United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

Forest Service 

Northeastern Forest 

Experiment Station 

Research Paper NE-619 

Hardwood Import Trends 

I 

William G. Luppold 
Abstract 

Although imports of most hardwood products have varied since 1970 with no 

absolute trend, imports of hardwood plywood have decreased while imports of 

wood furniture have increased dramatically. The decrease in plywood imports 

stems from the substitution of sheetrock for plywood in mobile home construction, 

and the substitution of domestically produced composite products for imported 

hardwood in the production of prefinished paneling. Increased imports of wood 

furniture, primarily from Taiwan, resulted from the lower cost work force 

augmented by the rigid exchange rate between US. and Taiwanese dollars. 

Imports of hardwood lumber, logs, and veneer have fluctuated in both volume and 

country of origin. These fluctuations are related to the relative strength of the 

domestic furniture industry and policy developments in exporting countries. 

The Author 

WILLIAM G. LUPPOLD received B.S.A. and M.S.A. degrees in food and resource 

economics from the University of Florida in 1974 and 1977, respectively. After 

receiving a Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics from Virginia Polytechnic 

Institute and State University in 1981, he joined the Northeastern Forest 

Experiment Station's Forestry Sciences Laboratory at Princeton, West Virginia, 

where he is currently Project Leader of an economics research unit. 

Manuscript received for publication 17 June 1988 

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station 

370 Reed Road, Broomall, PA 19008 

October 1988 
1 Since 1970, imports of hardwood plywood have declined 

1 markedly while imports of hardwood lumber, veneer, and 

logs have fluctuated. However, even with the large surge in 

' hardwood product exports, total imports of primary 

! 

hardwood products have stubbornly remained greater than 

, exports of these products (Fig. 1). In addition to the high but 

decreasing level of primary hardwood products imports, 

wood furniture imports have increased by nparly 100 percent 

( in real terms since 1980. I 

Of the primary hardwood products, hardwood plywood is the 

most significant import on a dollar-volume and cubic-volume 

basis (Ulrich 1950-85). In 1986, hardwood plywood 

accounted for 63 percent of the dollar volume of primary 

hardwood product imports (Appendix Table 2). Hardwood 

lumber and veneer imports accounted for 22 and 15 percent 

of the dollar volume, respectively. Hardwood log imports 

account for less than 1 percent of the dollar volume. 

01- . - . . I _. 

1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 

YEAR I 

Figure 1 .-Imports and exports of hardwood products 

(excluding pulp products), 1970-86 (in milliond, of cubic feet). 

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the I Census. 

The varying levels of primary and secondary hardwood 

products imports affect and are affected by the domestic 

hardwood products industry. In this paper I examine 

hardwood plywood, furniture, lumber, veneer, and log 

imports, and discuss the factors that will affect future import 

levels. 

Hardwood Plywood Imports 

The term hardwood plywood is used to describe numerous 

products that have a face of hardwood veneer bonded to a 

wood ply, solid wood, or wood composite panel. Major 

products included under this definition are: 

1. Doorskins: Thin panels cut to standard door sizes. 

2. Stock panels: Normally 4 x 8 sheets of multi-ply 

plywood, usually less than one-quarter inch in thickness. 

3. Cabinet plywood: Normally 4 x 8 sheet of multi-ply 

plywood, usually one-half inch or greater in thickness. 

4. Cut-to-size plywood: Plywood that has been cut or 

manufactured to a specified size other than 4 x 8 sheets 

or doorskins. 

Even though hardwood plywood imports are not classified 

into these groups, industry sources indicate that the majority 

of the imports are either doorskins or stock panels.' The 

United States also imports relatively small quantities of 

cut-to-size and cabinet plywood from Canada, Europe, and 

Asia. 

Since 1970, shipments from Asia have ranged from 93 to 97 

percent of total plywood imports. Figure 2 shows the 

breakdown of Asian imports for birch and sen plywood, 

lauan and birch doorskins, lauan panels, and other panels. 

The other panel categories include primarily shorea species 

such as meranti that are similar to lauan. 

During the 1970-86 period, Asian sources for imported 

doorskins changed substantially. In 1970, 49 percent of the 

Asian doorskins originated from Taiwan and 40 percent 

originated from Japan. By 1976, Taiwan's share of the 

market increased to more than 75 percent while Japan's 

market share dropped to 18 percent. In the 19803, 

lndonesia entered the market and Japan all but ceased 

exporting doorskins. By 1986, the proportion of Asian 

doorskins imported from Taiwan and lndonesia was 49 and 

43 percent, respectively. This change probably resulted from 

the log embargo by lndonesia (Walker and Hoesada 1986) 

and the subsidized development of the Indonesian plywood 

industry (Repetto 1987). 

' Doorskins usually can be identified as birch or Philippine 

mahogany plywood "not exc 5/32 inch by 47 in by 85 in." 

Stock panels can be usually identified as Philippine 

mahogany or NEC (not elsewhere classified) plywood classified as "excdg 5/32 inch thick by 47 in by 85 in." 
The origins of Asian stock panels also have changed. In 

1970, approximately 55 percent of the stock panels were 

imported from Korea while shipments from Taiwan and the 

Philippines were approximately 20 and 18 percent, 

respectively. Korea dominated the stock panel market 

through the 1970's; however, in the 19801s, Indonesia 

entered the market and Korea exited. By 1985, Indonesia 

dominated the market with an 80-percent share while 

Taiwan was second with only a 10-percent market share. 

These changes also appear to be the result of the 

lndonesian log embargo and the development of the 

lndonesian plywood industry. 

Another trend has been the gradual decrease in stock panel 

imports. Some of this decrease can be attributed to the fact 

that primary markets for hardwood plywood (home 

construction, remodeling, and furniture production) have not 

been as strong in the 1980's as in the early 1970's. 

BIRCH AND 

MUAN DOORSKINS / \ 

1978 

YEAR 

Figure 2.-Imports of hardwood plywood produced in Asia, 

by major product group, 1970-86 (in millions of square feet). 

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census. 

Another factor that has influenced plywood demand has 

been changes in the mobile home industry. In 1974, the 

mobile home industry produced 329,000 units (Ulrich 

1950-85) and used approximately 700 million square feet of 

hardwood plywood (Dickerhoof 1978). In 1985, mobile home 

production was only 284,000 units with sheetrock used as a 

substitute for plywood (Pearce 1988). Sheetrock has been 

substituted for paneling because it is less expensive to 

install and the formaldehyde problems encountered with 

hardwood plywood are eliminated (Pearce 1988). 

Hardwood plywood use by the furniture industry also has 

decreased since the 1970's (Luppold 1988). Although much 

of this decrease affects the domestic plywood industry, the 

substitution of hardboard and other composite panel 

products for thin plywoods has contributed to the reduction 

of plywood imports. 

A third factor that has reduced domestic demand for 

imported plywood is the development of particleboard wall 

paneling. This product became available in the early 1980's 

and is normally sold at a much lower price than wall 

paneling produced from imported plywood. 

Hardwood Furniture Imports 

Furniture imports can significantly affect long-term domestic 

demand for timber resources if they displace domestic 

production and reduce domestic use of hardwood lumber 

and veneer. In the early 1970's, imports of wood furniture 

were relatively insignificant; by 1986, imports accounted for 

23 percent of apparent sales (Araman 1988). During this 

same period, domestic shipments decreased by 10 percent 

while imports increased by nearly 350 percent. An 

examination of the history of furniture imports may help to 

determine whether these imports will continue to increase at 

the expense of domestic furniture production. 

Furniture imports come from around the world: Canada, 

South and Central America, Scandinavia, Western and 

Eastern Europe, and Asia. In Europe, Scandinavia, Western 

Europe, and Eastern Europe can be viewed as three 

separate regions for furniture imports because of style and 

product differences. 

Since 1970, imports have increased by 700 percent in real 

terms as indicated by the deflated import values shown in 

Appendix Table 4. From 1970 to 1986, relative shipments 

from Canada, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe decreased 

for the most part while relative shipments from South 

America remained nearly constant (Fig. 3). The Western 

Europe market share dropped in the early 1980's but 

rebounded in the mid-1980's. lmports from Asia have shown 

consistent growth since 1975 and have dominated the 

market in the 1980's. The growth in Asian market shares 

seems to have been first at the expense of Canada and 

later at the expense of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. 
Although the United States imports all types of wood 

furniture, imports of wood chairs, tables, and wall systems 

dominate over desks, bedroom furniture, and furniture parts. 

Also, different countries tend to concentrate on certain types 

of product exports (Table 1). For instance in 1986, 

shipments from Taiwan, Yugoslavia, and ltaly made up 60 

percent of the chair imports while shipments from Taiwan, 

Denmark, and ltaly made up 70 percent of the table 

shipments. Canada was the number one supplier of desks 

while Denmark and ltaly dominated bedroom furniture 

imports. Most noticeable, however, is the absolute 

dominance of Taiwan in all other product categories. 

PERCENT 

40 r ASIA 

‘ C' EAST. NROPE 

Figure 3.-Percent of furniture imports originating from 

Canada, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, 

and Asia, 1970-86. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Bureau of the Census. I 

The strength of Taiwan and other Asian couhtries in the 

wood furniture market stems from their abilit'v to supply 

products of acceptable quality at low prices. l~urther, 

furniture produced in Asia is being marketeq through 

nontraditional markets such as discount storks as well as 

through traditional channels of domestic furniture 

manufacturers. 1 

Table 1. - Top countries of origin for furniture imports 

by type, volume (in thousands of dollars), and market 

share, 1986 

Product Rank Country Volume Market 

share 

Chairs 

Desks 

Tables 

Bedrooms 

Wall systems 

Parts 

Other 

Furniture 

Taiwan 

Yugoslavia 

ltaly 

Canada 

Taiwan 

Denmark 

Taiwan 

Denmark 

ltaly 

Denmark 

ltaly 

Canada 

Germany 

Taiwan 

Canada 

Denmark 

Germany 

Taiwan 

Yugoslavia 

Canada 

Taiwan 

Canada 

ltaly 

Japan 

The relatively low price of Asian furniture may originate 

partially from the low-cost, work-oriented Asian labor force, 

but it is augmented by a rigid exchange rate between the 

US. dollar and the currencies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, 

Korea, and Singapore. Much of this rigidity can be attributed 

to the U.S. Government's unique relationship with these 

developing, capitalistic economies. 

Hardwood Lumber Imports 

Hardwood lumber imported into the United States is used 

primarily in furniture production, millwork, or other 

appearance applications. The information in Appendix 

Tables 2 and 3 indicates that quantity and real value of 

hardwood lumber imports have shown variation but no 

discernable long-term trends. However, there have been 

significant changes in origins and the species mix of lumber 

imports. 
The majority of hardwood lumber imported into the United 

States is either temperate species originating from Canada 

or tropical species originating from South or Central 

America, Asia, or Africa. Only a small percentage of lumber 

imports originates from Western or Eastern Europe or the 

Middle East. 

In 1970, imports from Canada dominated with a market 

share of 43 percent while imports from South America, Asia, 

and Africa had market shares of 26, 23, and 7 percent, 

respectively (Fig. 4). During the early 1970's, hardwood 

lumber imports swelled as imports of unspecified species 

from Brazil and Columbia increased sharply. By 1974, 

imports of unspecified species from South America 

accounted for nearly 25 percent of all lumber imports. Some 

of this increase resulted from the US. furniture industry's 

search for alternative species because of the dramatic 

increase in prices of domestic hardwood lumber between 

1972 and 1973. These increases were especially dramatic in 

the No. 1 Common lumber of lower valued species such as 

soft maple (123 percent), yellow-poplar (71 percent), and 

sap gum (54 percent) (Lemsky 1972-73). 

PERCENT 

50 1 

Figure 4.-Percent of lumber imports originating from 

Canada, South America, Asia, and Africa, 1970-86. Source: 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 

The large increases in lumber imports in the early 1970's 

stopped abruptly with the onset of the 1974-75 recession. 

Between 1974 and 1975, total imports decreased by more 

than 44 percent while imports of unspecified species from 

South America dropped by more than 55 percent. 

Shipments of these unspecified species failed to pick up 

significantly after 1975. Imports of these species probably 

did not rebound due to the market acceptance and growing 

use of oak and pine by the domestic furniture manufacturers 

during the latter part of the 1970's. 

During the latter part of the 1970's and through the 19801s, 

there was variation in market shares among Canada, South 

America, and Asia but no clear trend. The only significant 

change was a drop in African imports that may have been 

more the result of political and economic conditions in Africa 

than a deliberate shift from African species. 

A look at the species imported offers some insight on the 

dynamics of the lumber import market. In 1970, maple, 

beech, and birch dominated imports of identified species 

with a 39-percent market share while genuine mahogany 

and Philippine mahogany had markets shares of 7 and 11 

percent, respectively (Fig. 5). During the early 1970's, 

PERCENT 

70 r 

Figure 5.-Percent of lumber imports by species group, 

1970-86. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

the Census. 
market shares of identified species droppet as the imports 

of unidentified species from South Americd increased. The 

proportion of unidentified species has been high since the 

early 1970's and probably reflects an increase in imports of 

temperate species such as alder, ash, and oak from 

Canada, and an increase of imports of tropical species such 

as ramin and shorea, other than lauan, from Malaysia. 

One discernable trend in Figure 5 is the increase in 

shipments of genuine mahogany and the sharp decrease in 

shipments of maple, beech, and birch. This change reflects 

style changes in the domestic furniture industry. During the 

late 1970's and through the 1980's, 18th-century 

reproductions containing mahogany have been popular in 

more expensive furniture lines. 

Shipments of Philippine mahogany or lauan from Asia have 

been erratic but have trended upward since 1980. Lauan, a 

relatively inexpensive and versatile species; is used widely 

in the furniture industry in the manufacture pf exposed 

solids, drawer sides, and other products. ~duan also is a 

popular millwork species for fancy molding4 and can be 

used in conjunction with genuine mahogany solids and 

veneers. 

Hardwood Veneer Imports 

Hardwood veneer is used in the production of architectural 

plywood, furniture, stock panels, cabinet plywood, and 

doorskins. Similar to hardwood lumber imports, hardwood 

veneer imports have shown no discernable lmg-term trends 

(Appendix Tables 2 and 3). 

During 1970 to 1986, imports from Canada, bsia, and South 

America normally accounted for 75 to 90 peycent of all 

imports (Fig. 6). However, imports from Canada have 

dominated the veneer market since 1975 wt$e imports from 

Asian countries have decreased in relative terms. South 

American and European imports also have iQcreased 

whereas African imports have shown a relative decrease. 

Birch has been the most important species of veneer 

imported from Canada and traditionally has accounted for 

over one-half of all Canadian imports and onbthird of all 

imports (Fig. 7). Lauan is the most importantispecies 

imported from the Philippines and Asia. ! 

Unidentified species account for a significantlproportion of 

the veneers imported from Canada and Asia4 and nearly all 

of the veneer imported from South America, Europe, and 

Africa. Canadian shipments of these unidentified species 

probably include oak and other temperate hakdwoods that 

may or may not originate from Canada, and tiopical 

hardwoods that are shipped to Canada from pa, South 

America, and Africa. Asian shipments of unidentified species 

PERCENT 

60 r 

1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 

YEAR 

Figure 6.-Percent of veneer imports originating from 

Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1970-86. 

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census. 

probably include shorea species other than lauan and other 

species such as teak and ramin. Unidentified species 

originating from South America would most likely include 

genuine mahogany, banack, primavera, and andiroba. 

Hardwood Log Imports 

lmports of hardwood logs have been low relative to imports 

of other hardwood products and very erratic (Apendix Tables 

2 and 3). Still, there are significant trends in log imports that 

interrelate to trends in hardwood plywood, lumber, and 

veneer imports. 

In 1970, over half of the logs imported into the United States 

originated from South America; shipments originating from 

Brazil accounted for 20 percent of total imports (Fig. 8). In 

1972, shipments from Brazil accounted for more than 42 

percent of total exports, then dropped so low in 1973 that 

the level was not reported. The dramatic drop in log 
shipments of around 11 million board feet occurred 

simultaneously with a 114-percent increase of lumber 

shipments (more than 65 million board feet). Although the 

increase in lumber shipments was 6 times greater than the 

decrease in log shipments, it is apparent that restrictions on 

log exports by Brazil augmented the surge in demand for 

Brazilian lumber. 

The decline of Brazilian log exports also corresponded to a 

large but short-term increase in log imports from Africa and 

Asia (Fig. 8). After the 1975 recession, imports of tropical 

logs dropped continually while imports of Canadian logs 

remained nearly constant so that by 1982, 92 percent of all 

logs shipped into the United States originated from Canada. 

In 1985, the log import market appeared to change with a 

surge in shipments from India and Malaysia. This surge was 

short lived, but in 1986 there was a surge in shipments from 

the Netherlands and Germany. Since the surges in 

European shipments were reported in the unidentified 

PERCENT 

50 - 

40 . 

30: 

! / k 

1970 1974 1978 1986 

YEAR 

Figure 7.-Percent of veneer imports by species group, 

1970-86. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

the Census. 

species category, the species is unknown. Given that a 

large quantity of mahogany logs were shipped from Europe 

the same year, the increase could be a report of tropical 

logs through Europe. Whatever the species, the value of 

these logs was $0.10 per board foot, indicating that these 

imports were likely sawlogs and not better quality veneer 

logs. 

PERCENT 

'O0I 9 

1 SO. AMERICA 

1974 1978 1986 

YEAR 

Figure 8.-Percent of log imports originating from Canada, 

South America, Africa, Asia, and other areas, 1970-86. 

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census. 

Factors Influencing Future Import Trends 

The importation of hardwood products and wood furniture is 

the result of an interaction of economic, political, technical, 

and resource-related factors. When considering short-term 

changes in imports (under 5 years), the dominant factors are 

economic and political even though resource-related factors 

such as diminished log supplies may be used as the 

justification for a political action. Intermediate changes are a 

function of established trends in economic and political 

policy and changes in resource availability and technology. 
In the long run, changes in utilization technology and 

changes in resource availability have the greatest impact. 

Three interrelated economic factors that will affect U.S. 

imports of hardwood products are domestic economic 

growth, economic growth of other developed economies, 

and exchange rates. When the U.S. economy grows, 

demand for all products, including imports, grows. However, 

if the US. economy grows slower than the economies of 

Western Europe and Japan, the other developed economies 

can pay a relatively higher price for hardwood products 

available in international markets. A factor related to relative 

economic growth is exchange rates. If the US. dollar 

appreciates against European and Asian' currencies, then 

US. customers will pay less for wood imports. If, on the 

other hand, the U.S. dollar depreciates ag' ainst other 

currencies because of lower relative economic growth, U.S. 

consumers will pay higher prices for imports. 

Another economic factor that could affect future imports of 

hardwood products is changes in consumption patterns due 

to changes in age and lifestyle. As the population of the 

United States moves into the prime consuming ages of 25 to 

45, the demand for domestic and imported lumber should 

increase. Since the number of individualsiin this age group 

is expected to peak in the late 19801s, remain steady in the 

19901s, then decrease early in the next century, an increase 

in imported material followed by a decrease early in the next 

century can be expected. The extent and the duration of the 

decrease is contingent on changes in domestic fertility and 

immigration. 

Two political-economic factors have influenced imports from 

less developed Asian, South American, and African 

economies. They are the desire to increasb domestic 

revenues and employment by manufacturing logs and 

lumber into finished or semi-finished products and the 

reduction or complete cessation of exports' of selected 

species. Some examples of these actions are: (1) the desire 

of Indonesia to manufacture plywood rather than export logs 

to other nations, (2) the halting of log expdrts by Brazil 

combined with an increase in lumber expohs, and (3) 

greater control over the exports of particular species as 

evident by apparent short-term efforts to reduce mahogany 

exports by Ghana in the 1970's and Brazil In 1987. 

Future level of furniture imports may be dekendent on trade 

policies made in Taiwan and the United States. Taiwan 

currently has a growing trade imbalance with the United 

States. Although Taiwan has allowed the new Taiwanese 

competitive in the domestic market. 

cause Taiwan to lose duty-free status. Such: changes also 

would decrease the level of lumber and venker exports to 

Taiwan since much of the furniture produced in Taiwan is 

made in part from US. oak. This current change also could 

cause plywood imports from Taiwan to decrease, allowing 

the greatest share of the imports to originate from Indonesia. 

Another political-economic factor that could increase imports 

is the recently proposed free-trade treaty between the 

United States and Canada. In 1986, approximately 50 

percent of the hardwood logs and veneer, 20 percent of the 

hardwood lumber, and 15 percent of the wood furniture 

imported into the United States were from Canada. These 

percentages could increase once the treaty is ratified. 

However, the bilateral nature of the treaty could result in 

little net change in trade between the United States and 

Canada since exports to Canada probably will increase as 

well. 

One factor that may have a great impact on future tropical 

log and lumber imports is the worldwide concern by 

environmentalists about the destruction of rain forests for 

both agricultural and forestry uses. There are no accurate 

means of predicting how these concerns will manifest 

themselves given that the environmental concerns emanate 

primarily from people in developed countries while the 

tropical forests are in less developed countries. An added 

complication is that many of these less-developed countries 

have high levels of international debt and little way to pay 

these debts other than through the use of their resources. If 

anything, environmental concerns will reduce the supply of 

tropical timber and increase the price of tropical hardwood 

products relative to domestically produced hardwood 

products. These price increases will have a negative impact 

on hardwood products imports. 

A technical factor that could affect future imports of 

hardwood products is current and planned production 

capacity. While the United States is a major producer of 

hardwood lumber, veneer, and wood furniture; it currently 

lacks capacity to produce large volumes of stock panels and 

doorskins. A major capital outlay would be necessary if the 

United States were to become self-sufficient in hardwood 

plywood. 

Summary and Conclusion 

In 1986, 72 percent of the primary hardwood products 

imported originated from four countries: lndonesia (33 

percent), Taiwan (15 percent), Canada (15 percent), and 

Brazil (9 percent). Hardwood plywood is the major imported 

primary product, accounting for 63 percent on a value basis 

and a similar percentage on a cubic-volume basis. 

Hardwood plywood and log imports decreased markedly 

through the early 1970's and early 1980's, but rebounded 

partially with the expanding economy of the mid-1980's. 

Imports of hardwood lumber and veneer have fluctuated 

over the past 20 years but with no apparent trend. 
Furniture imports in 1986 were 1.5 times greater on a 

dollar-volume basis than the combined imports of all primary 

hardwood products. Imports from Taiwan, Denmark, 

Canada, Italy, and Yugoslavia made up the bulk of the 

furniture imports. Shipments from Taiwan dominated 

furniture imports, and shipments from Asia made up nearly 

40 percent of total imports. Since 1970, imports of furniture 

have grown nearly every year with large surges occurring 

during the early and mid-1980's. Currently, imports account 

for approximately 20 percent of domestic furniture sales. 

Literature Cited 

Araman, Philip; A. 1988. Seconday products (markets, 

competition, and technological improvements). In: 

Forest products research conference 1987: the role of 

utilization research in enhancing US. competitiveness in 

forest products. Proceedings of a conference; 1987 

October 6-8. Madison, WI. Madison, WI: US. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 

93 p. 

Since the United States has a large hardwood resource and 

sufficient production capacity, future imports of furniture will 

be affected by levels of domestic furniture production and 

prices of domestic species versus foreign species. Prices of 

domestic species will be affected by domestic economic 

activity and exchange rates between the United States and 

other developed economies that demand US. species. 

Prices of foreign species will be affected by timber policies 

of Asian and South American nations, demand by the United 

States and other developed economies for hardwood 

lumber, and exchange rates. 

Hardwood plywood imports also will be affected by price of 

imported hardwood plywood versus price of domestically 

produced substitute materials. Since the United States lacks 

the capacity to produce large volumes of stock panels and 

doorskins, composite panel products with wood grain films 

and gypsum products are possible substitutes. 

Current economic conditions indicate that the US. dollar will 

be of lower value against other currencies for an indefinite 

time. Other things being equal, this means that imports will 

remain relatively expensive and that other developed 

economies can bid tropical lumber away from the United 

States. Thus, U.S. manufaciureres will likely rely more 

heavily on domestic timber supplies so long as the dollar 

remains weak. 

Dickerhoof, H. Edward. 1978. Use of wood in mobile 

homes is increasing. Resour. Bull. FPL-4. Madison, WI: 

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

Products Laboratory. 20 p. 

Lemsky, Abe, ed. 1972-73. Hardwood market report. 

Memphis, TN. 

Luppold, William G. 1988. Material-use trends in U.S. 

furniture manufacturing. Southern Journal of Applied 

Forestry. 12(2): 102-1 07. 

Pearce, M.C., ed. 1988. Markets annual review. 

Asian Timber. 7(2): 8-9, 1 1, 13-1 4. 

Repetto, Robert. 1987. Creating incentives for 

sustainable forest development. Ambio. t6(2/3): 

94-99. 

Ulrich, Alice H. 1950-85. U.S. timber production, trade, 

consumption, and price statistics 1950-85. Misc. Publ. 

1453. Washington, DC: US. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service. 

US. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 

1970-86. U.S. imports for consumption and general 

imports: commodity by country of origin. FT-246. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau 

of the Census. 

Walker, Laurence C.; Hoesada, Johannes A. 1986. 

Indonesia: forestry by decree. Journal of Forestry. 

84(11): 38-39, 41 -43. 
Appendix i 

Table 2. - Value of log, lumber, veneer, and plywood 

imported into the United States, 1970-86 (in millions of 

1967 dollars) i 

Year Logs Lumber veneer Plywood 

Table 3 - Volume of log, lumber, veneer, and plywood 

imported into the United States, 1970-86 

Year Logs Lumber 

Million board feet 

37.9 336.7 

28.3 357.7 

28.0 448.8 

25.0 548.7 

31 .O 449.7 

17.0 252.0 

14.2 288.3 

15.0 343.7 

17.8 361.4 

14.6 376.2 

13.4 293.2 

13.5 291 .I 

18.3 211.0 

22.5 260.5 

30.1 327.7 

28.4 363.6 

26.4 346.9 

- - 

Veneer Plywood 

--- Million ft.= -- - 

Table 4 - Dollar volumb of furniture imports, by region of origin, 1970-86 (in 

millions of constant 1967 dollars) 

Year Canada ~04th and Scandi- Western Eastern 

Cbntral navia Europe Europe Asia Other Total 

America 
Luppold, Williad G. 1988. Hardwood import trends. Res. Pap. NE-619. 

Broomall. PA^ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station 9 p. I 

Although import+ of most hardwood products have varied since 1970 with no 

absolute trend, imports of hardwood plywood have decreased while imports 

of wood furniturd have increased dramatically. 

ODC 722.4 1 

Keywords: dembnd; logs; lumber; veneer 
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