Forest Products

Both U.S. total exports and general imports of forest products increased during 2013–14, although the increase in imports outstripped that of exports. Imports rose each year during 2010–14 as a steadily recovering U.S. housing market fueled the U.S. demand for construction products such as lumber, wood panels, and moldings. The increase in exports was driven by rising shipments to China and the United Kingdom, primarily because of the expanding residential construction sectors in both countries.¹

Canada was consistently the United States’ leading trading partner because of Canada’s abundant forest resources and its proximity to the United States. In 2014, Canada accounted for 25 percent of U.S. domestic exports and 45 percent of U.S. imports (table FP.1). China is the United States’ second-largest trading partner for these products, accounting for 18 percent of U.S. forest product exports and 21 percent of imports. Other major export markets are Mexico, Japan, and the United Kingdom, and other major import suppliers include Brazil, Mexico, and Germany.

U.S. Exports²

U.S. domestic exports grew by 1 percent during 2013–14, up from $39.2 billion to $39.6 billion. Most of the export increase was because of rising exports of lumber, logs and rough wood products, and paperboard (table FP.2). Lumber exports increased 15 percent ($481 million) to $3.6 billion, and log exports increased 8 percent ($262 million) to $3.4 billion. Exports to China accounted for most of the increase in the exports of lumber, logs, and rough wood products.³ Rising lumber and log exports to China were driven by its residential housing starts and residential construction. Although Chinese lumber consumption fell slightly in 2014 compared to 2013 because of a domestic economic slowdown, Chinese log demand was still strong enough to help raise 2014 prices for the type of logs exported to China.⁴

Paperboard exports increased 4 percent ($246 million) to $6.9 billion; Canada and Mexico were the major export markets.⁵ Paperboard is used in industrial packaging, and demand is largely driven by output in the manufacturing sector. Cardboard box manufacturers are estimated to account for 72 percent of paperboard sales. Demand for cardboard boxes is driven by the manufacturing, agriculture, foodservice, and retail sectors, which use cardboard boxes to transport their goods.⁶ Demand growth was fueled by increases in industrial output in the major U.S. paperboard markets: manufacturing production in Mexico rose by 3 percent during 2013 and 6 percent during 2014, while Canadian industrial production grew by 3 percent during 2013 and 2014.⁷

Exports of printed matter, printing and writing paper, and newsprint declined: printed matter by 6 percent ($305 million), printing and writing papers by 16 percent ($227 million), and newsprint by 30 percent ($132 million). The shift from printed materials to electronic media such as e-readers and electronic data transmission has reduced the use of traditional print media.⁸

U.S. Imports

U.S. imports in this sector rose by $2.1 billion to $42.1 billion, an increase of 5 percent. Lumber and industrial papers and paperboard showed the largest increases, driven respectively by demand for residential housing and manufactured product output. Lumber imports, mostly from Canada, grew the most during 2013–14, rising by 14 percent ($694 million) to $5.7 billion. These imports were boosted by the growth in U.S. residential construction. U.S. residential housing starts increased 9 percent from 2013 to 2014, rising from 925,000 to one million—the largest number of housing starts since 2007.⁹ The growth in U.S. residential construction also drove higher import demand for other construction-related forest products such as moldings, millwork, and joinery, up by 8 percent ($216 million), and for wood veneer and wood panels, up by 4 percent ($194 million).

Industrial paper and paperboard imports increased 10 percent ($559 million) during 2013–14 to $6.1 billion. A large share of the products in the industrial paper group, such as paperboard, is used in packaging, and demand is largely driven by output in the manufacturing sector. Industrial production in the U.S. manufacturing sector increased by 6 percent in 2014.¹⁰ The largest supplier of paperboard is Canada, which accounted for 51 percent of paperboard imports and 41 percent of the increase in 2014.¹¹

Canada, China, and Mexico supplied most of the growth in imports. Most of the import growth from Canada was accounted for by lumber, from China by wood veneers and wood panels, and from Mexico by industrial papers and paperboard.¹²