Hardwood Lumber Demand in the United States: 1950 to 1980

Production of the three most important hardwood timber products–fuelwood, pulpwood, and lumber–has increased by two-thirds between 1950 and 1980. Yet our understanding of hardwood markets significantly lags that of the commercially more important softwoods. Annual estimates of hardwood lumber demand in key markets during the 1950 to 1980 period are presented. Focus on end-use sectors rather than aggregate demand levels provides much richer understanding of hardwood markets, constrasting, for example, rapid growth in hardwood lumber consumption for pallet manufacture with more stable markets for use in furniture and declining markets for hardwood flooring. These data form the basis for the lumber demand component of a larger model–the Hardwood Assessment Market Model (HAMM)–which considers both stumpage and product supply and demand. Due to measurement error and definitional limitations, we believe that the U.S. Bureau of Census estimates of hardwood lumber production significantly understate the actual amount of hardwood lumber produced in the United States and, therefore, understate derived demand for hardwood sawtimber.

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