Forest products

Sarah Scott
(202) 708-1397
Sarah.Scott@ustic.gov

Robert Ireland
(202) 708-4101
Robert.Ireland@usitc.gov

  To view changing data, hover over or touch the animated graphic below.

Change in 2017 from 2016:

• U.S. total forest product exports: increased by $2.0 billion (5.3 percent) to $39.7 billion
• U.S. total forest product imports: increased by $1.7 billion (4.0 percent) to $44.9 billion

Total U.S. trade in forest products increased modestly in 2017 as both exports and imports rose for most of the sector’s product groups.^[1] The increase in U.S. forest products exports ended a two-year decline and was driven by three product groups—paperboard, lumber, and wood pulp—which accounted for 80.1 percent of the increase in 2017, by value. Canada, China, and Mexico collectively accounted for the majority (58.2 percent) of 2017 U.S. export growth, and were also the largest U.S. export markets. The increase in imports of U.S. forest products continued the steady, but relatively modest growth of the last several years. In 2017, the increase was driven by two product groups—(1) lumber and (2) wood veneer and panels—which accounted for 53.1 percent of the increase by value.

U.S. Exports^[2]

U.S. exports of forest products grew $2.0 billion (5.3 percent) to $39.7 billion in 2017, driven largely by rising exports of paperboard and of hardwood lumber and logs. In 2017, Canada remained the largest export market for U.S. forest products, accounting for 24.0 percent of the total. U.S. exports to Canada grew by 1.9 percent, after declining at a faster pace in each of the last three years. The second leading trading partner for these U.S. exports was China, which accounted for 19.7 percent of the total. U.S. exports to China rose 10.8 percent, nearly twice as fast as the 2016 increase (5.7 percent). Mexico was the third-largest U.S. export market, accounting for 14.9 percent. U.S. exports to Mexico rose by 5.0 percent after declining by 1.4 percent in 2016.

Table FP.1: Forest products: U.S. exports and general imports, by selected trading partners, 2013–17

	Million $
Item	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Absolute change, 2016–17	Percent change, 2016–17
U.S. exports of domestic merchandise:
Canada	10,299	10,100	9,477	9,019	9,170	151	1.7
China	6,783	6,930	6,361	6,780	7,514	734	10.8
Mexico	5,405	5,477	5,518	5,441	5,715	275	5.0
Brazil	385	376	350	293	280	-13	-4.4
Japan	2,216	2,139	1,962	1,870	1,918	48	2.5
United Kingdom	1,514	1,675	1,821	1,662	1,637	-25	-1.5
Germany	737	715	628	612	631	19	3.0
South Korea	854	880	809	764	773	9	1.2
Chile	237	219	225	200	221	21	10.4
Italy	800	701	677	617	680	63	10.2
All other	9,993	10,317	9,648	8,976	9,702	726	8.1
Total domestic exports	39,223	39,529	37,475	36,234	38,241	2,007	5.5
Foreign exports	1,616	1,640	1,584	1,473	1,457	-16	-1.1
Total U.S. exports (domestic and foreign)	40,839	41,169	39,059	37,707	39,698	1,991	5.3
U.S. general imports:
Canada	18,088	18,971	18,069	18,704	19,116	412	2.2
China	8,274	8,873	9,517	9,562	9,819	256	2.7
Mexico	1,652	1,817	1,950	1,910	1,981	71	3.7
Brazil	2,161	2,166	2,207	2,181	2,455	274	12.6
Japan	468	453	460	446	441	-5	-1.2
United Kingdom	556	624	622	627	667	40	6.5
Germany	1,113	1,108	1,173	1,185	1,425	240	20.3
South Korea	540	616	578	544	537	-7	-1.2
Chile	764	824	893	888	885	-3	-0.3
Italy	366	395	393	427	426	-2	-0.4
All other	6,002	6,366	6,522	6,644	7,105	461	6.9
Total general imports	39,984	42,213	42,383	43,118	44,856	1,738	4.0

Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Note: Import values are based on customs value; export values are based on free along ship value, U.S. port of export. Calculations based on unrounded data. The countries shown are those with the largest total U.S. trade (U.S. general imports plus U.S. domestic exports) in these products in the current year.

U.S. exports of lumber grew by 14.3 percent to $3.9 billion in 2017, after growing by 5.8 percent in 2016. Lumber accounted for 24.3 percent of the overall increase in U.S. forest products exports in 2017, by value. The two largest destinations for U.S. lumber exports were China and Canada. In recent years, however, Canada’s share has decreased as China’s share has grown, driven by rising housing demand from China’s growing middle and upper classes as well as its expanding furniture industry.^[3] The largest change in lumber exports was in hardwood lumber, mostly oak. Hardwood lumber is often used in manufacturing housing fixtures—such as cabinets, flooring, millwork, or trim—and furniture. The largest share of U.S. exports of oak lumber was shipped to China,^[4] which grew by 35.4 percent in 2017 after slightly slower growth (25.8 percent) in 2016. The growth in U.S. exports was mostly due to rising volumes, as average prices on these products rose only slightly.

Table FP.2: Forest products: Leading changes in U.S. exports and imports, 2013–17

	Million $
Item	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	Absolute change, 2016–17	Percent change, 2016–17
U.S. domestic exports:
Increases:
Paperboard (FP011A)	6,631	6,848	6,601	6,402	7,090	688	10.8
Lumber (FP002)	3,133	3,609	3,216	3,403	3,890	487	14.3
Wood pulp and recovered paper (FP009)	8,697	8,702	8,483	8,299	8,775	476	5.7
Logs and rough wood products (FP001)	3,117	3,390	3,104	3,043	3,398	356	11.7
Paper boxes and bags (FP010)	1,840	1,864	1,904	1,868	1,905	37	2.0
Tissue and tissue products (FP011B)	2,034	2,010	1,977	1,809	1,810	1	(a)
Decreases:
Newsprint (FP012)	445	312	246	149	142	-7	-4.6
All other	13,327	12,794	11,943	11,262	11,231	-31	-0.3
Total	39,223	39,529	37,475	36,234	38,241	2,007	5.5
U.S. general imports:
Increases:
Lumber (FP002)	5,036	5,731	5,446	6,609	7,120	511	7.7
Wood veneer and wood panels (FP004)	4,588	4,806	5,222	5,730	6,128	398	6.9
Paperboard (FP011A)	2,551	2,776	2,743	2,730	2,981	250	9.2
Moldings, millwork, and joinery (FP003)	2,853	3,069	3,215	3,176	3,424	247	7.8
Paper boxes and bags (FP010)	2,088	2,194	2,338	2,404	2,538	134	5.6
Decreases:
Newsprint (FP012)	1,290	1,316	1,068	979	907	-72	-7.4
All other	21,577	22,320	22,351	21,489	21,758	269	1.3
Total	39,984	42,213	42,383	43,118	44,856	1,738	4.0

Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Note: Import values are based on customs value; export values are based on free along ship value, U.S. port of export. Calculations based on unrounded data.
 ^aLess than 0.05 percent

Exports of logs and rough wood products grew by 11.7 percent to $3.4 billion in 2017, after dropping a total of 10.2 percent over the previous two years. Logs and rough wood accounted for 17.7 percent of the growth in total forest products exports in 2017, by value. The largest share (41.1 percent) of these exports went to China, which also accounted for nearly all of the growth.^[5] In 2017, much of the increase (45.7 percent) was accounted for by red oak and southern yellow pine logs and rough wood. China’s share of U.S. exports of logs has increased in the last several years by both volume and value. Reportedly, certain Chinese buyers, instead of buying U.S. lumber from U.S. sawmills, purchased U.S. logs for further processing in China, often paying as much as 50 percent more than the usual U.S. sawmill price. These Chinese purchases were also driven by the country’s housing demand trends.^[6] In addition, the growing Chinese demand reportedly stressed the U.S. log market’s tight inventory, pushing prices (including export prices) higher.^[7]

Industrial papers and paperboards continued to be the largest U.S. paper products export, and grew moderately (up $628 million) to $9.5 billion. Continuing the trend seen in previous years, Mexico, China, and Canada were the largest recipients of U.S. industrial papers and paperboards, accounting for 55.1 percent of the total. In particular, chemical pulp exports increased 8.1 percent to $4.4 billion. Fluff pulp, a type of chemical pulp, is used for, among other things, producing absorbent hygiene products, and is a growth product spurred by aging baby boomers and growing demand in China.^[8] Driven by the growth in e-commerce, exports of paper boxes and bags rose slightly by 2.0 percent to $1.9 billion. However, reflecting the digitalization of newspapers, newsprint exports dropped 4.6 percent to $100 million and have now declined 68.0 percent between 2013 and 2017.

The United States accounted for about a third of world exports of wastepaper for recycling in 2017 ($3.2 billion), but saw only slight export growth (up 1.4 percent). China has been the main destination for U.S. wastepaper exports, but fell to a 53.8 percent export share in 2017 from a 60.9 percent share in 2016. In mid-2017, the Chinese government announced significant changes to its imports of this commodity, banning some types of recyclable paper and restricting others. Accordingly, the U.S. sought new export markets for recycling much of its wastepaper inventory.^[9] As exports to China declined, exports to India and Mexico grew collectively by $100 million to account for 23 percent of U.S. exports of recovered paper.

U.S. Imports

U.S. imports of forest products increased $1.7 billion (4.0 percent) to $44.9 billion in 2017. The growth was due largely to rising imports of lumber; paperboard; wood veneer and panels; and moldings, millwork, and joinery. In 2017, the largest share of forest products imports to the United States came from Canada, accounting for 42.7 percent. U.S. imports from Canada grew by 2.2 percent, after growing at a faster pace (3.5 percent) in 2016. The second leading supplier of these imports was China, which accounted for 21.9 percent. U.S. imports from China rose 2.7 percent after rising by 0.5 percent in 2016.

U.S. imports of lumber rose by 7.7 percent to $7.1 billion in 2017 after rising at a faster pace (21.4 percent) in 2016. The growth of the U.S. housing market in both housing starts (2.5 percent growth) and residential repair and remodeling (6 percent increase)^[10]—including home repairs from last year’s hurricanes^[11]—increased demand for imports of lumber, wood veneer and wood panels, and moldings, millwork, and joinery. Rising U.S. housing demand also contributed to increases in wood product prices: on average, lumber prices were 14.1 percent higher and structural panel prices were 3.7 percent higher in 2017 than in 2016.^[12]

Canada accounted for 83.2 percent of all U.S. lumber imports for consumption in 2017 and 81.4 percent of all U.S. lumber imports were Canadian softwood lumber. Canada has been the top supplier of this commodity to the United States for many years.  The growth in imports of Canadian lumber to the United States, however, slowed from 24.5 percent in 2016 to 4.4 percent in 2017. There were several factors in this slowdown: Canadian log shortages from beetle-related curtailments, environmental policy reforms related to woodland caribou, and weeks of record-setting wildfires in Canada’s main lumber-source area in British Columbia.^[13] In addition, U.S. imports showed an out-of-season decline in midsummer (May–July).^[14]

U.S. imports of wood veneer and wood panels grew $0.4 billion (7.0 percent) to $6.1 billion in 2017. U.S. imports of moldings, millwork, and joinery increased $0.2 billion (8.0 percent) to $3.4 billion in 2017. In addition to lumber, Canada is also the top trading partner for U.S. imports of these wood products.

U.S. purchases of paper products abroad were dominated by imports of industrial papers and paperboards, which increased slightly (up 3.1 percent) to $6.5 billion in 2017; Canada, Mexico, and China have long been the United States’ largest foreign suppliers for this product group. In particular, Canada continued to provide the vast majority of U.S. newsprint imports (99 percent). Largely because of digitization, however, imports of newsprint from Canada dropped 7.7 percent to $900 million in 2017, and have now declined by 29.8 percent since 2013. On the other hand, U.S. imports of paper boxes and bags have grown every year since 2013 and reached $2.5 billion in 2017, due largely to the growth in e-commerce.^[15] Most of the growth in 2017 imports of paper boxes and bags came from the three largest markets: China, Canada, and Mexico.