Forests and forest products have long represented a substantial resource endowment in the United States. The nation consumes and produces, when aggregated across product categories, more forest products than any other country.
A recent report entitled “The Global Position of the U.S. Forest Products Industry” found that the United States’ share of global industrial roundwood production has declined since the 1990s. This paper was prepared as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service National Center for Natural Resources Economics Research study on the future of the U.S. forest products sector.
The study grew out of discussions between Department of Agriculture, Forest Service leadership, and NASF’s Forest Markets Committee about why the United States has lost significant global roundwood market share since the year 2000.
Changes in the size and organization of the forest products industry reflect multiple cyclical and long-term phenomena occurring domestically and internationally.
Examination of the long-term and the most recent changes in the forest products sector identified the underlying forces for the change as developments in policies, programs, technologies, and consumer preferences.
From the National Association Of State Foresters: https://www.stateforesters.org/news-events/blog/usda-forest-services-forest-products-industry-report