The United States is facing strong competition in key softwood lumber and softwood plywood markets, such as Japan and Europe.
Top competitors are Sweden, Finland, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, and Chile.
Only Scandinavia and Austria will be highlighted in this article. New Zealand and Chile will be covered in the future. Canada was highlighted in the July circular. The United States has been losing market share to Sweden, Finland, and Austria, in key markets for the past several years as a result of larger production, expanded export promotion activities and strategic business mergers in these countries coupled with lower U.S. production, a strong U.S. dollar, and a continued robust U.S. economy. From 1990-97, Swedish production increased by 31 percent by volume to 15.4 million m 3 .