- CHAPTER 5 - FOREST ECONOMICS
Edition 6, July 2007

NOTE 1: Chapter 5, Section (5-C) and beyond are in another file (df5c.html).

-TABLE OF CONTENTS:

(5-A) ~ Economics - General ~ [A1] Global (Prices, fuel-wood economics, high-yield forestry, Reservoir-Siltation Costs, Energy Costs of Basic Materials) , [A2] Alternative uses of Rain-forest, [A3]~Jobs-Related Issues, [A4] Wasting Wood, [A5]~South America, [A6]~Canada, [A7]-Europe, [A8]~Asian Sub-Continent, [A9] Southeast Asia, [A10]~Oceania, [A11]~US, [A12]~Plantations, [A13]~Non-Wood Forest Products,
(5-B) ~ Production and Consumption ~
[B1] Global - -([B1a] Roundwood, [B1b] Pulp and Paper, [B1c] Fuel-wood/ charcoal, [B1d]~ Plantations), [B2]~Africa-Fuelwood, [B3]~Southeast Asia, [B4] Canada, [B5] South America, [B6] China, [B7] Developing Countries, [B8] Asian Sub-Continent, [B9]~Central Asia, [B10] Pacific NW, [B11] US - Eastern, [B12] US - Southern, [B13] US - All, [B14] Developed Countries,
(5-C) ~ Exports and Imports ~ [C1] Global, [C2] Africa, [C3] Australia, [C4] Asian Sub-Continent, [C5]~ Canada, [C6]~South-America, [C7]~Developing Countries, [C8] Far East, [C9]~Europe, [C10]~Southeast Asia, [C11]~Oceania, [C12] Central Asia, [C13]~US,

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SECTION (5-A) ~ Forest Economics ~ General ~ [A1] Global (Prices, fuel-wood economics, high-yield forestry, Reservoir-Siltation Costs, Energy Costs of Basic Materials) , [A2] Alternative uses of Rain-forest, [A3] Jobs-Related Issues, [A4] Wasting Wood, [A5] South America , [A6] Canada , [A7] Europe, [A8] Asian Sub-Continent, [A9] Southeast Asia , [A10] New Zealand, [A11] US, [A12]~ Plantations, [A13]-Non-Wood Forest Products,

Part [A1] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global ~

Forests in northern nations are worth US$250 billion a year because they by purify water or soak up greenhouse gases. Governments are urged to place value on natural services rather than treat them as free. It estimated that in filtering water and waste, providing habitats for animals and plants, capturing greenhouse gases and attracting tourists forests were worth about US$250 billion a year. Such valuations would help preserve forests, for instance, and discourage logging that was not replaced. Environmental services provided by Canada's forests alone are worth about 93 billion Canadian dollars (US$83 billion) a year. If these ecosystem services were counted they would amount to roughly 9% of GDP. Under conventional accounting, governments can spur short-term GNP by axing forests for building materials or pulp. A UN report said that coral reefs are worth $US100,000-600,000 per km2 per year because of services ranging from fisheries to tourism. Forests and peatlands store an estimated 67 billion tonnes of carbon in Canada alone ("Intact Northern Forests Worth US$250 Billion/ Year," Planet Ark, 9/24/06.).

Forests provide more than US$4.7 trillion/ year in wood, pulp, soil erosion control, food, flood protection, etc - 10% of gross world product (03U2).

Sub-Part [A1a] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global - Prices ~
At present there is a significant global over-capacity in pulp- and paper facilities, panel plants and sawmills, as evidenced by relatively low returns to forestry sector investments. Much of this over-capacity is the result of distortions in investment decisions created by government incentives (including low stumpage prices, direct investment incentives, and tariff protection) (
03M1).

Current indications are that real prices of most forest products are unlikely to increase significantly in the long term (03M1).

Commercial timber and other wood products are worth over $400 billion/ year. Demand is expected to increase 50% by 2010 (96M2).

Cost of producing a ton of bleached hardwood pulp in the US (9/97): $449 ($357 in Brazil - and one company has reduced the cost to $279/ ton) (98M1).

Stumpage values at the global level have risen in real (inflation-adjusted) terms during the 20th Century, indicating rising scarcity. Rates of increase have steadily diminished (Ref.12, 24 of Ref. (92V1)).

Since the late 1940s, the export unit value for tropical logs exported from Asia has risen 4.1%/ year, whereas the export unit value for tropical sawn-wood (from all sources) has risen 3.6%/ year (Ref. 23 of (92V1)). These rates barely match general price inflation during this period (92V1). Comments: To reconcile this fact with rising real stumpage prices, one might postulate that export prices cover a significant labor-cost and capital content, with stumpage prices being a small fraction of export prices.

Export Prices for Tropical Hardwood products relative to those for Temperate Products, averaged over 1945-1988 (Ref. 39 of (92V1)) (See Ref. (92V1) for a rationalization.)
Tropical Hardwood| Corresponding Temperate Product
Product - - - - -|Hardwood| Softwood
Logs from Asia ~ | 0.58 ~ | 0.98
Logs from Africa | 0.88 ~ | 1.50
Sawnwood ~ ~ ~ ~ | 0.73 ~ | 1.52

Faster growth and lower production costs mean that southern hemisphere producers can provide wood at about half the cost of traditional suppliers in the North (99A2).

Price of hardwood chips: $23/ ton in first half of 1990s, $20/ ton later in the 1990s (Wall Street Journal, 9/27/99).

Sub Part [A1b] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global - Fuel-wood Economics ~
Many rural families now spend 1.5-5 hours/ day collecting fuel-wood. The opportunity costs of this time, which could be better spent on tilling croplands etc., is $50 billion/ year. Compare this with the cost of a comprehensive fuel-wood-plantation program: $12 billion/ year (96M2).

Opportunity costs of those who trek far afield to find fuel-wood and thus utilize time that could otherwise have been spent on farm activities amounts to $50 billion/ year (Ref.13 of (95M2)). This contrasts with the estimated costs of tree-planting to meet fuel-wood needs - $12 billion/ year - costs that are seen as "too high" (95M2).

Sub Part [A1c] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global ~ "High-Yield Forestry" ~ 
A 1999 report from the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development suggested that it would be possible to meet the world's demand for pulpwood in 2050 with 1 million km2 of fast-growing plantations (99A2).

Pulpwood plantations are generally harvested on 6-10-year rotations in the tropics, and 20-30-year rotations in temperate regions (99A2).

Problems and failures associated with "high-yield forestry" are discussed in Ref. (72E2).

Sub Part [A1d] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global - Reservoir Siltation Costs~
Soil conservation benefits of tree cover within India's forests are worth $5-$12 billion/ year, while the nation-wide value of forest services in regulating river flows and containing floods are assessed at $72 billion/ year (96M2).

Siltation of hydropower and irrigation-system reservoirs, partly due to deforestation in watersheds, costs $6 billion a year (World Bank estimate) (96M2).

In Ganges Valley (India/ Bangladesh) with 500 million small-scale farmers, watershed-deforestation costs in India were estimated at over $1 billion/ year (early 1980s data) (96M2).

Siltation of reservoirs costs the world economy about $6 billion/ year in lost hydroelectricity and irrigation water (94D1). Comments: Erosion from undisturbed woodlands is negligible relative to cropland- and grazing land erosion, even though woodlands tend to occupy steeper land, and erosion rates tend to increase rapidly with increasing slope. Also, forests moderate the runoff of rainwater, thereby serving like de facto reservoirs that aid irrigation systems and reduce flood-damage to croplands. So it is not clear that replacing forestland by grazing land or cropland increases the carrying capacity of the land.

Sub Part [A1e] ~ Forest Economics ~ Global - Energy Costs of Basic materials~
453 kilowatt-hrs. (kwh.) of electricity are required to manufacture a ton of lumber; 3780 kwh. for a ton of steel; 20160 kwh. for a ton of aluminum (Ref. 1 of Ref. (76B1)).

Part [A2] ~ Forest Economics ~ Alternative Uses of Rainforest ~

Rain Forest relief lists a lot of constructive things that we as consumers can do to make a huge impact. Here is their link as of Sept. 2006: http://www.rainforestrelief.org/

Classification of Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) by end uses (03M1)
Food products and additives Wild meat, edible nuts, fruits, honey, bamboo shoots, birds' nests, Oil-seeds, mushrooms, palm sugar and starch, spices, culinary herbs, food colorants, gums, caterpillars and insects, fungi
Ornamental plants and parts of plants Wild orchids, bulbs, cycads, palms, tree ferns, succulent plants, carnivorous plants
Animals and animal products Plumes, pelts, cage birds, butterflies, lac, cochineal dye, cocoons, beeswax, snake venom
Non-wood construction materials Bamboo, rattan, grass, palm, leaves, bark fibers
Bio-organic chemicals Phytopharmaceuticals, aromatic chemicals and flavors, fragrances, agrochemicals/ insecticides, biodiesel, tans, colors, dyes.
Source: FAO (98F1).

The top 150 non-wood forest products traded internationally are worth over $11 billion/ year, not counting the even greater local value of these products (FAO data) (98A2).

Pharmaceuticals from tropical forest plants have a commercial value of $25 billion/ year, and an economic value of at least twice that (Ref. 14 of (95M2)).

Amazon rainforest is worth nearly 13 times more as an "extractive reserve" (from which non-timber goods such as latex, nuts, fibers and medicines are extracted) than as a source of timber (93A2). (Detailed analyses are in a 1989 paper in Nature by Charles Peters et al.)

A description of non-timber products of tropical forests is in Ref. (94C2). Studies in Acre (a Brazilian state under rapid deforestation) showed that, because pastures quickly lose productivity and can carry few cattle, the present per-km2 revenues from rubber and Brazil nuts is 4 times higher than revenues from cattle ranching (90R1).

Economics of logging in Amazon rainforest vs. harvesting fruits, oils, latex, fiber and medicine are compared in Ref.(89P1). The actual market benefits of timber are very small relative to those of non-timber resources. Total revenues generated by sustainable harvests of non-timber products are 2-3 times higher than revenues from forest conversion (89P1).

Market value of fruit and latex produced on 1 km2 of forest at Mishana, Rio Nanay, Peru is $69,800/ year. Stumpage value of timber on 1 km2 of the same forest is $100,100 for the year of the timber harvest, then nothing for 70 or so years until the timber again reaches maturity (89P1).

An analysis of costs and benefits from transforming tropical moist forestland to other uses is in Ref. (81B1).

A recent study conducted by anthropologist Ricardo Godoy of Brandeis University contradicts the long-held assumption that rainforests are more valuable to their residents if left standing than they would be if they were harvested for timber or turned into pastures. This means the world may need to pay to keep forests intact. Godoy's on-site study of local groups in rainforests concludes that the average value that can be derived by the locals from one hectare of forest is only $20 annually. Godoy said this low figure makes sense. "People in the rainforest are poor. If the forest produced high economic value to these people, they would not be poor," he said. Godoy added that earlier studies claiming rainforests could yield up to $650 in harvests annually per hectare failed to undertake a detailed inventory of actual harvested products. The studies also based their predictions on a faulty extension of profits from sales of rare forest fruits, which, when sold in bulk, would fetch a lower price. Focusing on Honduras, Godoy said it was understandable that cash-strapped forest dwellers would chop down trees rather than preserve them. Godoy does not advocate a wholesale destruction of rain forests, but urged the world community to compensate forest dwellers for the global service of maintaining rainforests. "Tropical forests are worth more for their global than for their local value," he said. (Fred Pearce, London Independent, 9/15/00) (UN Wire, 9/25/00).

Part [A3] ~ Forest Economics ~ Jobs-Related Issues ~

Nearly 20% of humanity is dependent on forests for some part of their livelihoods (06F1). (su2)

Some 1 km2 of diversified agriculture in Brazil provides 1800 jobs. 1 km2 of land at the Bahia Sul Celulos monoculture tree plantation in the same region of Brazil provides 2 jobs (WorldWatch, 11(2) (1998)).

About 10 km2 of diversified farming in Hawaii provide 400 jobs. 10 km2 of monoculture pulp plantation provides 6 jobs (WorldWatch, 11(2) (1998)).

In Hawaii, a 10 km2 pulp plantation would produce 40-60 jobs, while the same amount of land used for diversified agriculture would create over 400 jobs (98M1).

Around 450 million people - 8% of the global population -live in forest ecosystems. Around 350 million of the world's poorest people are entirely dependent on forest ecosystems for their livelihoods (03M1).

Sweden: 50% of all jobs in the forest products industry have been lost since 1980 - a period when production increased over 17% (99A1). Comments: Automation is the obvious cause.

US national forests are managed primarily for timber supply, even though recreational use of these forests generated 2.6 million jobs and adds $97.8 billion to the national economy (vs. logging's 76,000 jobs and $3.5 billion) (99A1).

There is one forest ministry employee for every 1271 km2 of Indonesian forest (98R1).

Canada: number of jobs per wood-volume harvested has fallen 20% in past 20 years (99A1).

About 10% of Canadian workers depend on forest (Ref. 7 of (83S1), p. 24).

Capital intensity of wood-related jobs: jobs created for every $1 million invested in:
pulp mills 1; sawmills 9; furniture industry 40 (98M1). Comments: This is perhaps why timber produced in the northeastern US tends to be shipped south (e.g. the Carolinas) for processing (e.g. furniture making) since wages are lower in the southeast than in the northeastern US.

Part [A4] ~ Forest Economics ~ Wasting Wood ~

In the US, 20% of all lumber is used to make shipping pallets, most of which are quickly discarded (98A2).

There are 1.5 billion pallets in the US. About 40% of domestic hardwood lumber goes into pallets. Hardwoods make up about 27% of US lumber production. Pallet production in the US is 400 million/ year. A third of US landfills won't take pallets, and others charge fees for recycling pallets. Wisconsin is considering banning pallets from landfills. Pallets typically are reused several times, and many are scavenged for cheap furniture. Most eventually are abandoned. They have a long half-life - on the order of decades. More than 4000 km2 are chopped yearly for pallets (skids) (Wall Street Journal, 4/1/98).

Brazil: 2/3 of commercially harvested wood is discarded (99A1). Comments: It is hard to know what this means - left in the forest? sawmill waste? scrap lumber?

In the past in Siberia, up to 50% of all cut logs were left on the ground, and 20% of extracted wood was wasted during milling (92P2).

Soviet milling practices and technologies use three times of much timber to produce a given finished product as do North American and Western European companies (92R5).

In the US and the UK, 30-50% of the wood that is cut during land clearing, thinning of commercial stands and logging never even enters the commercial flow (99A1).

US timber mills reduced their waste (material unaccounted for or dumped) from 14% of input in 1970 to 1.5% in 1993 (99A1).

In industrial countries, 40-50% of the wood entering a sawmill ends up as solid lumber (25-30% in developing countries) (99A1).

Indonesian sawmills recover 43% of logs (i.e. 43% of log volume becomes lumber etc.) vs. 55% in other developing countries (Ref. 22 of (00P1)).

Between 1945-90, the amount of raw wood used to make each tonne of industrial wood products fell 23% (99A1).

Part [A5] ~ Forest Economics ~ South America ~ [a] Brazil, [b] Chile, [c] Surinam, [d] Belize,

Sub-Part [A5a] ~ Forest Economics ~ South America - Brazil ~
A study by IMAZON in Brazil found that only 1/3 of each harvested log is turned into sawn wood; the rest is discarded (98A1).

Economic return from slash-and-burn agriculture in Brazil = $2960/ km2 for the first year, then $0/ km2 after 4 years (89D2).

Economic return from cattle ranching on cleared rainforest in Brazil = $2470/ km2/ year for the first year, and $0/ km2/ year after 7 years. Economic returns from rubber-tapping = $1235/ km2/ year forever (early 1980s data) (89D2).

The timber-plantation scheme by Daniel K. Ludwig at the mouth of the Amazon is described in Ref. (84G1). The scheme went bankrupt, forcing Banco de Brazil to assume $180 million in debt (84G1).

Sub-Part [A5b] ~ Forest Economics ~ South America ~ Chile ~
Chile is the only country in the world that makes low value wood chips the primary product from native forests (97H2).

Sub-Part [A5c] ~ Forest Economics ~ South America ~ Surinam ~
Logging concessions would bring in $2-3 million from 10,000 km2, but losses from environmental degradation would result in a net dollar-loss to Surinam (95M1).

Sub-Part [A5d] ~ Forest Economics ~ South America ~  Belize ~
In Belize, a Malaysian logging firm paid $100/ km2 for timber rights (98A2).

Part [A6] ~ Forest Economics ~ Canada ~

Forest products of Canada are worth $32 billion/ year (91C1).

Mitsubishi pays Canada a stumpage fee of $0.37/ m3 (95A2). Timber fees provide 60% of Alberta's forest-management costs (95A2).

Each job in Mitsubishi's Alberta-Pacific pulp mill costs Alberta taxpayers $176,500 (95A2). Comments: All this would be a lot easier to understand if the US and Canada had lost WWII to Japan.

Canada's forest resources contribute more to Canada's foreign exchange earnings than agriculture, mining, fishing, oil and gas combined (Ref. 5 of (83S1), p. 24).

Some 15% of all value added in Canadian manufacturing is derived from the forest sector ((83S1), p. 24).

Canada has one professional forester per every 500 km2 of forest (1/190 in Sweden, 1/110 in Norway, 1/130 in US) (p. 258 of (83S1)).

Sub-Part [A6a] ~ Forest Economics ~ Canada ~ British Columbia ~
Nine multi-national timber companies control 2/3 of the cut on public forestland. They pay $7/ m3 for timber, while smaller companies pay $21/ m3 (93D3).

Part [A7] ~ Forest Economics ~ Europe ~

Timber losses from atmospheric sulphur deposition: $30 billion/ year (93B1).

Part [A8] `~ Forest Economics ~ Asian Sub-Continent ~

Sub-Part [A8a] ~ Forest Economics ~ Asian Sub-Continent -India ~
Water regulation and flood control provided by India's forests is valued at $72 billion/ year (93D2).

Part [A9] ~ Forest Economics ~ Southeast Asia ~

Sales of rattan, the palm stem used in wicker furniture in southeast Asia total $3 billion/ year (93D2).

Sub-[A9a] ~ Forest Economics ~ Southeast Asia ~ Indonesia ~
Economic analyses of Bintuni Bay Mangrove forests found that the most profitable strategy was to keep the forest standing, yielding $4800/ ha/ year (in contrast to timber-cutting which yielded $3600/ ha/ year). Not cutting would also insure continued local use of the area worth $10 million/ year, providing 70% of the local income, and would protect fisheries worth $25 million/ year (98A1).

Sub-Part [A9b] ~ Forest Economics - Southeast Asia - Belize -
Belize: a Malaysian timber company was granted a concession for over 890 km2 for $134/ km2 (98A2).

Part [A10] ~ Forest Economics ~ Oceania ~

Sub-Part [A10a] ~ Forest Economics ~ Oceania ~ New Zealand ~
Some 1880 km2 of national forest (land and all) are being sold for $1.37 billion (US) ($3000/ acre) to pay down New Zealand's national debt (Wall Street Journal, 4/4/96).

Sub-Part [A10b] ~ Forest Economics ~ Oceania - Solomon Islands ~
Solomon Islands landowners were paid $2.70/ m3 for timber by foreign companies that then resold the timber for $350/ m3 (98A2).

Part [A11] ~ Forest Economics ~ US ~

Transporting wood costs $20-$25/ 100-ton-mile (03P1) (Minnesota data).

Charging visitors as little as $3.00/ day would earn the USFS more revenues than selling timber now does (Ref. 44 of (93D2)).

In most forest soils of New England, the most fertile organic layer is shallow, thinly overlying a mineral layer from which plant nutrients have been largely leached. This kind of soil, under pressure, rapidly loses its productivity, frequently resulting in abandonment. This explains much of what happened in New England which was under extensive cultivation in the early 19th Century, later changed largely to pasture land, and is today 2/3 in forest of such inferior quality that it yields less than 10% of total rural income (56S3).

US lumber prices have risen 0.8%/ year (constant dollars) since 1800 (79C1).

Douglas-fir stumpage prices have risen 4.3%/ year (constant dollars) since 1920 (79C1).

Southern pine stumpage prices have increased slightly slower (79C1).

Nearly 20% of all lumber in the US is used to make shipping pallets and crates, most of which are discarded after one use (98A1).

Logging of hardwood forests has returned to areas surrounding New York City - driven by growing demand (prices) for maple and oak in Japan and Europe (GREENLines Issue #505, Defenders of Wildlife (1997)).

Average Stumpage Prices in the Northeastern US in 1991 (94S3)
Hardwood sawtimber|$139.73/Mbf
Softwood sawtimber|$ 65.14/Mbf
Hardwood pulpwood | $ 6.54/cord
Softwood pulpwood | $ 8.74/cord

It costs taxpayers $50,000/ year to maintain a single timber-related job in Gallatin N.F. (MT). The recreation industry directly employs 1200 people in Gallatin National Forest, vs. 50 in timber jobs (John Baden and Pete Geddes, Wall Street Journal, 5/22/96).

The cost of framing lumber for a typical new house is about $8,000 (Greenberger and Tamburri, Wall Street Journal, 2/20/96).

Real rate of Change in Northeastern US Stumpage Prices (1961-91) (94S3)
Hardwood sawtimber| +4.5%/ year| softwood sawtimber |+0.7%/ year;
Hardwood pulpwood | +0.7%/ year| softwood pulpwood~ |-0.3%/ year

Part [A12] ~ Forest Economics ~ Plantations ~

About 50-70% of the cost of establishment and early management of forest plantations in Australia are due to site preparation and slash/weed management. Production and planting of seedlings accounts for 15-20% of the cost (96N2). Comments: Category 1 is presumably a one-time cost, while Category 2 is recurring cost.

Part [A13] ~ Forest Economics ~ Non-Wood Forest Products ~

For centuries, non-wood forest products (NWFP) have played an important role in the daily life and well being of millions of people worldwide, Rural and poor people in particular depend on NWFP as sources of food, fodder, medicines, gums, resins, construction material, etc. FRA 2000 (01F1) data collection activities covered the categories of food; fodder; medicinal plants; perfumes and cosmetics; dying and tanning; utensils, handicrafts, and construction materials; ornamentals; exudates (for plant products); living animals; honey and beeswax; bushmeat; other edible animal products; hides and skins; medicines; colorants; and other non-edible animal products. There is an urgent need to collect statistics on bamboo and rattan as major NWFP. For the industrialized temperate and boreal countries, data on quantities and monetary values are available on Christmas trees, cork, mushrooms, truffles and berries, medicinal plants and decorative foliage, game meat, hides and pelts, honey and nuts were also reported (01F1).

Rattan is one of the most important commercial non-wood forest products in Asia. Over 700 million people worldwide traded or used rattan for a variety of purposes. Domestic trade and subsistence use of rattan and rattan products were valued at an estimated US$ 3 billion/ year, and another US$4 billion were generated through international trade, according to estimations made by the International Rattan and Bamboo Network. In some producer countries, rattan resources are today in short supply. Rattan processing industries are in decline in these areas (01F1).

Internationally traded non-wood forest products (NWFP), such as bamboo, rattan, cork, gum arabic, aromatic oils and medicinal plants, can achieve high prices in comparison with NWFP traded on national markets and thus contributed to national economic development. However, the majority of NWFP were used for subsistence and in support of small-scale, household-based enterprises (01F1).

Go to Top of this Review's Appendices (Units, Conversions, Definitions)
Go to Top this Review's Reference List
Go to Forest Land Degradation: A Global Perspective (Table of Contents)
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SECTION (5-B) ~ Forest Products Production and Consumption ~ [B1] Global - ([B1a]~ Roundwood, [B1b] Pulp and Paper, [B1c] Fuel-wood/ charcoal, [B1d] Plantations), [B2]~ Africa-Fuelwood, [B3] Southeast Asia, [B4] Canada , [B5] South America, [B6] Far East, [B7]~ Developing Countries, [B8] Asian Sub-Continent, [B9] Central Asia, [B10] Pacific Northwest, [B11] US-Eastern, [B12] US-Southern, [B13] US - All, [B14] Developed Countries,

Part [B1] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Global ~

(Wood Removals) Global wood removals in 2005 amount to 2.8 billion m3. About 40% is fuelwood (1.2 billion m3), but the proportions vary among regions, with Africa reporting 88% of removals as fuelwood, while North and Central America reported 13%. Annual global wood removals account for about 0.7% of total global growing stock and 1.5% of commercial growing stock (05F1). Comments: Illegal timber harvests are generally not counted in tallies of removals. So the above-listed removal rates are probably much too low, especially in the tropics. Illegal harvests in the tropics are often 50-85% of total removals.

(Wood Removal Rates) Wood removals for 2005 by region and subregion are presented in Table 5.11 of Ref. (05F1). Global wood removals in 2005 amount to just over 3 billion m3, of which about 60% is industrial roundwood and 40% is in the form of fuelwood. These figures refer to forest only - not to "other forest land." An additional 7 million m3 of fuelwood globally was reported from other wooded land (05F1). Comments: "Informal" and illegal wood removals are not counted in the above figures.

Results from 2000 show a high variation in harvesting intensity in the countries studied. In Africa, 33,000 km2 were harvested annually, out of the 59,000 km2 under a timber-harvesting scheme. The harvesting intensity was highly variable in the countries and varied from 100 m3/ km2 in Zambia to 1300 m3/ km2 in Gabon. In Asia and Oceania, the total forest area under a harvesting scheme in 2000 was 273,000 km2, out of which 62,000 km2 were actually harvested each year. The harvesting intensity was much higher compared to Africa and ranged from 500 m3/ km2 in Myanmar to 2300 m3/ km2 in Vietnam. In tropical America, a total of 167,000 km2 were under a timber-harvesting scheme, while 19,000 km2 were harvested annually. The harvesting intensity ranged from 100 m3/ km2 in Bolivia to 3,400 m3/ km2 in Brazil (01F1).

An estimated 55% of global wood production is used as fuelwood (03A1). Tropical countries account for more than 80% of global fuelwood consumption (03A1).

Fuelwood accounts for over 1.7 billion m3, 55%, of the annual global wood harvest (03M1).

Apparent consumption of wood products (per 1000 persons) (03M1)
- - - - -|Indust.~ |Sawnwood |Wood-base|Wood pulp|Paper/
- - - - -|roundwood| - - - - |- panels | - - - - |paperboard
Units - -|- -(m3) -|- -(m3)- |- -(m3)- |m. tonnes|(m. tonnes)
Year- - -|1978|1999|1978|1999|1978|1999|1978|1999|1978|1999
China~ ~ | 168| 177| ~40| ~31| ~ 2| ~30| ~ 3| ~10| ~13| ~71
Brazil ~ | 384| 502| 113| 101| ~17| ~14| ~15| ~27| ~23| ~42
India~ ~ | ~28| ~27| ~14| ~18| ~ 0| ~ 0| ~ 1| ~ 2| ~ 2| ~ 4
Indonesia| ~64| 152| ~19| ~ 9| ~ 3| ~ 6| ~ 1| ~ 7| ~ 3| ~24
Nigeria~ | ~91| ~88| ~29| ~18| ~ 3| ~ 2| ~ 0| ~ 0| ~ 2| ~ 3
Sweden ~ |5562|6963| 522| 463| 151| 128| 573| 901| 180| 206
US ~ ~ ~ |1470|1546| 529| 584| 153| 187| 196| 216| 272| 350
Source: FAOSTAT.

Asia and Africa together consume more than 75% of global fuelwood. The Regional Wood Energy Development Program (RWEDP) in Asia estimates that wood supplies 18% of all energy used in its member countries (03M1).

Average Global Production of Selected Forest Products (03M1)
Columns 2-4 are in units of million m3/ year. Columns 5-7 are in units of millions of tonnes/ year
5-year |Indust.|Sawn-|Wood- |Wood-|Paper/|Recovered
Period | round |wood |based |pulp |paper-| paper
- - - -| wood -| - - |panels| - - |board | - - -
1971-75| 1318~ | 428 | ~87~ | 102 | ~131 | 35
1976-80| 1415~ | 452 | 102~ | 125 | ~170 | 51
1981-85| 1457~ | 445 | 104~ | 136 | ~193 | 61
1986-90| 1660~ | 503 | 124~ | 155 | ~240 | 83
1991-95| 1501~ | 437 | 130~ | 162 | ~282 |104
1996-00| 1523~ | 419 | 165~ | 171 | ~323 |134
Source: FAOSTAT.

Since 1970, global production of sawn timber has remained largely static, while production and consumption of wood-based panels have more than doubled and production of paper and paperboard has almost tripled (03M1).

An increasing scarcity of large tropical logs will necessarily constrain the production of hardwood plywoods and large-dimension sawn timber (03M1).

Industrial roundwood production from plantations is expected to at least double during the next 30 years, from the current 400 to around 800 million m3. By 2030, forest plantations will probably supply about a third of all the world's industrial roundwood (03M1).

The most recent projections of FAO's Global Forest Products Model estimate that global consumption of industrial roundwood in 2030 will be 2400 million m3/ year, an increase of 60% on current consumption (03M1).

Global production of industrial roundwood currently amounts to slightly over 1.5 billion m3/ year, around 45% of the global wood harvest. Two-thirds of industrial wood products are consumed in developed countries, which account for less than 20% of the global population. Per-capita wood consumption in tropical and temperate and boreal regions is approximately equal (just over 0.5 m3/ year/ capita). In temperate and boreal countries more than 75% of wood consumption is in the form of industrial wood products, while in tropical countries more than 85% of wood consumption is in the form of fuelwood (03M1).

World wood consumption is plotted vs. time (1961-99) in Ref. (00W1), p. 26.

Global per-capita wood consumption: 0.7 m3/ capita/ year, so a global population growth rate of 80 million/ year suggests a rate of increase in global wood demand of 56 million m3/ year - similar to the 1993 allowable harvest of British Columbia (72 million m3/ year) (96K1). Comments: British Columbia produces the bulk of Canada's wood -see elsewhere in this document.

Global wood consumption has increased 64% since 1961. More than 50% of the 3.4 km3 of wood consumed annually is burned for fuel ((00W1), p. 26).

Global Production of Wood and Wood Products (million m3/ year) (98A2)
Type - - - - - - - - - - |1965|1980|1995
Roundwood~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |2231|2920|3331
- - Fuelwood and Charcoal|1099|1472|1839
- - Industrial Roundwood |1132|1448|1492
- - - -Sawnwood~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 384| 451| 427
- - - -Panels~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~42| 101| 146
- - - -Pulp and Particles| 238| 370| 419
- - - -Paper/paperboard~ | ~98| 170| 282

Industrialized nations consume over 90% of the world's processed forest products (81B1).

Developing countries consume over 130 million m3 of industrial wood/ year (71D1).

World Wood Consumption (in millions of m3/ year)
(plotted vs. time (1950-91) in Ref. (93D2)) (Source: UNFAO)
(about 50% is used for fuel, 50% is used for materials)
Year ~ ~ ~ | 1950| 1960| 1970| 1990| 1991
Consumption| 1400| 1800| 2500| 3400| 3400

1974 Wood Production (Ref. 9 of (77B1))
Logs~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 800 million m3/ year
Pulpwood~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 340
Pit props, posts, etc.| 200
Fuel wood ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1170
Total ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |2510
Comments: This total can probably be compared to 1990's total above of over 3.4 billion m3.

Global Wood Consumption (in millions of m3/ year)
(UNFAO, 1996) (from a chart) (98B1)
Year ~ ~ ~ | 1961| 1993| 2010
Consumption| 1000| 1450| 2300(est.)
Comments: These numbers appear to ignore fuel wood.

For 1995, total wood demand has been estimated at 3.7 billion m3, of which 45% will be consumed as fuelwood/ charcoal (96N1).

Global per-Capita Wood-production (m3/ person/ year) (79B1)
Year - - -|1961|1963|1965|1967|1969|1970|1971|1972|1973|1975
Production| .65| .66| .67| .67| .66| .66| .66| .65| .66| .62
Year - - -|1976|1977|1978|1979
Production| .63| .62| .62| -

Global Industrial Wood Harvest by Forest Type (97S1)
Old growth ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 30%
Second growth, minimal management~ | 14%
Indigenous second growth, managed~ | 22%
Industrial plantations, indigenous | 24%
Industrial plantations, exotic ~ ~ | 10%
Total~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |100%

Total NPP directly used or co-opted on forestlands is estimated to be 13.6 Gt./ year - 27.9% of global forest NPP. Of this, 2.2 Gt./ year is used directly for construction, fuel or fiber, 1.3 Gt./ year is wasted during harvest, 8.5 Gt./ year are destroyed in land-clearing, and 1.6 Gt./ year is produced in human-dominated plantation forests (86V2).

Wong (1978) estimates that 6 Gt./ year of organic matter is consumed in fires associated with shifting cultivation, and another 3 Gt./ year are consumed in fires during permanent forest clearing (86V2).

Seiler and Crutzen (1980) estimate 3.1-9.1 Gt./ year are consumed via shifting cultivation (mostly in secondary forests) and 2.0-3.4 Gt./ year via more permanent clearing for cropland or pastures (They point out that less than 50% of this material is actually burned.) (86V2).

Armentano and Ralstan (1980) found that in the early 1970s, 1.65 billion m3/ year was harvested for construction and fiber in the northern temperate zone (including China). At 0.6 tonne/ m3, this corresponds to 0.99 Gt./ year of organic material (86V1).

Aboveground growth of world's forests: 13 billion tonnes/ year (79S4). Comments: This figure almost certainly pertains to net primary production aboveground rather than growing stock.

Sources of Tropical Timber (million m3/ year) (84G1)
Africa ~ ~ ~ ~ | 4.7 (1950)| 20 (1980)
Latin America~ |15.5 (1950)| 32 (1980)
Asia / Pacific |14.3 (1950)| 93 (1980)
Totals - - - - |34.5 (1950)|145

About 70% of the world's hardwood timber (non-firewood) harvest comes from forests in North America, Asia and Europe, even though these areas contain only 22% of the world's hardwood growing stock. Latin America has 50% of the world's hardwood resources, but accounted for less than 8% of the 1973 hardwood timber harvest (p. 347 of Ref. (80H1)). Comments: A totally different picture would emerge if one counted firewood harvests in these figures. However, massive increases in rates of logging for timber on tropical hardwood forests have occurred since 1973. Japan, North America and Europe used 13 times more industrial hardwood logs in 1973 that in 1950 (Ref. 48 of (84P1)). Consumption (of timber??) in tropical regions themselves increased only 2.5 times during 1950-73 (Ref. 48 of (84P1)).

Commercial loggers in Central Africa take only the best trees - 1200-1300 m3/ km2 logged - 1/3 as much as typical harvests in Southeast Asia (94C2). Comments: For a 75-year rotation, this suggests a productivity of 16-17.3 m3/ km2/ year, and a Southeast Asia productivity of 48-52 m3/ km2/ year. Growth rate of useable timber in natural forests: 100-300 m3/ km2/ year (97S1). Developed countries have a harvested-wood utilization of up to 95% (97U2).

Global consumption of wood products is rising, but at a diminishing rate (Ref. 12 of (92V1)).

Wood production (m3/ capita/ year) is tabulated in Ref. (81B2) (FAO data). It peaked in 1964 at 0.67 m3/ capita/ year (81B2). Comments: Does this include both industrial roundwood + firewood?

Over 3.4 billion m3 of wood are extracted from the world's forests and woodlots yearly. 1.664 billion m3 of this is industrial roundwood (lumber, plywood, paper and other industrial products). The remainder is fuel-wood and charcoal (91P1). Comments: Non-commercial firewood and illegal logging are not counted in this figure.

Excluding firewood harvests, 75% of industrial wood products come from temperate forests. Roundwood production ("industrial" roundwood + roundwood used as firewood) from world forests is 2970 million m3/ year, of which 1580 million m3/ year is harvested for firewood (Ref. 126 of (91M1)). Comments: For comparison, the world's forests contain 323,000 million m3, and 1/3 is softwood (p. 347 of (80H1)).

Fuelwood and Industrial Roundwood Production (million m3/ year) (98A2)
Nation- - -| ~ ~ ~1970~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~ 1994
Category- -|Fuelwood |Industrial|Fuelwood |Industrial
- - - - - -|/Charcoal|Roundwood |/Charcoal|Roundwood
Developed~ | ~187~ ~ |1070~ ~ ~ | ~191~ ~ | 1051
Developing | ~998~ ~ | 208~ ~ ~ | 1700~ ~ | ~417
Total~ ~ ~ | 1185~ ~ |1278~ ~ ~ | 1891~ ~ | 1468

Fuelwood and Roundwood Production (1996-98) (00W1)
(See Ref. (
00W1) for a breakdown by nation)
Production units: million m3/ year
- - - - - - -|- Total -|Wood|Indust.
Region- - - -|Roundwood|Fuel|Roundwood
Asia(excl.mideast)|1112| 863| 268
Europe~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 499| ~93| 395
Mideast/N. Africa | ~44| ~26| ~18
Sub-Saharan Africa| 512| 446| ~67
Canada~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 191| ~ 5| 185
US~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 489| ~75| 414
Cent.Amer./Caribb | ~69| ~59| ~12
South America ~ ~ | 297| 167| 130
Oceania ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~49| ~ 9| ~33
Totals~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |3262|1742|1522
Africa~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 523| 454| ~68
Asia~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1146| 880| 285
Developing~ ~ ~ ~ |1989|1551| 440
Developed ~ ~ ~ ~ |1273| 191|1082

Sub-Part [B1a] ~ Global ~ Roundwood ~

("Industrial" roundwood (excludes roundwood used as fuel wood))
Global Roundwood Production Data (FAO data, (97B2))
Year - - -| 1992| 1993| 1994| 1995
Million m3| 3405| 3416| 3440| 3461

Roundwood Production in 1993 (in millions of m3). FAO (1995d in Ref. (96N1))
- - - - - - -|Fuelwood| Industrial -| - - -
- - - - - - -| and - -|Conif-|Non- -| - - -
- - - - - - -|Charcoal|erous |conif.| Total
Africa ~ ~ ~ | ~493.6 | 10.2 | 49.4 | 539.3
N/Central Am.| ~156.7 |458.7 |128.0 | 746.6
South America| ~247.9 | 55.9 | 63.7 | 358.8
Asia ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~866.4 | 94.1 |175.5 |1119.7
Europe ~ ~ ~ | ~ 50.9 |191.3 | 61.9 | 331.5
Oceania~ ~ ~ | ~ ~8.8 | 23.6 | 13.3 | ~43.7
USSR/CIS ~ ~ | ~ 51.5 | 95.5 | 36.8 | 337.1
World Totals | 1875.9 |929.3 |528.9 |3334.1
Volume % ~ ~ | ~ 56.3 | 27.9 | 15.8 | 100.0

In 1998, global production of industrial roundwood (wood not used as fuel) was 1.5 km3 (FAO 2000). In the early 1990s, production and manufacture of industrial wood products contributed about US$400 billion to the global economy (96S1).

Total roundwood production during 1970-92 increased 1.3%/ year (96N1).

In the early 1970s 1.65 billion m3 of wood for construction and fiber were harvested annually in the northern temperate zone (including China) assuming that wood harvest per unit area of forest in Eastern Europe outside the Soviet Union is similar to that of western Europe (86V2). At 0.6 grams/ cm3 this amounts to 0.99 Gt./ year. Another estimate gives 1.0 Gt./ year for all boreal and temperate forests. Industrial wood harvests in tropical areas add another 0.2-0.3 Gt./ year (86V2).

Global commercial timber harvest expanded by 50% during 1965-90 - to 1.7 billion m3/ year (91P1). Comments: "Timber" does not count firewood.

Global timber "needs" for solid wood are projected to increase during 1976-2000 from 1.5 to 3.0 billion m3/ year (78M1).

Since the 1970s, global sawn wood production has roughly plateaued (98M1).

Industrial Wood Production in 1994 (1000 m3) (97S1)
United States ~ ~ ~ | 399.7| (25.8%)
Canada~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 181.1| (11.7%)
Europe (excl.Nordic)| 194.2| (12.5%)
Nordic Europe ~ ~ ~ | 114.3| ( 7.4%)
Russian Federation~ | 152.7| ( 9.9%)
Japan ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~32.4| ( 2.1%)
Indonesia/Malaysia~ | ~74.6| ( 4.8%)
China/India ~ ~ ~ ~ | 126.7| (17.6%)
Other ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 273.2| (17.6%)
World ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1548.9|(100.0%)

Industrial Roundwood (includes pulpwood) Production in 1991 (million m3) (93D2) (94D1)
US ~ ~ |410| Germany~ |40| India~ ~ ~ |25| Austria | ~14
USSR ~ |274| Malaysia |40| Australia~ |18| S.Africa| ~13
Canada |171| France ~ |34| Spain~ ~ ~ |15| Others~ | 200
China~ | 90| Finland~ |31| Czech~ ~ ~ |15| TOTAL - |1599
Brazil | 74| Indonesia|29| Poland ~ ~ |14| - - - - | -
Sweden | 47| Japan~ ~ |28| New Zealand|14| - - - - | -
Source: UN FAO, Forest Products Yearbook 1991 (Rome 1993)

World's top Roundwood Producers in 1988
(Volumes in millions of m3) (90R2)
USA ~ |417| Sweden ~ |48| W.Germany|31| Others| 218
USSR~ |305| Finland~ |46| Japan~ ~ |28| Total |1664
Canada|173| Indonesia|40| India~ ~ |24| - - - |- -
China | 98| Malaysia |36| Poland ~ |20| - - - |- -
Brazil| 67| France ~ |32| Australia|18| - - - |- -

Demand in Europe, Japan and the US led to a doubling of annual tropical log extractions during 1960-80 (Ref. 35 of (88P1)).

World roundwood production is tabulated (1950-92) and plotted in Ref. (94C1).

Consumption of Tropical Timber (in millions of m3/ year) (84G1) (80M2)
Country - - - - - |1950 | 1973 |1980
Japan ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1.5 | 28.9 | 35
US~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 0.8 | ~7.2 | 10
Europe~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1.9 | 17.2 | 21
Other Importers ~ | 1.0 | ~9.0 | 13
- -Subtotals~ ~ ~ | 5.2 | 62.3 | 79
Producer Countries|21.0 | 46.5 | 66
- -Totals - - - - |26.2 |108.8 |145
Sources: FAO, "Agriculture Towards 2000", Rome, 1980; FAO 1976

Production of Tropical Saw-logs/ Veneer-Logs
(in millions of m3/ year) (84P1)
Year - - - - - - |1961-5|1966-70|1971-5|1976-80
Tropical America | 22.36| 26.42 | 32.26| 42.39
Tropical Africa~ | 10.32| 13.66 | 15.76| 16.71
Tropical Asia~ ~ | 32.05| 47.02 | 65.32| 80.02
Totals ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 64.73| 87.10 |113.34|139.12
(Figures exclude illegal logging that, in some nations, is 50-85% of total volumes.)

Over the past decade, consumption of industrial forest products in developing countries doubled, to 240 million m3/ year (88P1).

Demand for sawn wood is expected to rise 70% by 2000 (180% for panels) (by 90% for paper and paperboard), so Third-World industrial wood demand is likely to roughly double again within 15 years (88P1).

Forecasts of Demand on Industrial Roundwood (million m3/ year) - a review of the literature (96N1)
("Con" = Coniferous; NC = Non-coniferous)
Year- - -| - - - 1993 - - |- - - -2010 - -| - - -2020
- - - - -|-Con.|-NC | Tot.|Con.|-NC |Tot. |Con.|-NC | Tot.
FAO 1995d| ~939| 540| 1479| ~ ~|~ ~ | ~ ~ |~ ~ | ~ ~|
FAO 1995b ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1682| 992|2674(2)| -| ~ ~|
FAO 1995d ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1423| 855|2278 | ~ ~|~ ~ |
P?yry 1994~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~|~ ~ |2050 | ~ ~|~ ~ |
P?yry (1)- - - - - - - - -| ~ ~|~ ~ |2000 | ~ ~|~ ~ | 1995
Apsey/Reed (1995)- - - - -|1210| 730|1940 |1400| 850| 2250
Simons 1994 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1362| 783|2145 |1538|1013| 2551
forest industry (1995) - -| ~ ~|~ ~ |2100 | ~ ~|~ ~ | 2400
(1) Revised projection due to new paper consumption forecasts by Jerkeman (1995).
(2) The FAO (1995b) estimate (2.674 billion m3 in 2010) has been regarded as unrealistically high.

Population and Industrial Roundwood Consumption by Industrial and Developing Countries (99A1) (FAO data):
Year - - - - - - - -|1970 |1990 |2010(projected)
Population:
Industrial Countries| 27% | 22% | 17%
Developing Countries| 73% | 78% | 83%
Consumption:
Industrial Countries| 86% | 77% | 73%
Developing Countries| 14% | 23% | 27%
m3/ capita
Industrial Countries|1.09 |1.14 |1.07
Developing Countries| .084| .095| .087
World ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |0.410|0.322|0.259
Comments: If fuel wood is included, wood consumption in developing countries becomes comparable to that in industrial countries.

In 1973, total world harvest of industrial roundwoods (includes pulp) was 1360 million m3. 60% came from softwood forests in North America, USSR and Europe (80H1).

Recent projections suggest world demand for industrial wood will rise to 1700-2000 million m3/ year by 2000 (88P1).

1985 world production of industrial roundwood (logs, pulp and other raw materials used to manufacture wood products) totaled 1500 million m3 (88P1). 75% came from 10 countries; 50% came from the US, Russia and Canada (See Table 6 of Ref. (88P1)). Comments: Total wood production = industrial roundwood + fuelwood.

In 2000, an added 500-600 million m3 of industrial wood will be needed. This extra supply will be available only from remote parts of Amazonia and Siberia and by using lower-quality North American hardwoods and plantations of fast-growing tropical trees (84G1) (World Bank estimate).

Sub-Part [B1b] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Global -Pulp and Paper ~
Sources and Share of global fiber supply for paper in the Mid-1990s (99A2): Virgin wood 55% (9% old growth + 30% second growth + 16% plantation), Recycled-38%, Non-wood-7%. (Of old-growth forests that are still being logged for pulpwood, most are in the boreal regions of Canada and the Russian Federation.) (99A2)).

About 43% of the world's paper is recycled (99A2). Comments: This may be obsolete. China now imports far more paper than in the past.

During 1975-1997 volume of paper recovered (recycled) worldwide increased from 35 to 110 million tons (99A2).

Pulp- and paper-industry sales: $337 billion in 1995 (98M1).

World paper/ paperboard consumption is 250 million tonnes/ year - a 17-fold increase over the past 80 years. 25% of the world's population (Western Europe, US, Japan) consumes 75% of the world's paper (95A2).

Between 1995-2000, wood pulp (production?) capacity in the US is expected to increase by 1.5% (3.5% in Canada; 166% in Thailand; 123% in Indonesia, 51% in Chile) (98M1).

Most of the world's pulping capacity is located in boreal-forest region (95A2).

If current trends continue, by 2010 (global) paper consumption will increase by 49% (FAO data) (99A1).

Over the past 2 decades, wood-fiber supplies have begun to shift southward, to the southern US from Canada, the northern US and Scandinavia (98M1).

Per-capita paper consumption: 158 kg./ year in industrialized countries, 18 kg./ year in developing countries. The US, Japan and Western Europe combined represent under 20% of the world's population, but account for nearly 70% of global paper consumption (98M1).

Recycled paper use (global average): 23% in 1970; 36% in 1994 (98M1).

Since the 1970s, wood-pulp production has grown by almost 2/3, and particleboard production has increased by 3.5 times (98M1).

Some 57% of fiber used in paper production has come from virgin wood pulp, 37% from recovered paper, and 6% from non-wood fibers. Of this 57% virgin pulp, 29% is from fast-growing plantations; 37% is from managed second-growth, 17% is from unmanaged second growth, 15% is from old growth boreal forests and 1% is from old-growth temperate hardwoods (1996 study) (98M1).

Virgin wood pulp accounts for roughly 40% of industrial wood harvests (25% cut directly for pulp + 15% from scrap). The other 60% goes mainly for lumber (98M1).

World paper consumption is plotted vs. time (1913-91) (virgin and recycled) in Ref. (94D1). Consumption doubles every 20 years. 1991 consumption = 245 million tons, of which 150 million is virgin (94D1) (PPI, FAO data).

About 8% of the world's paper and paperboard is made from crops such as kenaf and begasse (almost exclusively in China and India) (97S1). Comments: Ref. (97S1) discusses numerous problems with these alternatives to wood pulp.

Global pulpwood demand is expected to expand from 0.265 to 1.0 billion m3/ year (78M1).

Global Paper Consumption (93D2) (Ref. (93D2) plot covers 1913-1991.) (UNFAO data):
40 million tons in 1950; 240 million tons in 1991 (150 million is virgin).

About 2/3 of paper produced worldwide is made from virgin logs. 4% is made from cotton, rice-straw, etc. The rest comes from waste-paper (98A1).

Paper Products Consumption (tonnes/ 1000 people) (from a graph) (98B1)
Year - - - - - - - - - -|1961|1994
Industrialized countries| 80 | 165
World as a whole~ ~ ~ ~ | 20 | ~45
Developing Countries~ ~ | ~2 | ~20

Paper Consumption (kg./ capita) in 1991 (93D2)
N.America|302| Europe~ ~ ~ ~ |163| Asia~ |20
Japan~ ~ |228| Latin America | 26| Africa| 6

Paper Consumption in lb./ capita/ year, then kg./ capita/ year (90R2)
(Percent recycled is given in parentheses)
USA ~ |699/317|(29%)| USSR ~ ~ ~ |78/35|(19%)
Sweden|685/311|(40%)| Latin Amer.|55/25|(32%)
Canada|543/246|(20%)| China~ ~ ~ |27/12|(21%)
Japan |450/204|(50%)| Africa ~ ~ |12/ 5|(17%)
Norway|333/151|(27%)| India~ ~ ~ | 5/ 2.3|(26%)

Top 10 Producers of Paper in 1997 (millions of tonnes/ year) (99A2):
World - - - -|299.1|100%
USA~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 86.5| 29%
Japan~ ~ ~ ~ | 31.0| 10%
China~ ~ ~ ~ | 27.4| ~9%
Canada ~ ~ ~ | 19.0| ~6%
Germany~ ~ ~ | 15.9| ~5%
Finland~ ~ ~ | 12.1| ~4%
Sweden ~ ~ ~ | ~9.8| ~3%
France ~ ~ ~ | ~9.1| ~3%
South Korea~ | ~8.4| ~3%
Italy~ ~ ~ ~ | ~7.5| ~3%
Total(top 10)|226.8| 76%

Top 10 Consumers of Paper in 1997 (millions of tonnes/ year) (99A2):
World - - - -|296.9|100%
US ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 89.9| 30%
China~ ~ ~ ~ | 32.7| 11%
Japan~ ~ ~ ~ | 31.4| 11%
Germany~ ~ ~ | 15.7| ~5%
UK ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 12.2| ~4%
France ~ ~ ~ | 10.3| ~3%
Italy~ ~ ~ ~ | ~9.1| ~3%
South Korea~ | ~6.8| ~2%
Canada ~ ~ ~ | ~6.7| ~2%
Brazil ~ ~ ~ | ~6.1| ~2%
Total(top 10)|221.0| 74%

Sub-Part [B1c] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Global -Fuel-wood/ Charcoal ~

Global wood consumption has increased 64% since 1961. More than 50% of the 3.4 km3 of wood consumed annually is burned for fuel ((00W1), p. 26).

Of the total wood harvested globally (slightly over 2000 million m3/ year), 990 million m3/ year goes for fuel (79S4). Comments: This 2000 million figure is obsolete. See below.

Some 55% of wood cut today is used directly for fuel (99A1).

If current trends continue, (global) fuelwood consumption will increase by 18%, and overall wood consumption will increase by 20% (FAO data) (99A1). Comments: During what period?

In developing countries, fuelwood and charcoal account for 15% of total energy consumption (vs. 1-2% in industrial countries). In 40 of the world's poorest nations, wood meets over 70% of energy needs (99A1).

Developing countries consume more than 520 million m3 of fuelwood (71D1). Comments: Global consumption of fuelwood around 2000 was more than 1500 million m3.

Developing countries (Lesser Developed Countries) consume nearly 90% of wood used as fuel (81B1).

About 30% of global firewood demand (1.0 Gt./ year), i.e. 0.3 Gt./ year, is met by land clearing and shifting cultivation (Seiler and Crutzen (1980) in (86V2)).

World fuel-wood- and charcoal production are plotted vs. time (1950-92) in Ref. (94C1), as is industrial round-wood production.

Forecast of "Demand" on Fuelwood/ Charcoal (million m3/ year) - A Review of the Literature (96N1)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1993 | 2010 ~ | 2020
FAO (1995d) (Consumption trend) - -1876 | 2396(1)| - -
Apsey and Reed (1995)(Consumption trend)| 2325(1)| 2607(1)
Solomon et al. (Consumption estimate) ~ | 2520 ~ | 2920
Basic requirements based on updated ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~ ~| - -
- -FAO (1981) bottom-up approach~ ~ ~ ~ | 3800 ~ | 4250
1) Adjusted for countries without basic FAO statistics.

Biomass fuels, primarily fuelwood, account for 35% of the energy supply in developing countries (World Bank, 1992, in Ref. (96N1)).

In Africa, 90% of the population uses fuelwood for cooking, the equivalent of roughly 1.5 tons of oil/ year/ family (Jepma, 1995, in Ref. (96N1)).

The World Bank (1992) states that global consumption of fuelwood/ charcoal is still increasing as indicated in the table below.

Fuelwood/ Charcoal Consumption Growth (%/ year) based on tons of oil equivalents.)
Source: World Bank (1992) in (96N1).
Period - - - - - - |1965-80|1980-89
World~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1.8 | 2.2
Low and middle income| 2.2 | 2.3
Sub-Saharan Africa ~ | 2.9 | 3.2
East Asia and Pacific| 2.1 | 1.9
South Asia ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 2.3 | 2.3
Latin America/Carib. | 2.4 | 2.1

Firewood Harvests (mostly in Developing Countries) (86V2)
Hampicke (1979)~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 0.6 -Gt./ year
Myers (1984) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1.2-2.4 Gt./ year *#
Seiler and Crutzen (1980)~ | 1.0-1.2 Gt./ "
FAO (1984) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 0.9-1.0 Gt./ "
Armentano and Loucks (1984)| 0.9-1.5 Gt./ "
(*# Some may be wet weight.)

Fuelwood consumption in the tropics is estimated to be 0.475 tonnes of dry matter per person/ year. Rural per-capita biomass fuel consumption: as much as 1.0 tonne/ year (dry matter) but much of this is agricultural waste (91A1).

About 50% of fuel-wood is used for cooking, 30% for domestic heating, 20% for miscellaneous (metal-working, pottery-making, etc.) (91A1). FAO (1989) estimates global wood-burning at 1.05 Gt./ year (dry matter). This is probably an understatement because it doesn't cover wood that is not marketed (91A1).

Production of fuelwood/ charcoal increased 38% during 1970-93 (1.3624 to 1.8759 billion m3/ year) (96N1).

Tropical fuel-wood harvests are 88% of Africa's wood harvest, 81% of Central America's, 70.5% of South America's, 75% of south Asia's (78% weighted global average) (90W1).

Burning of Fuel-Wood and Charcoal (Gt./ year) (dry matter) (91A1)
Region - - - - - |Fuelwood| Charcoal
Tropical America | ~ 0.17 | 0.0075
Tropical Africa~ | ~ 0.24 | 0.0093
Tropical Asia~ ~ | ~ 0.85 | 0.0033
Tropical Oceania | ~ 0.008| 0.0000
Tropical Totals~ | ~ 1.27 | 0.0200
USA and Canada ~ | ~ 0.08 | 0.0005
Western Europe ~ | ~ 0.04 | 0.0002
USSR and E.Europe| ~ 0.05 | 0.0002
World Totals ~ ~ | ~ 1.43 | 0.0210

Sub-Part [B1d] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Plantations ~
As plantation yields rise, global wood harvests from them could grow from 3.31 million m3/ year to 7.66 in 2030 (
UNFAO, "Forest Resources Assessment 2000", 4/10/01 www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/index.jsp).

The average productivity of existing plantations, worldwide, is estimated at 6.6 m3/ ha/ year (18 in New Zealand, 14 in Brazil, 4 in eastern Canada, 10 in the Southeastern US, 25 in Indonesia, 30 in Brazil's newer plantations). (Productivities tend to increase the nearer to the Equator the land is - the opposite of grain.) (FAO, "Agriculture Towards 2015/30", Technical Interim Report (Geneva: Economics and Social Department, April 2000, p. 156-57)).

Forest plantations produce 22% of all lumber, pulp, and other industrial woods (99M1) (99B1).

Industrial wood produced by intensively managed plantations in the tropics and sub-tropics was 5% of world production in 1977, and 10% in 1992 (Ref. 13 of (97S1)).

Wood plantations, globally, cover 400,000 km2 (1993 data) (98M1). (la)

The FAO estimates (in "State of the World's Forests 1997") of global plantation cover: 900,000 km2 in 1980; 1.8 million km2 in 1995 (98M1). As much as 1 million km2 is for industrial use; about 3/4 of that is planted in slow-growing species (e.g. teak and slower-growing pines); and 25% is in fast-growing species, mostly eucalyptus and the faster-growing pines. These are used mainly for pulpwood, fiberboard and other reconstituted-wood products (98M1). (la)

About 15% of all tropical plantation area is believed to have been established directly over natural forests (98M1).

The 140 chip mills of the southern US consume over 4850 km2 of plantation- and natural forest annually (98M1). Experts forecast that 70% of the native pine forests in the southern US will be converted to monoculture pine plantations by 2020 - a doubling of the region's current plantation area (98M1).

Total NPP directly used or co-opted on forestlands is estimated to be 1.6 Gt./ year in human-dominated plantation forests (86V2).

Brazil's 50,000 km2 of wood plantations accounts for 60% of its industrial wood production (98M1). (la)

Tree plantations now supply over 90% of all wood exported from Chile (97H2).

Much of Chile's exports of chips and pulp have come from the natural forests displaced by plantations. During 1978-1987, 486 km2 of native forests were cut or burned so plantations could be installed. Two exotic pine and eucalyptus species cover close to 20% of Chile's total forest area (98M1).

Industrial wood produced by intensively managed plantations in the tropics and sub-tropics was 5% of world production in 1977, and 10% in 1992 (Ref. 13 of (97S1)).

Some 57% of fiber used in paper production has come from virgin wood pulp. Of this 57% virgin pulp, 29% is from fast-growing plantations (1996 study) (98M1).

Global Industrial Wood Harvest by Forest Type (97S1)
Old growth~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 30%
Second growth, minimal management | 14%
Indigenous second growth, managed | 22%
Industrial plantations, indigenous| 24%
Industrial plantations, exotic~ ~ | 10%
Total ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |100%

The timber-plantation scheme by Daniel K. Ludwig at the mouth of the Amazon is described in Ref. (84G1). The scheme went bankrupt, forcing Banco de Brazil to assume $180 million in debt (84G1).

As much as 60% of Indonesia's 20,000 km2 of wood plantations is thought to have directly displaced natural forests. Indonesia plans to have 60,000 km2 of plantations by 2010 (98M1).

In the Australian island of Tasmania, 1400 km2 of pine and eucalyptus plantations have been installed, much of it after native old-growth forests were felled and chipped (98M1).

In Latin America, forest-plantation area has increased 50% in the past 12 years - to 75,000 km2 (98M1). (la)

Monterey pine now covers 13,000 km2 of Chile's plantation land (98M1). (la)

Spain has more than 50,000 km2 of pulp plantation, much of it growing on former farmland (98M1). (la)

Part [B2] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Africa -Fuel-wood ~

(Wood Removal rates) Eastern and Southern African countries reported steadily increasing wood removals: from 153 million m3 in 1990 to 185 million m3 in 2005 (05F1). Only Madagascar reported a decrease, owing to a reduction in removals of fuelwood (05F1). Northern, Western and Central Africa also show a steady increase in removals (05F1). The African continent, as a whole, reported an escalation from 499 million m3 (1990) to 661 million m3 (2005) (05F1).

Owing to the need for foreign exchange, the rate of logging in sub-Saharan Africa rose more than 34% between 1979-91, compared with a global average of 19% (95M3).

Africa's lack of foreign exchange to purchase petroleum has led to a rapid rise in the production of fuel-wood and charcoal (95M3). Comments: Also, Africans used livestock dung for fuel, depleting the organic matter content in cropland soils.

Firewood/ Charcoal Consumption in Tropical Africa
(0.8 m3/ year for rural people; 0.6 m3/ year for urban people) (Charcoal: 83 kg./ person/ year for urban people) (91D1) (Column 5 is in millions of m3/ year)
Region- - - - - - - | Popul.| Rural | Urban | -
- - - - - - - - - - | ~ ~ ~ |millions| ~ ~ ~|Consumption*
N. Savanna Region ~ | 37.21 | 30.65 | ~6.56 | 28.4 *
W.Africa w/o Nigeria| 48.95 | 31.13 | 17.82 | 35.6
W.Africa w/Nigeria~ |105.44 | 69.04 | 36.40 | 50.0
Central Africa~ ~ ~ | 60.06 | 39.16 | 20.90 | 43.9
East Africa ~ ~ ~ ~ |207.51 |157.40 | 50.11 |154.0
Totals(Trop. Africa)|459.17 |327.38 |131.79 |314.0
* includes charcoal

Firewood Consumption (1000 tonnes/ year) (91D1) (Data extrapolated to 1990)
Nation- - - - | Pop. |Fire |Wood as |Total|(t/ Capita
- - - - - - |millions|wood |Charcoal| ~ ~ | / Year)
Cote d'Ivoire |11. ~ |4100 | 4100 ~ | 8200|(0.745)
Abidjan ~ ~ ~ | 2.143| 264 | 3410 ~ | 3675|(1.715)
Korhago ~ ~ ~ | 0.146| ~61 | ~ 11 ~ | ~ 71|(0.486)
Comments: Note that the higher the charcoal fraction the higher the consumption.

Household Annual Consumption of Fuel (91D1)
(wood in million m3/ year; oil in million tonnes/ year)
Country |Wood | Oil
Sudan ~ |32.0 | 1.3
Ethiopia|12.3 | 0.5
Niger ~ | 2.3 | 0.2
Senegal | 4.7 | 1.4
Nigeria |48.4 | 9.6

Part [B3] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Southeast Asia ~

[B3a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Southeast Asia ~ Indonesia ~
Timber cut in Kalimantan during 1967-75 is expected to rise from 0.4 to 38 million m3/ year (73A1).

Since 1961, Indonesia increased its wood harvest 7-fold. (99A1) (Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia together accounted for 53% of global forest loss during the 1980s (99A1)).

Sub-Part [B3b] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Southeast Asia -Thailand ~
Fuel-wood demand in northern Thailand = 15.1 million m3/ year for a population of 18.06 million in 1985 (88P4). (Sustainable fuel-wood supply is 6.3 million m3/ year (88P4).)

Sub-Part [B3c] ~ Production/ Consumption ` Southeast Asia -Malaysia ~
Since 1961, Malaysia expanded its wood harvest over 5-fold. (99A1) (Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia together accounted for 53% of global forest loss during the 1980s (99A1)).

Part [B4] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Canada ~

In Canada in 1993, timber harvesting affected 9700 km2 (vs. 8600 km2 in 1992) (96K1).

In eastern Canada, timber-harvest area was 6800 km2 in 1975 and 8000-10000 km2 in 1992 (99N1).

Since 1961, Canada more than tripled its wood harvest to a presently non-sustainable rate (99A1).

The 1976 Canadian timber cut was 5 billion ft3 (142 million m3), including 4.6 billion ft3 (130 million m3) of softwood (80H1) (1.0 ft3 = 0.028319 m3).

During 1965-1978, Canada's wood production rose from 107 to 157 million m3/ year (p. 257 of (83S1)).

Canadian Industrial roundwood (excludes fuel wood) production and Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Levels and Projections
(UNFAO data, 1998) (99N1) (millions of m3/ year)
Year |1970|1980|1990|1995|2000|2005|2010|2015
Prod.| 117| 151| 156| 183| 194| 202| 213| 227
AAC: | 228| 228| 253| 233| - -| - -| - -| - -

Canadian Newsprint Production (1000 tonnes/ year)
Month - - |03/91|03/92|04/95|11/95|01/96|04/96
Production| 610 | 670 | 709 | 760 | 577 | 713
Wall Street Journal 5/4/92, 5/4/92, ?/?/95, 1/9/96, 2/28/96, ?/?/96,
(Canada exports 90% of its pulp.) (Wall Street Journal, 2/28/96)

Sub-Part [B4a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Canada ~ British Columbia ~
Lumber production rose 440% during 1945-54 ((83S1), p. 81).

Timber cut over 73 million m3/ year during 1990-1992 (25% above sustained yield) (93D3).

In 1978, 75 million m3 of timber were extracted from British Columbia. Its value was over $6 billion. It generated forest revenues of $183 million (80W3).

British Columbia 1977 production: (80W2)
Softwood lumber = 28.4 million m3 (8.5% of world production of 335.2 million m3)

Softwood plywood= 204 million m2 (0.9525 cm. basis) (10.3% of world consumption of 1982 million m2).

Bleached sulfate pulp = 2.8 million tonnes (8.6% of world consumption of 32.7 million tonnes.)

Newsprint = 1.3 million tonnes (5.9% of world consumption of 22 million tonnes.)

Sub-Part [B4b] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Canada - Manitoba ~
Timber production (1963-1972) averaged 45.9 million ft3/ year (1.3 million m3/ year). About 2/3 was pulpwood. 80% of net merchantable timber is 4-9" diameter (75K2).

Part [B5] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ South America ~

Sub-Part [B5a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ South America - Brazil ~
Since 1961, Brazil expanded its wood harvest more than 5-fold. (99A1) (Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia together accounted for 53% of global forest loss during the 1980s (99A1)).

Brazil, with 50,000 km2 of forest plantations, gets 60% of its industrial wood from plantations (Ashley T. Mattoon, "Paper Forests," World Watch, March/ April 1998, p. 20).

Sub-Part [B5b] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ South America - Chile ~
Chile is the only country in the world that produces wood chips as the primary product of its native forests (97H2).

Chile is the world's third-largest producer of wood chips after Canada and the US (97H2).

Part [B6] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Far East  ~

Sub-Part [B6a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Far East - China ~
China consumes nearly 280 million m3 of timber per year, but domestic supplies currently provide only 142 million m3. China is turning to imports and illegal logging to make up the shortfall (
Sun Xiufang, Ralph Bean, "China: Solid Wood Products Annual, 2001 (Beijing: US Dept, of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Services, Global Agriculture Information Network Report of 7/18/01).

Since 1965, over 100 million m3 of timber have been felled in China's greater Hinggan Mountains, accounting for 10% of China's timber output. (Beijing China Daily, 8/6/99).

Consumption of forest products in China exceeds stock growth by 20 million m3/ year (93L1), (96M1).

During 1981-1985, housing construction consumed 195 million m3 of timber - about one year's growth from all of China's forest (88P1).

Wood harvests: 196 million m3 (1976); 344 million m3 (1988). Industrial use is 60% of these figures (91P1).

During 1990-1997, paper consumption in China increased 127% (99A2).

Part [B7] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Developing Countries ~

The 1995 study World agriculture: towards 2010, (95A5), forecasted "a nearly tripling of consumption (of forest products) in developing countries over the next two decades (03M1).

Production and Trade Volume (1989) in Developing Countries (except China) (0.56 tonnes/ m3 = density) (92V1)
- - - - - - - - - - -|Production|Exports|Imports
Solid Wood (million m3)
Industrial roundwood |306.256 |34.199 |12.767
Sawn wood~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 89.012 |13.400 |11.691
Wood panels~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 21.200 |12.050 | 3.016
Totals ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |416.468 |59.649 |27.474
Fiber (million tonnes)
wood pulp~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~9.164 | 1.827 | 2.607
paper and paper board| 20.923 | 2.548 | 6.904
Totals ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 30.087 | 4.375 | 9.511
Totals (Million m3)~ | 53.7 ~ | 7.81~ | 16.98

Developing countries account for most of the recent increases in wood consumption (92V1).

In 1989, developing countries (excluding China) produced fewer than 20% of the world's industrial roundwoods (Ref. 10 of (92V1)).

Part [B8] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Asian Sub-Continent ~

Sub-Part [B8a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Asian Sub-Continent - India ~
Using detailed studies Jones (1995) points out that, in India, 10 times more fuel-wood was collected than officially reported (96N1).

Fuel-wood demand is 6 times the sustainable yield of India's remaining forests (98B2).

Government projections show India's demand for wood climbing to 289 million m3/ year in 2000 (91P1).
(India's forests have a sustainable yield of 39 million m3/ year (91P1) (See Section (2-A))

India's Fuel Consumption (million tonnes/ year) (91J2)
(Based on a rural population of 569 million and an urban population of 192 million)
Fuel- - - -|kg/capita/year|Residential|Industrial/Service
- - - - - - -|rural| urban|rural|urban|rural |urban
Firewood ~ ~ |158.0|116.4 | 89.9|22.3 | 2.68 | 0.96
Crop Residues| 58.8| ~5.6 | 33.4| 1.1 | 0.31 | 0.11
Dung Cake~ ~ |133.0| 35.6 | 75.7| 6.8 | 2.11 | 0.01
Charcoal ~ ~ | ~0.2| ~3.8 | ~0.1| 0.7 | 0.46 | 0.24

World Bank Economist P. D. Hendersen estimates India's firewood consumption at 130 million tonnes/ year (= 0.18 tonne/ capita) (Ref. 27 of (78B1)).

Biomass fuel accounts for 50% of India's total primary energy consumption (Teddy, 1988) (91J2).

Part [B9] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Central Asia

Sub-Part [B9a] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Central Asia - Russia ~
In 1992, Russia produced 220 million m3 of sawn timber (93U3).

In 1989 Russia cut down trees equivalent to 300 million m3 of sawn timber (93U3).

Sub-Part [B9b] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Central Asia - Siberia ~
Average tree growth rate: 1/2 to 1/3 of that in remainder of the Soviet Union (92R5).

Some 410 million m3/ year of wood are harvested in Siberia - from 40,000 km2/ year (Ref.1 of (92R5)).

In the past, in Siberia, up to half of all cut logs were left on the ground, and 20% of the extracted wood was wasted during milling (92P2).

Japanese, US, and other trading companies are seeking to expand their operations into Siberia (95U2) (94G1) (92P2).

Part [B10] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Pacific Northwest ~

For over 25 years from the mid 1960s through 1990, the USFS averaged over 10 billion board feet in timber sales annually. Timber sales since then have been sharply reduced due to federal injunctions against timber sales in the Pacific Northwest arising from litigation over ancient forest management and preservation of the Northern spotted owl. Before the issuance of injunctions against logging in the Pacific Northwest, that region produced 1/3 to 1/2 of all USFS timber sales, and substantially more than 1/2 of USFS timber receipts. BLM, which has a much smaller timber base, averaged more than 1 billion board feet in annual sales until its Northwest timber program was curtailed through litigation. Nearly all BLM timber comes from the Pacific Northwest, mostly from O. and C. lands (94D4).

Flowers et al (1993) (in 99N1) state that most projections of timber harvests in Montana show a 41% decline in annual USFS harvests and a 30% decline in timber-industry harvests by 2010 (99N1).

Part [B11] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ United States - Eastern ~

Veneer Log Production in the Northeastern US (million board-ft.) (87N2)
Year - - -| 1980 | 1984
Production| 156.8| 187.3

Inventory- and Removal Data for some Eastern States
C.F. Area = Commercial Forest Area (1000 km2 or %)
(Growing stock volumes are in m3/ km2.)
(Growing stock growth, removals, and mortality are in m3/ km2/ year)
(Sawtimber volumes are in billion board-ft. [s= softwood; h= hardwood] )
(Sawtimber removals, mortality and growth are in billion board-ft./ year)
State - - - - - | US- -| SC -| SC -| NC - | VA -| KY -| KY
References~ ~ ~ | 80H1 |79K1,|79S5 | 75K1 |78K1 |90A1 |90A1
Year~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1976 |1977 |1968 | 1974 |1977 |1988 |1975
C.F. Area ~ ~ ~ | 1953 |50.6 |50.3 | 79.1 |64.7 |50.0 |48.2
C.F.Area (%)- - | 21.4 |65 ~ |- - -| 62 - |63 - |49 - |- -
Growing Stock
Volume~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |10309 |9684 |7488 | 8878 |8706 |9047 |7952
(hardwood)- - - |- - - |4673 |3716 | - - -|- - -|- - -|- -
Growth* ~ ~ ~ ~ | 314 -| 538 |- - -| 402~ | 360 | 217 |- -
Removals~ ~ ~ ~ | 206 -| 278 |- - -| 269~ | 217 | 103 |- -
Mortality ~ ~ ~ | 56.9 | 63~ |- - -| 50.3 | 52~ |50.2 |- -
Sawtimber*#
Volume~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |2579 -|31.1s|22.8s| 33.7s|16.1s|45.8 |34.6
-(hardwood)- - -| 594h |24.2h|18.9h| 39.2h|37.6h|- -~ |- -
Removals~ ~ ~ ~ |65.177| 1.8 |- - -| 2.73 |1.68 |0.592|- -
Mortality ~ ~ ~ |12.19 | 0.313- - -| 0.317|0.27 |0.21 |- -
Growth *~ ~ ~ ~ |74.62 | 3.5 |- - -| 3.97 |2.79 |1.52 |- -
* not counting removals, but counting mortality
*# Sawtimber is included in Growing Stock

Inventory- and Removal Data for some Eastern States
State - - - - - | WV -| WV -| PA -| PA -| OH -| NY -| NY
References~ ~ ~ |90D1 |90D1 |93A3 |93A3 |93G2 |95A3 |95A3
Year~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1989 |1975 |1989 |1978 |1991 |1993 |1980
C.F. Area ~ ~ ~ |48.23|46.47|64.24|64.44|30.63|62.35|62.5
C.F. Area -(%)~ | 77 -| 74 -| 55 -| 55 -| 29 -| 51 -| 51
Growing Stock
Volume~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |11180|8471 |10926|9122 |9336 |9866 |7509
"(%hardwood)~ ~ |93.6 |92.9 |90.5 |91.9 |96.2 |75.2 |74.8
Growth* ~ ~ ~ ~ | 295 |- - -| 272 |- - -| 271 |266. |- -
Removals~ ~ ~ ~ | 81~ |- - -| 127 |- - -| 116 | 88. |- -
Mortality ~ ~ ~ | 27.5|- - -| 78~ |- - -| 52~ | 49.6|- -
Sawtimber*#
Volume~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |57.76|36.12|66.7 |48.1 |30.3 |61.7 |42.3
(% hardwood)- - |- -~ |- - -| 89~ |90.4 |96.9 |70.6 |70.5
Removals~ ~ ~ ~ |0.444|- - -|0.943|- - -|0.526|0.67 |- -
Mortality ~ ~ ~ |0.102|- - -|0.339|- - -|0.15 |0.245|- -
Growth *~ ~ ~ ~ |1.978|- - -|2.44 |- - -|0.966|2.09 |- -
* not counting removals, but counting mortality
*# included in Growing Stock

Net growth of eastern US hardwood growing stock was 246 million m3 in 1976 (116% above removals). Net growth of hardwood sawtimber in the eastern US in 1976 was 649 million m3 (66% more than removals) (80H1).

Production of pulpwood in the Northeastern US in 1989 (91W2):
6,860,000 cords from roundwood (3,067,000 softwood, 3,793,000 hardwood); 2,676,000 cords from manufactured residues.

Pulpwood roundwood removals in the Northeastern US in 1989: 6,860,000 cords from 98,576,300 acres, i.e. 5.92 ft3/ acre/ year (91W2).

Pulpwood harvest from 14 Northeastern US states (1991-93): 6,913,833 cords from 99,163,606 acres, i.e. 5.93 ft3/ acre/ year (96W1). (85 ft3= 1 cord) Harvesting pulpwood averages 15.6% of growth in the 14 N.E. US states (96W1). Comments: This implies a growth of 5.93/.156 = 38 ft3/ acre/ year = 266 m3/ km2/ year.

Pulpwood and Roundwood Production in 12 Southern US States (76B2)
42.34 million cords (1975) | 49.23 cords (1974) (pulpwood)
30.04 million cords (1975) | 35.62 cords (1974) (roundwood)
(The difference is wood residues (12.29 billion cords in 1975).)

Total roundwood production for pulp in 14 Northeastern US states (96W1): 4.5 million cords in 1965; 6.8 million cords in 1993. Average net growth on Northeastern US timberlands is 38 ft3/ acre/ year (266 m3/ km2/ year) (96W1).

US Pulpwood Production in 1980 (82N1)
New England -(5 states) -| 4,002,800 cords
Mid-Atlantic -(6 states)-| 1,751,200 "
Central States (6 states)| ~ 525,900 "
Lake States - -(3 states)| 5,125,200 "
Total - - - - (20 states)|11,405,100 " (up 3% from 1979)
In addition, 3,170,300 cords were obtained from wood residues.

1994 West Va. wood harvest on timberland: 14.3 ft3/ acre/ year (1.00 m3/ ha/ year). (98W2) Ave. 1994 net growth on West Va. timberlands: 2.94 m3/ ha/ year. (98W2) Comments: These are very low numbers for pulpwood, so they must refer to sawtimber.

1994 West Virginia pulpwood production: 348,000 cords roundwood, 334,000 cords equivalent of residual chips (98W2).

1987 West Virginia wood harvest for industrial uses: 113 million ft3 (3.2 million m3) (sawlogs and veneer) (98W2)

1994 West Virginia wood harvest for industrial uses: 156 million ft3 (4.4 million m3.) (sawlogs and veneer) Harvest including pulpwood and other misc. products was 165 million ft3 (4.67 million m3.) (98W2)

Part [B12] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ United States - Southern ~

The US government estimates that, in the mid-1990s, 3.4 billion ft3/ year of hardwoods were harvested in the South by chip mills, while 4.78 billion ft3 grew. Since then, harvest rates and urban sprawl rates have increased sharply (Wall Street Journal, 9/27/99).

In 1950, hardwood accounted for 13% of pulpwood of the southern US. Today they account for 37% (98M1).

The 140 chip mills of the southern US consume over 4850 km2 of plantation- and natural forest annually (98M1).

Experts forecast that 70% of the native pine forests in the southern US will be converted to monoculture pine plantations by 2020 - a doubling of the region's current plantation area (98M1).

The southern US now has 140 chip mills (100 built in the past decade). The majority are "supermills" that can process 0.75 million tons/ year (97L1).

Part [B13] ~ Production/ Consumption~ United States - All ~

Logging in US National Forests (billion bd. ft. )
(USFS data plotted in Wall Street Journal, 8/12/99)
Year|1987|1988|1989|1990|1991|1992|1993|1994|1995|1996|1997
Cut |12.5|12.4|12.0|10.5| 8.5| 7.2| 5.9| 4.6| 3.7| 3.5| 3.2

The US consumes 15 billion cubic ft. of wood/ year, cutting 5 million acres (20,250 km2) of US timber annually (Forest Watch, 7/91).

US industrial roundwood in 1979: production = 355 million m3, consumption = 398 million m3. 1989 US fuelwood production and consumption: 22 million m3 (Agricultural Statistics 1981, USDA).

Net US removals (1970): 14 billion ft3/ year (396 million m3/ year) (76S1).

1991 US growing-stock removals: 16.3 billion ft3 (462 million m3) - 2% greater than 1986, 21% greater than 1970 (94P2).

Official projected roundwood harvest (industrial wood + fuel wood) for US timberlands: (million m3) (99N1)
Year - |1990 | 2000 | 2040
Harvest|509.4| 551.8| 716.0

Big US Timberland Owners (Wall Street Journal, 3/13/96)
(Holdings in millions of acres and (km2))
Int'l Paper ~ | 6.4 | (26,000)
Ga. Pacific ~ | 5.7 | (23,000)
Weyerhaeuser~ | 5.5 | (22,300)
Champion Int'l| 5.3 | (21,500)
Boise Cascade | 3.1 | (12,600)
Plum Creek~ ~ | 2.1 | ( 8,500)
Temple-Inland | 1.9 | ( 7,700)
Wilamette Ind.| 1.8 | ( 7,300)
Potlatch~ ~ ~ | 1.5 | ( 6,100)

If all US commercial forest areas were fully stocked with trees, and balanced in age classes, potential growth would be 520 m3/ km2/ year. Actual growth in 1970 was 270 m3/ km2 in the US (79S4).

In 1992, harvest from US non-forest lands with trees was 43 million m3 (99N1). If fuel wood is excluded from these figures: 449.9 million m3 in 2000, 580.2 million m3 in 2040 (99N1). 90% of the increased coniferous harvest and 70% of the increased deciduous harvest is predicted to take place in the South (99N1).

Timber harvest in US national forests was 12.2 billion b.f./ year during 1983-88. It will fall to 10.8 billion board-ft./ year by 1995 under the USFS's new master plan (90I1).

Some 0.46 billion m3/ year of growing stock (over 12 cm. diameter) timber is harvested from US forests (Ref. 124 of (91M1)).

Some 1.96% of US forest growing stock is harvested annually (91M1).

Table 6.19 of Ref. (80H1) gives net annual growth and removals of US growing stock by species-group and section in 1952, 1962, 1970, and 1976.

Table 6.20 of Ref. (80H1) gives net annual growth and removals of sawtimber in the US by species-group and section in 1952, 1962, 1970, and 1976.

Growth and Removals of Wood in the US (77E1) (first 4 rows in billions of ft3)
Year |- -Softwoods -| Hardwoods
- - -|Growth|Removal|Growth| Removal
1952 | ~7.8 | 7.8 - | ~6.1 | 4.1 Source: Nat. Acad.
1962 | ~9.3 | 7.6 - | ~7.1 | 4.2 of Sciences, "Man,
1970 | 10.7 | 9.6 - | ~7.9 | 4.4 Materials and
1980*| 11.5 |11.0 - | ~8.2 | 5.9 Environment"
Sawtimber - |- - - -| - - -| - - (billion bf.)
1952 | 29.5 |39.2 - | 15.6 |13.3
1962 | 34.7 |37.7 - | 17.6 |12.6
1970 | 40.3 |47.7 - | 19.7 |15.0
1980*| 43.8 |50.4 - | 20.9 |16.2 * Estimated

Lumber consumption in the US (MBF and per-capita) are tabulated for 1962, 1970, and 1976 by species-group and by 6 different end-uses (not including plywood and wood-based panel products) (80H1):
37.3 billion bd. ft. in 1962; 39.5 billion bd. ft. in 1970; 42.7 billion bd. ft. in 1976.

US Plywood- and wood-based panel-board consumption (MBF and per-capita) is tabulated by species-group and various end-uses for 1962, 1970 and 1976 in Ref. (80H1). See Table Below.

US Plywood and Wood-Based Panel-board Consumption (MBF and per-capita) (Plywood in million ft2; Panels in billion ft2 (3/8" thick?)
Year |Plywood| Panel (80H1)
1962 | 11.7 -| 5.5
1970 | 17.8 -| 9.6
1976 | 20.7 -|13.5

US pulpwood consumption rate: 6.1 million cords in 1920; 77.6 in 1977 (80H1).

About 1/3 of timber harvested from US forests is used for pulpwood (80H1).

Per-capita paper consumption: 145 lb.(65.8 kg.) in 1920; 611 lb.(277 kg.) in 1977 (80H1).

US Consumption of Cooperage, Pilings, Posts, Poles, Mine Timbers and other industrial products (80H1)
[Consumption in million ft3 (million m3)]
Year| Consumption
1952| 699 |(19.8)
1962| 465 |(13.2)
1970| 424 |(12.0)
1976| 379 |(10.7)

US fuel-wood consumption in 1976; 18 million cords = 1.4 billion ft3 = 40 million m3 (80H1).

US Wood consumption is plotted vs. time (1800-1976) in Ref. (79C1) (export logs, plywood, veneer, pulp, lumber, miscellaneous, fuel). Fuel wood peaked in 1900-1940 at 4 billion ft3/ year. Other uses, in total, since 1900 have averaged 10 billion ft3/ year (79C1).

Part [B14] ~ Production/ Consumption ~ Developed Countries

Data from industrialized countries supplied by UN ECE to FAO on removals covered 40 countries. However, only total volume extracted per year was reported. For these 40 countries, an estimated 1.2 billion m3 / year were harvested (01F1).

The 1995 study World agriculture: towards 2010, (95A5), forecasted developed-country growth in consumption of forest products to be lower than the growth of their economies, with consumption somewhat less than doubling over the next 20 years. These projections implied an industrial roundwood consumption of 2.7 billion m3/ year by 2010. More recent projections suggest global consumption of roundwood will be lower - 2.4 billion m3/ year by 2030 (03M1).

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