all industry shipments but 47% of combined solid wood 

products consumption. Lumber and nonstructural panels accounted for about one-half and structural panels about onefourth of consumption. 

Consumption in Packaging and Shipping

Substantial amounts of solid wood products are used annually in the U.S. to produce pallets, boxes, crates, hampers, 

baskets, and other wooden containers; and for the dunnage, 

blocking, and bracing required in the transportation, handling, and storage of industrial, agricultural, and military 

products. Although these are technically manufactured 

 Value (×109 constant 2005 $)

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

0

15

30

45

60

75

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

×109constant (2005) $

Furniture and fixtures

manufacturers

Figure 21. Manufacturing industry shipments in the United States excluding furniture 

and fixtures; insert shows shipments for furniture and fixtures, 1950–2009.

0.0

4.0

8.0

12.0

16.0

20.0

Lumber Structural

panels

Nonstructural

panels

Consumption (×106 m3

) 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 19621970197619861996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009

Figure 22. Solid wood products used for manufacturing in 

the United States by product, selected years, 1962–2009.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

19

products, they are evaluated separately because they constitute a sizeable market for solid wood products, particularly 

lower grade hardwood lumber. In 2009, about 14% of all 

solid wood products consumed were for packaging and 

shipping. Lumber was by far the most used product accounting for 19% of all lumber consumed. Structural panels and 

nonstructural panels accounted for 5% and 2%, respectively, 

of their total consumption. As with manufacturing, these 

levels of consumption reflect the lesser decline in pallet 

and container use in 2009 compared with the much more 

dramatic declines in construction. Additionally, hardwood 

lumber declines in furniture and other manufacturing were 

somewhat offset by more stable packaging and shipping 

markets.

Wooden Pallet and Container Shipments

Shipments of wooden pallets and containers, measured in 

constant 2005 dollars totaled $5.9 × 109 in 2009, up from 

$5.7 in 2005 (Table 5). Although not a record high level of 

shipments, it is one of the highest in recent years (Fig. 23). 

Overall growth in shipments has been fairly steady, averaging about 1.2% per year since 1950.

In 2009, wooden pallet shipments totaled $4.3 × 109 (2005 

dollars), 73% of total shipments. Shipments of wooden 

containers have fluctuated little over its long-term 40-year 

average of about $1.3 × 109.

Solid wood Products Use Per $1,000 of Shipments

The use of lumber and structural and nonstructural panels 

per $1,000 of constant (2005) wooden pallet and container 

shipments has changed over the years. In 2009, an estimated 

1.2 m3 was used per $1,000 (2005) of product shipments 

(Table 5). This is down substantially from use per $1,000 

in the 1970s and 1980s when the use of wooden pallets was 

growing rapidly. Since then, use per $1,000 of shipments 

has fallen because of improvements in materials handling 

technologies, substitution of nonwood for wood products 

in both pallets and containers, and a decline in the need for 

wooden dunnage, blocking, and bracing as containerized and 

bulk shipments of manufactured and agriculture goods and increased use of palletized transportation systems have emerged.

Wooden Pallet Production

The wooden pallet industry is the mainstay of the packaging 

and shipping market. Overall pallet production continues 

its 60-year long upward trend. Since the development of the 

recycled pallet in the mid-1990s, new wooden pallets now 

account for about 58% of all pallets produced (Fig. 24). The 

principal reason for the rapid increase in the use of recycled 

pallets is that many states and municipalities ban the landfilling of used pallets. Others recover landfilled pallets for 

reuse or conversion into products with little or no value. 

The recovery of pallet material at landfills for repairing and 

remanufacturing pallets could be the next major recoveryreuse step. Trends in reduced new material use, increased 

recovery and repair, and decreased landfilling continue.

Total Solid Wood Products Consumption for 

Packaging and Shipping

An estimated 15 × 106 m3 of solid wood products were used 

for packaging and shipping in 2009 (Table 5, 7, Fig. 25). 

This consists of 14.2 × 106 m3 of lumber, 1.0 × 106 m3 of 

structural panels, and 0.2 × 106 m3 of nonstructural panels. 

Not included in these totals are the amounts of reused and 

reclaimed lumber used to repair and produce recycled pallets. In 2009, wooden pallets accounted for an estimated 

90% of all solid wood products used, wooden containers 

8%, and dunnage, blocking, and bracing, 2%. Additionally, 

as much as 11.0 × 106 m3 of solid wood products were reused for pallet repair and recycling in 2009. 

Consumption in Other Uses

In addition to the major end uses discussed above, an estimated 11 × 106 m3 of solid wood products were used in 

2009 for other purposes (Tables 6, 7, Fig. 26). This consists 

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

 Value (×109 constant 2005 $)

Pallets

Total, pallets and containers

Figure 23. Value of wooden pallet and container shipments 

in the United States, 1960–2009.

0

100

200

300

400

500

New Recycled

Production (×106

) 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 1950s1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2000s 1990s

Figure 24. Decade average wooden pallet production, by 

type, selected years, 1962–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

20

of 7.9 × 106 m3 of lumber, 1.5 × 106 m3 of structural panels, and 1.6 × 106 m3 of nonstructural panels. Other uses 

include, but are not limited to, roof supports and other construction in mines; made‐at‐home or do‐it‐yourself projects 

such as furniture, boats, and picnic tables; made‐on‐the‐job 

products such as advertising and display structures; and 

various other activities not captured elsewhere in this report. 

Also included are millwork, cabinets, finished flooring, and 

other nonstructural uses in nonresidential construction. Volumes in the “other uses” category were estimated by subtracting volumes of solid wood products consumed in the 

specific end uses such as construction, manufacturing, and 

shipping, discussed above from estimated total consumption of each solid wood product. Estimates for the other uses 

category may be too high or low, depending on the accuracy 

of the estimates of total consumption (obtained from statistics on total production and net imports) and consumption 

in specific uses. Consumption estimates for specific uses 

are based on limited studies conducted at irregular intervals 

over the years. As these studies age, relationships between 

solid wood products consumption and major drivers change. 

These changes affect end-use specific solid wood product 

consumption estimates, which may or may not be reflected 

until studies are updated.

Consumption Summary 

Solid wood products (excludes “other industrial wood 

products”) are vital to the strength and well being of the 

U.S. economy. The current economic downturn and resulting impact on construction markets has put consumption in 

2009 at levels not seen for nearly 30 years (Table 7). New 

residential construction was the hardest hit of all end-use 

markets. In 2009, an estimated 107 × 106 m3 of solid wood 

products were consumed compared with 214 × 106 m3 just 

4 years prior. Construction is by far the greatest consumer 

of wood products (Fig. 27), accounting for 60% or more of 

total consumption in recent years. Typically, new residential 

construction accounts for about one-half of all solid wood 

products used for construction. However, in 2009, just about 

one-fourth of all solid wood products used for construction 

were for new residential construction. The robustness of the 

residential repair and remodeling market and the nonresidential construction market helped construction maintain its 

market share. Information on consumption in specific enduse markets provides important insights into the strength 

of the market and how factors affecting the market impact 

consumption. Tables 8, 9, and 10 summarize consumption 

of lumber, structural panels, and nonstructural panels, 

respectively. 

Summary

Consumption, imports, exports, and production are shown 

separately for lumber, structural panels, and nonstructural 

panels in Tables 8–10, and in combination as total solid 

wood products in Table 11. Consumption of “other industrial wood products” is shown separately in Table 15. Total 

wood products consumption, including solid wood and “other industrial wood products,” increased 116% between 1962 

and 2005 to 223 × 106 m3 in 2005 and decreased during the 

recession by 52% to 115 × 106 m3 in 2009. With an increase 

in net imports as a share of consumption from 10% in 1962 

to 33% in 2005 total production increased 61% but only 

16 percentage points of the increase occurred since 1986 

(Fig. 28, Tables 11, 15). 

Eighty percent of wood products consumption is in lumber and structural panel products with virtually all of the 

increase in net imports coming from softwood lumber and 

oriented strandboard (Figs. 29, 30). The other 20% of consumption is in nonstructural panels and miscellaneous industrial solid wood products.

The consumption of structural panels rapidly shifted 

from softwood plywood to OSB in the 1990s, with OSB 

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

Lumber Structural

panels

Nonstructural

panels

Consumption (×106 m3

)

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

20052009

1998

2005

2009

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009

Figure 25. Solid wood products used for packaging and 

shipping in the United States by product, selected years, 

1962–2009.

0.0

8.0

16.0

24.0

32.0

Lumber Structural

panels

Nonstructural

panels

Consumption (×106 m3

)

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

1962

1970

1976

1986

1996

1998

2005

2009

1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009 1962 1970 1976 1986 1996 1998 2005 2009

Figure 26. Solid wood products used for other purposes in 

the United States by product, selected years, 1962–2009.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

21

consumption exceeding softwood plywood consumption 

in 1998 and thereafter with much of the shift coming from 

sharply increasing imports since the mid 1990s. Since 2005, 

OSB consumption has decreased more than 50% by 2009 

with much of the decrease in imports (Fig. 30).

The consumption of nonstructural panels has been on the 

order of one-half or more of the structural panel consumption in recent years. Nonstandard panel consumption 

decreased about 40% between 2005 and 2009. About 

half of the decrease was because of decreased inputs 

(Table 14). There was an upward shift in real (deflated) 

prices for softwood lumber, hardwood lumber, and even 

softwood plywood (despite deceases in consumption) on 

the order of 40% between the 1980s and the 1990s (Fig. 

31) fueled by increases in construction. With price levels 

in the 1980s that were similar to prices in the 1960s and 

consumption levels on the order of 60% higher in the 1980s 

than the 1960s, it appears that there may not have been 

overall increasing economic scarcity of wood products over 

this period even with increasing consumption. However, 

there is uncertainty in this hypothesis as prices in the 1970s 

were considerably volatile. Increases in economic scarcity 

(increases in real prices for products) can be kept in check 

by increases in resource availability and maintaining or decreasing costs for manufacturing. 

Going forward, if the dollar exchange rate remains low 

(Fig. 5), then as consumption of wood products increases 

with an economic recovery it is likely that the net import 

Table 7—Timber products consumption in the United States, by per capita and end use, specified 

years 1962–2009 

End use 

Construction 

Year 

Population 

(×106

)

Per 

capita 

(m3)

Total 

(×103 m3)

New

housing

(×103 m3)

Residential

repair and

remodeling

(×103 m3)

Nonresidential

construction 

(×103 m3)

Total 

(×103 m3)

Manufacturing 

(×103 m3)

Shipping

(×103 m3)

All

other 

(×103 m3)

1962 187 483 90,017 31,452 10,517 10,435 52,403 11,826 10,011 15,776 

1970 205 499 102,407 35,502 12,552 11,945 59,999 13,416 12,609 16,383 

1976 218 529 115,328 47,668 16,255 11,640 75,563 15,042 12,839 11,884 

1986 241 645 155,219 56,338 39,148 14,720 110,207 20,416 13,441 11,156 

1996 266 640 170,000 56,136 38,920 13,119 108,176 28,490 14,671 18,664 

1998 270 670 181,196 63,456 35,905 14,592 113,954 30,938 16,463 19,841 

2005 297 721 213,799 80,170 48,119 14,106 142,395 22,128 15,751 33,525 

2009 307 349 107,285 19,972 29,002 15,009 63,983 16,994 15,350 10,958 

Sources: Howard, in preparation, Appendix tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. 

0.0

8.0

16.0

24.0

32.0

New

housing

Residential repair

and remodeling

N

onresidential

Manufacturing 

Packaging

and shipping

Other

purposes

Lumber Structural panels Nonstructural panels

Consumption (×106 m3

) Figure 27. Solid wood products consumption in the United 

States by end use and product, 2009.

0

50

100

150

200

250

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Consumption 

Consumption

Production

 (×106 m3

) Figure 28. Total solid wood products consumption and 

production for the United States, 1962–2009 (× 106 m3).
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

22

Table 8—Lumber consumption in the United States by per capita use, softwoods and hardwoods, and end use, 

specified years 1962–2009 

Species group 

End use 

Construction 

New

housing

(×103

 m3)

Residential

repair and

remodeling

(×103 m3)

Nonresidential

construction 

(×103 m3)

Total 

(×103 m3)

Manufacturing 

(×103

 m3)

Shipping

(×103 m3)

All

other 

(×103

 m3)

Softwoods

(×103

 m3)

Hardwoods

(×103

 m3)

1962 187 400 74,526 54,926 19,600 25,729 7,800 8,187 41,716 9,781 9,626 13,403 

1970 205 380 77,955 57,804 20,151 25,556 9,009 9,217 43,782 9,839 12,075 12,259 

1976 218 387 84,410 65,471 18,939 33,610 11,445 8,891 53,946 9,984 12,436 8,044 

1986 241 472 113,615 89,305 24,310 39,286 29,179 10,658 79,123 12,851 12,958 8,682 

1996 266 465 123,520 95,731 27,789 38,198 29,662 9,908 77,768 17,032 14,116 14,604 

1998 270 482 130,333 101,500 28,834 42,889 27,300 10,980 81,169 18,080 15,823 15,260 

2005 297 516 153,098 127,652 25,446 54,105 35,805 9,517 99,427 12,108 14,750 26,813 

2009 307 243 74,615 59,111 15,504 13,216 21,173 9,794 44,183 8,382 14,175 7,875 

Softwood lumber (%) 

 1962 — — — — — 91 96 65 87 30 36 91 

 1970 — — — — — 93 96 65 88 38 38 90 

 1976 — — — — — 95 97 62 90 50 41 86 

 1986 — — — — — 96 95 67 92 44 29 83 

 1996 — — — — — 95 95 34 72 92 28 56 

 1998 — — — — — 96 96 74 93 41 34 89 

 2005 — — — — — 95 94 70 93 49 43 87 

 2009 — — — — — 96 98 78 93 63 43 85 

a

Includes hardwood and softwood dimension and boards and the lumber equivalent of engineered wood products. Sources: Howard, in preparation, tables 1, 

2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Table 9—Structural panel consumption in the United States by per capita use, softwood plywood and OSB, and end 

use, specified years 1962–2009 

Panel type 

End use 

Construction 

New

housing

(×103

 m3)

Residential

repair and

remodeling

(×103 m3)

Nonresidential

construction 

(×103

 m3)

Total 

(×103 m3)

Manufacturing 

(×103

 m3)

Shipping

(×103 m3)

All

other 

(×103

 m3)

Softwood

plywood 

(×103

 m3)

OSB 

(×103 m3)

1962 187 45 8,415 8,415 0 3,482 1,478 1,460 6,420 646 186 1,163 

1970 205 61 12,592 12,592 0 5,257 2,078 1,675 9,010 808 255 2,518 

1976 218 72 15,767 15,696 71 7,704 2,872 1,690 12,266 1,002 230 2,269 

1986 241 95 22,780 19,087 3,693 10,407 6,208 2,726 19,340 1,556 350 1,534 

1996 266 105 27,957 15,946 12,011 14,521 6,440 2,166 23,128 2,695 457 1,677 

1998 270 114 30,807 15,214 15,593 16,559 6,206 2,475 25,240 3,189 529 1,848 

2005 297 124 36,904 14,461 22,443 19,144 8,362 3,070 30,576 2,190 851 3,288 

2009 307 60 18,510 7,736 10,774 5,084 5,329 3,581 13,994 2,103 959 1,454 

Softwood lumber (%) 

 1962 — — — — — 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 

 1970 — — — — — 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 

 1976 — — — — — 100 100 99 99 100 100 100 

 1986 — — — — — 75 95 94 84 98 99 62 

 1996 — — — — — 43 70 65 53 94 97 48 

 1998 — — — — — 34 63 60 43 94 96 41 

 2005 — — — — — 23 58 56 36 91 70 27 

 2009 — — — — — 18 55 33 36 94 62 10 

a

Includes softwood plywood and OSB. Sources: Howard, in preparation, tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

23

Table 10—Nonstructural panel consumption in the United States by per capita and end use, 

specified years 1962–2009 

Year 

Population 

(×106

)

Per 

capita 

(m3)

Totala

(×103 m3)

End use 

Construction 

New

housing

(×103

 m3)

Residential

repair and

remodeling

(×103 m3)

Nonresidential

construction 

(×103 m3)

Total 

(×103 m3)

Manufacturing

(×103 m3)

Shipping

(×103 m3)

All

other 

(×103 m3)

1962 187 38 7,075 2,241 1,239 788 4,268 1,398 199 1,210 

1970 205 58 11,860 4,690 1,465 1,053 7,207 2,768 279 1,606 

1976 218 69 15,150 6,354 1,938 1,058 9,351 4,056 173 1,571 

1986 241 78 18,825 6,645 3,762 1,336 11,743 6,008 133 940 

1996 266 70 18,523 3,417 2,818 1,045 7,280 8,763 97 2,383 

1998 270 74 20,056 4,008 2,399 1,138 7,544 9,669 111 2,732 

2005 297 80 23,797 6,920 3,953 1,519 12,392 7,831 150 3,424 

2009 307 46 14,160 1,672 2,499 1,634 5,806 6,509 216 1,630 

a

Includes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. Sources: Howard, in preparation, tables 1, 2, 

3, 4, 5, and 6. 

Table 11—Solidwood products production, foreign trade, and apparent domestic consumption in the 

United States, specified years 1962–2009 

Year 

Production 

(×103

 m3)

Imports Exports Net imports 

Consumption 

(×103

 m3)

Total 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of

Total

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of

Total

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Production Consumption Production Consumption Production Consumption 

1962 79,381 12,501 16 14 1,865 2 2 10,636 13 12 90,017 

1970 89,091 16,504 19 16 3,187 4 3 13,317 15 13 102,407 

1976 98,815 21,861 22 19 5,348 5 5 16,513 17 14 115,328 

1986 120,887 40,988 34 26 6,656 6 4 34,332 28 22 155,219 

1996 128,102 51,051 40 30 9,152 7 5 41,898 33 25 170,000 

1998 132,144 55,862 42 31 6,810 5 4 49,053 37 27 181,196 

2005 140,266 80,701 58 38 7,168 5 3 73,533 52 34 213,799 

2009 84,257 29,024 34 27 5,996 7 6 23,028 27 21 107,285 

Source: Howard, in preparation.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Softwood lumber

consumption

Softwood lumber

production

Hardwood lumber

consumption

Hardwood lumber

production

×106 m3 Figure 29. Softwood and hardwood lumber consumption 

and production for selected years 1962–2009 (× 106 m3).

share of consumption will remain below 33% level for all 

wood products seen in 2005. When the dollar exchange rate 

was last at current levels (early 1990s) the net import share 

of consumption was 20% to 23%, which corresponds to 

the 2009 net import share of 20%. For example, to return 

to a 2005 production level of 149 × 106 m3 would require a 

consumption level of 190 × 106 m3 or 15% less than the consumption level in 2005.

Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard 

Consumption, Trade, Production, 

and Prices 

Drivers of Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard 

Consumption and Trade

Paper and paperboard consumption in the United States 

peaked in line with peaking of industrial production in 

about 1999 and declined as industrial production declined 

through 2000–2001 (Fig. 32) (U.S. Federal Reserve 2008a). 
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

24

The recession of 2000–2001 followed the Asian financial 

crisis of the late 1990s and coincided with a period when 

the exchange value of the U.S. dollar was increasing, which 

increased consumer goods imports and decreased U.S. 

manufacturing. The largest U.S. demands for paper and 

paperboard are for packaging and print advertising, both 

historically linked to industrial production, so U.S. demands 

for paper and paperboard generally declined as growth in 

manufacturing of consumer goods shifted overseas and as 

growth in advertising expenditures shifted from print media 

to digital media in recent years.

Growth in U.S. industrial production resumed after the 2001 

downturn, but average growth from 2001 to 2008 was less 

than half the average growth rate for industrial production 

in the latter half of the 20th century (U.S. Federal Reserve 

2008a). The decline of growth in U.S. industrial output reflects expansion of manufactured goods imports, which have 

soared to record levels over the past decade. 

After 2001, U.S. demands for newsprint and printing papers were also negatively affected as growth in advertising 

expenditures shifted from print media to electronic media. 

Slower growth in print advertising and other structural 

changes in paper and paperboard use resulted in a gradual 

divergence over the past decade between the industrial production trend and production of paper and paperboard. 

The recession of 2008 resulted in further steep declines in 

U.S. industrial production and in production of paper and 

paperboard (Fig. 32), but this time the downturn was due to 

sharp declines in retail sales and consumer spending, which 

were influenced by a credit crisis and rising unemployment. 

Retail sales in the United States, for example, dropped by 

12.4% in just six months from June to December of 2008 

(U.S. Census Bureau), by far the largest and most rapid decline in decades.

In contrast to declining domestic production for paper and 

paperboard, the U.S. net imports of pulp, paper, and paperboard increased for a period in the past decade but then 

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Softwood plywood production

Softwood plywood

consumption

OSB consumption

OSB production

×103 m3 Figure 30. Softwood plywood and oriented strandboard 

consumption and production, 1965–2009.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Price index 1982 = 100

Softwood lumber

Hardwood lumber

Softwood plywood

Figure 31. Deflated prices for softwood and hardwood 

lumber and softwood plywood, 1947–2010 (1982 = 100).

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

19971998199920002001200220032004200520062007

200820092010

2011

Pro

duction index (Jan. 1997 = 100)

Total industrial production

Paper product production

Figure 32. Monthly trends in total U.S. industrial production 

index (U.S. Federal Reserve 2008a) and U.S. paper product 

production index, 1997–2009.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

25

narrowed as the trade-weighted value of the U.S. dollar 

peaked (in 2002) and then declined (Fig. 33). Net imports of 

pulp, paper, and paperboard peaked at about 8 million metric tons in 2002–2003. 

Rising imports and weaker domestic demands led to industry downsizing and consolidation. For example, according 

to industry sources, 98 U.S. paper mills closed between 

1998 and 2003 (American Forest & Paper Association 

2005). Consolidation resulted in job losses, but the industry achieved higher average labor and capital productivity. 

Higher productivity and a weaker dollar improved the competitiveness of U.S. producers, and by 2008 the net imports 

were very small (American Forest & Paper Association 

2008), and positive net exports were achieved in 2010 

(Fig. 33).

As shown in Figure 33, the trade-weighted dollar exchange 

rate increased in early 2009, as the value of foreign currencies declined amid the global economic recession. A higher 

dollar could adversely affect the U.S. pulp, paper, and paperboard trade balance in the long run, but by 2009–2010, 

the United States was a net exporter of paper and paperboard for the first time in decades as the dollar remained 

weak in 2010 (Fig. 33).

Relationship to GDP Growth

Over the long run (as noted in Fig. 2), up until 1999 U.S. paper and paperboard consumption has increased fairly consistently as GDP has increased. The two trends have different 

growth rates. The average rate of growth in GDP was higher 

than the average growth rate for paper and paperboard consumption, but both trends were growing in tandem up until 

1999, at which point the trends diverged sharply. This divergence is due to structural changes that have occurred in demands for paper and paperboard, primarily a result of higher 

imports of manufactured goods and slower growth in U.S. 

industrial production and shifts in advertising expenditures 

from print media to electronic media. 

By 2008, the divergence from GDP suggests that consumption was 30 million metric tons lower than may have been 

attained if the relationship between consumption and GDP 

growth had continued. 

Paper and paperboard production in the United States also 

tracked well with increasing GDP up to the late 1990s, but 

not more recently (Fig. 34). The projected gap in production 

growth compared with GDP growth is not quite as great as 

Table 12—Lumbera production, foreign trade, and apparent domestic consumption in the United States, by 

softwood and hardwood, specified years 1962–2009 

Year 

Production 

(×103

 m3)

Imports Exports Net imports 

Consumption 

(×103

 m3)

Total 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Total 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of

Total

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Production Consumption Production Consumption Production Consumption 

Softwood lumbera

 1962 45,592 10,818 24 20 1,483 3 3 9,334 20 17 54,926

 1970 46,801 13,635 29 24 2,633 6 5 11,003 24 19 57,804

 1976 50,478 18,782 37 29 3,789 8 6 14,993 30 23 65,471

 1986 60,182 33,602 56 38 4,479 7 5 29,123 48 33 89,305

 1996 57,423 42,530 74 44 4,221 7 4 38,308 67 40 95,731

 1998 60,066 44,098 73 43 2,665 4 3 41,433 69 41 101,500

 2005 71,651 58,118 81 46 2,117 3 2 56,001 78 44 127,652

 2009 40,533 20,898 52 35 2,320 6 4 18,578 46 31 59,111

Hardwood lumber 

 1962 19,180 730 4 4 309 2 2 420 2 2 19,600

 1970 19,658 795 4 4 302 2 1 493 3 2 20,151

 1976 18,826 680 4 4 568 3 3 113 1 1 18,939

 1986 24,726 819 3 3 1,234 5 5 –416 –2 –2 24,310

 1996 29,472 889 3 3 2,572 9 9 –1,682 –6 –6 27,789

 1998 30,040 1,295 4 4 2,502 8 9 –1,207 –4 –4 28,834

 2005 26,333 2,537 10 10 3,424 13 13 –887 –3 –3 25,446

 2009 16,494 900 5 6 1,890 11 12 –990 –6 –6 15,504

Total 

 1962 64,772 11,547 18 15 1,793 3 2 9,754 15 13 74,526

 1970 66,459 14,430 22 19 2,934 4 4 11,496 17 15 77,955

 1976 69,304 19,462 28 23 4,357 6 5 15,106 22 18 84,410

 1986 84,907 34,421 41 30 5,714 7 5 28,707 34 25 113,615

 1996 86,894 43,419 50 35 6,793 8 5 36,626 42 30 123,520

 1998 90,107 45,393 50 35 5,167 6 4 40,227 45 31 130,333

 2005 97,984 60,655 62 40 5,541 6 4 55,114 56 36 153,098

 2009 57,027 21,798 38 29 4,210 7 6 17,588 31 24 74,615

a

Includes laminated veneer lumber beginning in 1986. Source: Howard, in preparation.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

26

Table 13—Structural panel production, foreign trade, and apparent domestic consumption in the United 

States, by softwood plywood and OSB, specified years 1962–2009 

Year 

Production 

(×103

 m3)

Imports Exports Net imports 

Total 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Total

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Total 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of 

Production Consumption Production Consumption ProductionConsumption

Consumption 

(×103 m3)

Softwood plywood 

 1962 8,419 12 0 0 15 0 0 –4 0 0 8,415 

 1970 12,691 2 0 0 101 1 1 –99 –1 –1 12,592 

 1976 16,319 11 0 0 634 4 4 –623 –4 –4 15,696 

 1986 19,574 56 0 0 544 3 3 –488 –2 –3 19,087 

 1996 16,975 75 0 0 1,105 7 7 –1,029 –6 –6 15,946 

 1998 15,732 158 1 1 676 4 4 –518 –3 –3 15,214 

 2005 12,682 2,143 17 15 364 3 3 1,779 14 12 14,461 

 2009 7,618 545 7 7 427 6 6 118 2 2 7,736 

OSB 

 1962 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 1970 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 1976 71 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 71 

 1986 3,109 584 19 16 0 0 0 584 19 16 3,693 

 1996 8,243 3,907 47 33 139 2 1 3,768 46 31 12,011 

 1998 9,936 5,745 58 37 89 1 1 5,657 57 36 15,593 

 2005 13,262 9,331 70 42 150 1 1 9,182 69 41 22,443 

 2009 8,494 2,439 29 23 159 2 1 2,280 27 21 10,774 

Total 

 1962 8,419 12 0 0 15 0 0 –4 0 0 8,415 

 1970 12,691 2 0 0 101 1 1 –99 –1 –1 12,592 

 1976 16,390 11 0 0 634 4 4 –623 –4 –4 15,767 

 1986 22,683 640 3 3 544 2 2 96 0 0 22,780 

 1996 25,218 3,982 16 14 1,243 5 4 2,739 11 10 27,957 

 1998 25,668 5,904 23 19 765 3 2 5,139 20 17 30,807 

 2005 25,944 11,474 44 31 514 2 1 10,960 42 30 36,904 

 2009 16,112 2,984 19 16 587 4 3 2,397 15 13 18,510 

Source: Howard, in preparation. 

Table 14—Nonstructural productiona, foreign trade, and apparent domestic consumption in the United 

States, specified years 1962–2009 

Year 

Production 

(×103

 m3)

Imports Exports Net imports 

Consumption 

(×103

 m3)

As a percentage of As a percentage of As a percentage of 

Total 

(×103

 m3)

Production Consumption Total 

(×103 m3)

Production Consumption Total 

(×103 m3)

Production Consumption 

1962 6,190 942 15 13 57 1 1 885 14 13 7,075 

1970 9,940 2,072 21 17 152 2 1 1,920 19 16 11,860 

1976 13,120 2,388 18 16 358 3 2 2,030 15 13 15,150 

1986 13,296 5,927 45 31 398 3 2 5,528 42 29 18,825 

1996 15,990 3,650 23 20 1,116 7 6 2,534 16 14 18,523 

1998 16,370 4,565 28 23 878 5 4 3,687 23 18 20,056 

2005 16,338 8,572 52 36 1,114 7 5 7,458 46 31 23,797 

2009 11,117 4,242 38 30 1,199 11 8 3,043 27 21 14,160 

a

Includes hardwood plywood, particleboard, MDF, hardboard, and insulation board. Source: Howard, in preparation.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

27

for consumption because paper and paperboard exports have 

expanded and imports have decreased in recent years. However, there is an apparent loss of well over 25 million metric 

tons of growth in U.S. production over the past decade relative to the historical GDP relationship. 

Whether looking at U.S. paper and paperboard consumption 

(Fig. 2) or production (Fig. 34), it is obvious that there was 

a structural change in growth trends relative to overall economic growth or GDP, and the onset of the structural change 

was coincident with the Asian financial crisis of the late 

1990s, the subsequent rise in value of the U.S. dollar, and 

consequent downturn in industrial production and recession 

of 2000–2001. The 2000–2001 recession marked a point 

when growth in U.S. industrial production changed significantly. From 1950 to 2000, growth in industrial production 

was +3.8% per year, but since 2000 it has been negligible 

(0.1% per year). Average consumption and production 

growth rates prior to 1999 were well above 2% per year, but 

growth on average has been negligible from 2001 to 2008. 

The annual rate of growth in production from 2001 to 2008 

was just under 0% per year, much less than the average rate 

of 2.4% from 1970 to 1999. Furthermore, U.S. paper and 

board production dropped steeply in 2009 coincident with 

the global financial crisis, followed by a solid rebound in 

2010. However, U.S. production in 2010 was still below 

the 2008 level, although the U.S. paper and paperboard 

trade balance improved as the United States became a net 

exporter.

Wood Pulp Production

The trends in paper and paperboard consumption since the 

late 1990s, along with earlier increases in paper recycling, 

had a major impact on the historic trend in U.S. wood pulp 

production. For most of the 20th century, U.S. wood pulp 

production was increasing, but production peaked in the 

mid-1990s (Fig. 35). Growth in wood pulp production was 

slowed by increasing use of recovered paper during the late 

1980s to 1990s. 

Since the late 1990s, the utilization rate of recovered fiber in 

U.S. paper and paperboard remained about level (American 

Forest & Paper Association 2007). Since then increases in 

paper recovered for recycling have mostly been exported 

(mainly to China). Thus, since the late 1990s, changes in 

U.S. wood pulp production have been determined primarily 

by changes in U.S. paper and paperboard production. Therefore, U.S. wood pulp output has been almost level (slightly 

declining) since 2001, although there has been some increase in net exports (Fig. 35). With nearly level wood pulp 

production since 2001, pulpwood consumption at U.S. wood 

pulp mills has also been nearly level (slightly declining) 

during the last decade since 2001.

Table 15—Miscellaneous industrial 

timber productsa

 production and 

consumption, specified years 

1962–2009 

Year

Total 

(×103

 m3)

b

Softwood

(×103

 m3)

b

Hardwood

(×103

 m3)

b

1962 13,167 6,796 6,371 

1970 18,463 9,992 8,471 

1976 10,619 6,796 3,823 

1986 13,451 7,263 6,187 

1996 9,684 5,133 4,552 

1998 8,637 4,577 4,059 

2005 9,005 4,773 4,232 

2009 7,985 4,191 3,794 

a

Includes cooperage logs, poles and piling, 

fence posts, hewn ties, round mine timbers, 

box bolts, excelsior bolts, chemical wood, 

shingle bolts, and miscellaneous items. 

b

Roundwood equivalent. Source: Howard, in 

preparation.

0.77

0.83

0.89

0.95

1.01

1.07

1.13

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010

Real broad dollar index

×103 metric tons

Exports Imports Dollar index

Figure 33. U.S. exports and imports of all pulp, paper, and 

paperboard products (American Forest & Paper Association 

2007, 2008) and real broad trade-weighted dollar index (U.S. 

Federal Reserve 2008b), 1996–2008.

40

48

56

64

72

80

88

96

104

112

120

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

19751980

19851990

19952000

20052010

Paper and Board Production

(million metric tons per year)

U.S. GDP

(×109 chained 2005 dollars)

Real GDP Paper and board production

Figure 34. Divergence since 1999 between trends in U.S. 

real GDP (USDOC Bureau of Economic Analysis 2010) and 

U.S. paper and paperboard production (American Forest & 

Paper Association 2007, 2008).
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

28

Pulpwood Consumption and Prices for Pulpwood, Paper, and Paperboard

Changes in U.S. pulp, paper, and paperboard production deeply affected the pulpwood market, as reflected by 

substantially lower real prices for pulpwood since the late 

1990s (Fig. 36). The real price of pulpwood generally declined over the past 25 years, but during a transitory period 

in the 1990s, the real price of pulpwood increased. However, after 1998 the real price of pulpwood declined sharply 

as U.S. wood pulp production peaked and declined 

(Fig. 35). This declining real price indicates a decreasing 

economic scarcity for pulpwood. Pulpwood is becoming 

more abundant in the United States relative to the U.S. 

demands. This is due to increasing supplies of pulpwood 

relative to demand, particularly growth of southern pine 

plantations; level to declining consumption; increasing net 

imports; and improvements in harvesting or conversion 

technology and associated non-wood costs of production. 

In the decade between 1998 and 2008, the real price of 

pulpwood in the United States dropped by 42%, according 

to producer price indexes reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics (Fig. 36). Consolidation in the paper industry helped 

avoid a similar collapse in real paper and paperboard prices, 

but real prices for paper and paperboard have also been generally declining with weaker demand since the late 1990s 

(Fig. 36). 

Demands for paper and paperboard were sufficient to sustain elevated real prices for paper and paperboard through 

the 1990s, but declining real prices imply that market 

demands have weakened for paper and paperboard since 

the late 1990s. Real prices for paper and paperboard were 

generally increasing prior to the late 1990s, when paper and 

paperboard production and consumption were still increasing in line with GDP growth. Real prices have not increased 

since the late 1990s. 

Pulpwood Consumption 

Pulpwood consumption in the United States depends on 

wood pulp production, which in turn depends on paper and 

paperboard production. Both woodpulp production and 

paper and paperboard production peaked in the 1990s and 

have generally declined since then. Both U.S. woodpulp 

production and estimated pulpwood consumption at U.S. 

wood pulp mills have declined by around 15% to 20% since 

peaking in the mid-1990s.

Apart from wood pulp, the leading alternative use for pulpwood in the United States is oriented strandboard (OSB), 

used primarily in housing construction. Output of OSB expanded rapidly since its first commercial use in the United 

States in 1979. Thus, North American OSB consumption 

was affected by the recent downturn in U.S. housing construction (2006–2009), but a notable decrease in net imports 

of OSB helped avert a more significant collapse in U.S. 

production (Fig. 37). Oriented strandboard exports from the 

United States were boosted also by generally lower OSB 

prices, a weaker U.S. dollar, and excess capacity. On the 

other hand, Canada lost roughly half of its OSB output just 

from 2006 to 2008, as the housing slump and a strong 

Canadian dollar reduced demand for Canadian OSB exports 

(Fig. 37). 

Potential of Pulpwood Demand for Energy 

Wood and bark residues, pulping liquors, and conventional 

fuelwood harvest account for almost all wood energy production in the United States. Generally pulpwood-quality 

wood (roundwood pulpwood or clean wood chips) has 

higher value than fuel residues like bark or whole-tree 

chips. However, with limitations on residue supply some 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

190019101920193019401950196019701980199020002010

×106 metric tons

Figure 35. Annual U.S. wood pulp production, 1900–2008 

(USDOC Bureau of Economic Analysis 2010; Howard, in 

production; and American Forest & Paper Association 

2007).

25

50

75

100

125

150

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

U.S price index (1982 = 100)

Paperboard

Paper

Pulpwood

(delivered)

Figure 36. U.S. real price indexes for paper, paperboard, 

and pulpwood, 1982–2008 (BLS producer price indexes, 

(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008) deflated using allcommodity producer price index).
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

29

pulpwood is also beginning to be used for energy (e.g., for 

wood pellets).

With increased oil prices and related policy responses, biofuels or biochemicals would appear to represent a potential 

emerging future demand for wood that could potentially 

compete for pulpwood. However, technology for efficiently 

converting wood to biofuels or biochemicals on a large scale 

is yet to be demonstrated and large-scale investment and 

research and development efforts would be needed to create 

such competitive demands for pulpwood. Also, the precipitous drop in oil price that occurred in the second half of 

2008 suggests less impetus for rapid commercial expansion 

of biofuel production in the near term, although there continues to be strategic interest and continued industry support 

for biotechnology development. 

Based on recent prices for various product alternatives, 

production of wood pulp still offers much higher revenue 

potential for pulpwood than does production of wood-based 

biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. Taking into account total 

costs of production, the profit margins would be lower for 

conversion of pulpwood into ethanol versus wood pulp. Of 

course, prices and costs vary over time for ethanol, wood 

pulp, and pulpwood. 

Higher future market prices for ethanol or other biofuels or 

improved production cost efficiency could increase competitiveness of biofuel production from wood. Also joint 

production of wood pulp and biofuels at integrated forest 

product biorefineries is a potentially more lucrative opportunity that is being explored by the forest industry.

Summary

U.S. paper and paperboard purchases peaked in 1999 and 

then declined along with U.S. industrial production in 

2000–2001. Comparatively modest growth was experienced 

from 2002 to 2007 (averaging less than 1% per year), and 

yet another downturn in industrial production and paper and 

paperboard demand occurred in 2007–2008 along with a 

more generalized global recession. The recent downturn was 

associated with declining retail sales and consumer spending. Paper and board consumption rebounded solidly in 

2010, but consumption was still less than in 2008, yielding 

a decade of generally declining U.S. consumption for paper 

and paperboard. Domestic consumption of paper and paperboard in 2010 was more than 20% below the 1999 peak 

level, according to AF&PA data. 

Average historical growth rates before 1999 were above 2% 

per year for U.S. production and consumption of paper and 

paperboard, but 2001–2008 growth rates have averaged 0% 

per year. 

U.S. pulpwood prices (deflated) have been declining over 

the past 25 years, and especially since the late 1990s, as 

pulpwood demand has receded while supply sources have 

expanded. 

Increasing OSB production is demanding a growing amount 

of pulpwood, but the consumption is still small compared 

with pulpwood consumption at wood pulp mills. The recent 

downturn in housing construction has decreased OSB 

demand. 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1999200020012002200320042005200620072008

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1999200020012002200320042005200620072008

U.S. OSB Production

Production (×109 ft2

, 3/8-in. basis)

Canadian OSB Production

Production (×109 ft2

, 3/8-in. basis)

Figure 37. U.S. and Canadian OSB production, 1999–2008 

(APA—The Engineered Wood Association 2008); 2008 

estimate based on data through third quarter.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

30

Wood Energy Consumption, Trade, 

Production, and Prices 

Wood is currently consumed for energy in four primary sectors: residential (for home heating), commercial businesses 

(primarily for heating), industrial (primarily as black liquor 

and mill residue in lumber, panel, and pulp plants for heat 

and power) and electric power. Presently, no commercial 

production of liquid fuels uses wood in the United States. 

These four primary sectors use wood in several forms. The 

primary forms are 1) logs or chips directly from a forest 

(termed roundwood), 2) mill residue from a lumber, panel, 

or pulp mill, and 3) black liquor from a pulp mill. In addition, some forms require more processing. Wood pellets are 

made from mill residue or roundwood. Torrified wood is 

wood that is heat treated, such as torrified wood pellets. Two 

benefits of torrified wood are lower transport cost per unit of 

energy and ability to be crush to a powder for co-firing with 

coal.

Most wood energy has been used in the residential and industrial sectors, averaging 19% and 70% of total wood energy, respectively, from 2000 to 2009 (Fig. 38). 

Industrial Wood Energy Consumption 

The main driver of industrial wood energy use is the need 

for energy in pulp production including chemical recovery 

kilns and electric power production for internal use. A secondary driver is needed for heat by lumber mills for kiln 

drying. After a steady increase since the 1950s, the stable 

to declining trend in industrial wood energy use since the 

mid 1980s is linked in part to declining pulp production as 

shown in Figure 35. However, the leveling off of industrial 

wood energy use began about 10 years earlier than the pulp 

production decline in the mid 1980s. This earlier decline is 

explained in part by decreasing prices for natural gas beginning in the 1980s (Fig. 39). However, increasing natural 

gas prices since the mid 1990s have not increased industrial 

wood energy use, as pulp production has declined. Going 

forward, industrial wood energy consumption will likely 

continue to be influenced by trends in pulp production, 

lumber production, and the associated need for dry kilns, 

and by industrial prices for natural gas for pulp and lumber 

mills. Industrial use in pulp and lumber mills is facilitated 

by ready access to residue and roundwood for energy. In the 

absence of government incentives, expansion of wood energy for process heat or electricity in other industrial sectors 

would likely require a notable price increase for natural gas 

(or fuel oil) used in those sectors. 

Residential Wood Energy Consumption 

A key driver of residential wood energy use in colder climates has been the price for alternate fossil heating fuels, 

primarily fuel oil and natural gas (or propane). The substantial increase in residential wood use in the late 1970s and 

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

2006$ per million Btu 

Consumption in wood equivalent (×106 m3

)

Residential use

Commercial use

Industrial use

Electric power use

Average residential 

natural gas and fuel oil 

price

Figure 38. Wood energy consumption by end-use sector 

and average residential natural gas and fuel oil price.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

2006$ per million Btu

Petroleum

Coal

Natural gas

Biomass

Figure 39. Fuel feedstock prices for industrial users.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

31

1980s was preceded by a substantial increase in the consumption-weighted average price for fuel oil and natural gas 

for housing (Fig. 38). Residential wood energy use declined 

after the mid 1980s as average fuel oil and natural gas prices 

decreased. Since the late 1990s, average fuel oil and natural 

gas price have increased but residential wood energy use 

continued to decline until the early 2000s and has since increased slowly. The continued decline in residential is likely 

related to a number of factors including improved efficiency 

of natural gas furnaces, improved efficiency of wood stoves 

and furnaces, and increased prices for wood fuel. Going forward, residential wood energy consumption will continue to 

be influenced by residential heating demand (which may be 

moderated by efficiency improvements), greater use of more 

efficient wood pellet furnaces, increases in price for key alternate fossil fuels, such as natural gas, fuel oil, and propane 

(in rural areas).

Electric Power Wood Energy Consumption 

One driver of expansion of electric power production since 

the early 1990s (Fig. 38) has been the decrease in the price 

for wood feedstocks (Fig. 40). The comparison of feedstock 

prices in Figure 40 is per Btu contained in the feedstock. 

Other influences on the price for electric power from biomass or fossil fuel include the efficiency to convert the 

feedstock to electricity and the capital and operating costs 

for a plant. Wood has a lower conversion efficiency than 

coal and natural gas in similar power plants. Going forward, 

wood electric power production will also be influenced by 

incentives or regulations that support electric power production such as renewable portfolio standards of states. By 

December 2010, 46 states had renewable energy portfolio 

standards that can be met by many forms of renewable energy including wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass (DSIRE 

2010). The degree to which wood-based electric power may 

expand to meet state targets will also depend on wood plant 

costs compared with costs for plants using other types of 

renewable energy. 

Wood Pellet Consumption, Trade, 

and Production

The primary driver of wood pellet fuel consumption in 

the United States has been for residential heating in pellet 

stoves and furnaces. The estimated number of stoves or furnaces in use has increased from 163,000 in 2000 to 814,000 

in 2008 (Spelter and Toth 2009). In 2010, the number may 

have been 1 million units. With an estimated average use 

of 2 metric tons of pellets per unit, consumption in 2008 

was about 1.6 million metric tons and may be about 2 million for 2010. Use of pellets is more expensive than use of 

round logs per Btu of wood input to stoves and furnaces 

but comes with benefits including easy-to-handle bags of 

pellets and easy feeding of pellets into the stove or furnace. 

The high cost per Btu of pellet input can be offset to some 

degree by relatively high conversion efficiency of pellets 

to heat compared with conversion of roundwood to heat. In 

2008, about 84% of pellets were made from wood residues, 

primarily sawmill residue. But the fraction of pellets made 

from roundwood (logs or chips), about 16% in 2008, has 

been increasing as sawmill production declined since 2008 

and demand for pellets for domestic use and for export has 

increased.

Since 2006, demand for pellets for export to Europe has increased sharply. In 2008, an estimated 20% of U.S. production was exported to Europe and total U.S. pellet capacity 

has increased from less than 2 million metric tons in 2006 

to more than 4 million tons in 2009. Much of the production 

from expanded capacity is going to Europe to help meet the 

objective to produce 20% of its energy needs from renewable fuels by 2020 (Rakos 2008). 

In November 2009, an estimated average cost in the United 

States for bagged pellets was $276 per ton ($304/t) with a 

range of $176 to $600 per ton (Pirraglia and others 2010). 

Using 17 million Btu per ton, this is $16.24 per million Btu. 

This average compares favorably with residential propane 

price in December 2010, which was about $2.50 per gallon 

or $27.41 million Btu and residential heating oil at about 

$3.05 per gallon or $21.97 (USDOE EIA 2011), provided 

pellet conversion efficiency is at least 60% or 75% as good 

as for propane and heating oil, respectively. Pellet fuel 

would also be less expensive than residential electric heat, 

which has recently been $30 per million Btu, provided it is 

54% as efficient as electric heating. But pellets are currently 

more expensive than residential natural gas where prices 

that have been below $10.00 per million Btu (Fig. 39). So, 

currently pellet fuel use could expand in areas where natural 

gas is not available for home heating.

Demand for industrial pellets could increase in the United 

States if they are used to co-fire coal power plants. One way 

for electric utilities to meet state renewable fuel portfolio 

standards is to co-fire with wood in existing coal plants. 

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

2006$ per million Btu

Biomass Feedstocks for electric power

Figure 40. Biomass price and average feedstock price for 

electric power plants.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

32

Dry pelletized wood can be pulverized to a particle size that 

allows injection in pulverized coal boilers. Stoker boilers 

could use less expensive chipped or chunked wood. The 

opportunity to use pellets will be limited by their costs. The 

average price for pellets shipped from the southern United 

States to Europe in 2010 was about $130 per ton at U.S. 

ports or about $7.55 per million Btu while price of coal delivered to power plants was $2.26 per million Btu (Sikkema 

2011). The opportunity to use wood in pellet or chip form 

to co-fire with coal is being evaluated extensively (e.g., Abt 

and others 2010; EPRI 2011). 

The outlook for roundwood requirements for pellet production for domestic residential use and for export begins with 

1.6 to 2 million metric tons for recent residential use and 

an additional 2 million metric tons of production capacity 

for pellet export, or 2.7 to 3.4 × 106 m3 for residential use 

and up to 3.4 × 106 m3 for export (98 to 121 × 106 ft3). For a 

total domestic consumption plus export of 6.8 × 106 m3 up 

to 20% may currently be coming from roundwood (up from 

16% in 2008) or 1.4 × 106 m3. This is small in relation to 

estimated U.S. harvest in 2009 of 346 × 106 m3.

Going forward, residential pellet use could expand for housing that does not have natural gas, pellet use could expand 

for export to meet European renewable energy targets, and 

pellet use for electric power production could expand if it is 

a competitive with other technologies (e.g., wind and solar) 

that can be used to meet state renewable fuel portfolio 

standards. 

Wood Feedstocks and Pulpwood for Energy–

Consumption of Roundwood, Mill Residue 

and Black Liquor

Data on wood used for energy are limited. The Forest Service estimates amounts from two sources of wood fuel feedstock, roundwood fuelwood harvest and mill residue, used 

for fuel. Information is also available on total wood energy 

use from Department of Energy surveys that include using 

black liquor in pulp mills and any other sources not captured 

by the Forest Service roundwood fuelwood and mill residue 

estimates. One small source that is not captured by Forest 

Service surveys is mill residues from secondary wood products mill (e.g., flooring and furniture) that is used for energy. 

By deducting roundwood fuelwood and mill residue from 

the total wood energy consumption, we estimate an amount 

that includes black liquor and any additional mill residue or 

roundwood. Included in this “black liquor +” group could 

be some pulpwood used by electric power plants that have 

increased wood use from very low levels prior to 1990 to 

about 

20 × 10 6 m3 in 2009. Electric power plants use mill residue 

and some roundwood, which could include pulpwood, but 

data are not available on proportions.

Total consumption of wood for energy was relatively stable 

between 1950 and the mid 1970s just above 150 × 10 6 m3 

per year (Fig. 41). Over this period, roundwood used for fuelwood ranged from 64 to 30 × 10 6 m3. Use of mill residue 

and black liquor ranged from 170 to 142 × 10 6 m3 wood 

equivalent. From the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, roundwood fuelwood and black liquor/residue use both roughly 

doubled then both declined. 

Since the mid 1980s, roundwood fuelwood has declined 

steadily while “black liquor +” use increased since 2002. 

Black liquor use has been supported by a tax credit in the 

last several years.

The use of mill residue is limited by the total amount of 

residue generated by production of lumber, panels and pulp 

and by competition for cleaner residues for use in pulp or 

panel production. The proportion of residue used for fuel 

has remained relatively stable between 1986 and 2006 at 

40% to 42%. 

Going forward, as demand for wood fuel feedstock for energy increases for electric power production or for biofuels, 

the availability of mill residue will remain limited by lumber, panel, and pulp production, so use of roundwood would 

increase. This roundwood can come from logging residue 

currently left on harvest sites or from pulpwood (main stem 

of pole timber trees). Mill residue use could increase with 

increasing primary products production or, as wood feedstock prices increase, by drawing away residue from current 

uses to make pulp or panels. 

Overview–Trends in U.S. Output 

of Wood and Paper Products 

and Energy and Required Inputs 

of Wood and Wood Fiber

The demands for wood products and energy production in 

the U.S. compete for a range of wood and fiber inputs. The 

purpose of this section is to look at trends in competition 

among the outputs for inputs and the trends in the inputs 

used. 

The mix of U.S. wood, paper, and energy outputs (production) is shown in Figures 42 and 43 and the mix of wood 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Consumption in wood

equivalent (×106 m3

)

Total wood energy including black liquor

Mill residue

Fuelwood

Figure 41. Wood sources used for energy, cumulative.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

33

and wood fiber inputs is shown in Figures 44 and 45. From 

these figures we can see general trends. Outputs do not 

match inputs exactly because of differences among data 

sources. 

Following are the key reasons outputs do not match inputs 

exactly: 

•	 Outputs include use of wood and bark mill residue for 

pulp, panels, and energy but do not include wood mill 

residue that is unused (a small fraction) or is used for 

miscellaneous uses such as mulch and animal bedding. 

Inputs include only the part of bark mill residue used 

for fuel. So the input figure contains some wood and 

bark mill residue (going to miscellaneous uses) that 

does not appear in the output figure. 

•	 The estimates for wood energy use are based on USDOE estimates, and surveys of wood energy users 

whose estimates of wood use for energy will differ or 

conflict with Forest Service estimates (Fig. 42 compared with Fig. 44). 

•	 Uncertainty in factors used to convert from original 

units (board feet, square feet of compressed panel, 

BTUs of energy) to dry metric tons of wood mean that 

the absolute levels of outputs and inputs are uncertain 

but the trends should be accurate.

Outputs of wood energy grew more rapidly than outputs of 

solid wood and paper products between the early 1980s and 

the late 1990s because of increases in both industrial and 

residential wood energy use (Fig. 39). During the 1990s to 

2008, the wood energy share of outputs was about 44% 

(Fig. 42). 

Going forward, certain structural changes could increase 

wood energy demand and wood energy share above 44% of 

outputs. These changes could include an increase in the ratio 

of fossil fuel prices to wood fuel prices, an increase in wood 

energy conversion efficiencies and costs, and further regulation or incentives favoring wood energy use. Since mill residues and black liquor are already heavily used for energy, 

substantially increasing wood energy use will require use 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Output in wood equivalent (×106

)

Wood energy production

Net wood pulp exports (very small)

Paperboard production

Paper production

Other solidwood products 

production

Structural panel production

Lumber production

Figure 42 – Outputs of solid wood, paper, and pulp products 

and energy from U.S. wood, 1965–2009.

–10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Share of output (%)

Harvest for lumber, 

plywood and veneer

Harvest for pulpwood-based -

products

Imports of logs and chips

Recovered paper used in 

production

Bark for energy

Fuelwood

Other fiber for paper

Net imports of wood pulp

Figure 43 – Solid wood, paper, and pulp production as a 

share of all non-energy wood products output for the United 

States, 1965–2009.
General Technical Report FPL–GTR–207

34

of logging residue and, with increasing wood energy prices, 

pulpwood.

For the 56% portion of outputs that are wood and paper 

products, only the paperboard share has been increasing, 

from 20% to 32% between 1965 and 2009. The shares of 

other products has declined and their levels of production 

have been relatively stable from the late 1980s to 2005 

(Figs. 42, 43). 

Going forward, solid wood and paper products production 

could return to prerecession levels when housing starts recover a substantial part of their 70% decline between 2005 

and 2009 and GDP growth recovers. Recovery of housing 

starts may be slow given the number of housing units on the 

market due to foreclosures and tighter lending conditions. 

Increase to prerecession levels of production would be supported by continuation of a relatively low dollar exchange 

rate that would hold down net imports.

Among inputs to make products and energy, domestic sawlog/veneer log harvest has continued to be the major source, 

totally about 50% of inputs up to 1975. After 1975, this 

share declined to about 43% as net log imports increased by 

10 percentage points to 20% in about 1980. As log import 

share declined in the early 1980s, pulpwood share and recovered paper share increased and kept sawlog/veneer share 

at about 43% (Fig. 45). 

Going forward, input shares could shift depending on which 

demand drivers are strongest. A low dollar exchange rate 

could keep the log import share low. Recovery of housing 

starts and GDP growth will help maintain sawlog/veneer log 

harvest and pulpwood harvest. Pulpwood share would be 

supported with continued substitution of OSB for softwood 

plywood and an increase in paperboard production. An increase in wood use for energy could add logging residue as 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Inputs in wood equivalent (×106

)

Bark for energy

Other fiber for paper

Net imports of wood pulp

Recovered paper used in 

production

Imports of logs and chips

Fuelwood

Harvest for Pulpwood

products-based

Harvest for Lumber, plywood 

and veneer

Figure 44. Inputs of wood and wood fiber to produce solid 

wood, paper, and pulp products and energy, 1965–2009.

–5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Share of output 

Lumber production

Paperboard production

Paper production

Other solidwood products 

production

Structural panel 

production

Net wood pulp exports

Figure 45. Wood and wood fiber sources as a share of 

all wood and wood fiber inputs for the United States, 

1965–2009.
Status and Trends for the U.S. Forest Products Sector: A Technical Document Supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

35

a notable wood input and also increase use of pulpwood size 

material for energy. 

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32 pp. 

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Washington, D.C.: American Forest & Paper Association.

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Forest & Paper Association.

APA—The Engineered Wood Association. 2008. Engineered 

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DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables and 

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pt?Abstract_id=000000000001019762 Accessed 2/9/2011

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the united states: 1989–2040. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-199. Fort 

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Station. 

Howard, J.L. (in preparation). Timber production, consumption, trade and price statistics, 1965-2009. General Technical 

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United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Forest Products Laboratory

General Technical Report FPL-GTR-207

February 2012