Developing forestry products: timber

Publication date: 25/11/2019
Extent: 36 pages

Contributions by: David Nicholls, USDA Forest Service, USA

Chapter synopsis: Timber products can include a wide array of socially valued goods originating from diverse tree species, forest types, and ecosystems. Over the past few decades, forest product market development and timber quality have been characterized by several important factors, many of them international in scope. Included are innovation in products and marketing, trade-offs between forest biomass and solid wood, global demands for wood fiber, global macroeconomic forces, the advent of biorefineries, and customization of specialty versus commodity products. The twentieth century witnessed great advancements in the forest sector and timber products modeling, forecasting trends in primary wood products, integrated markets, and increasing levels of international competition and trade. The twenty-first century could become a turning point for global forest products markets, characterized by declines in some timber-based sectors, with a simultaneous emergence of new products and businesses. This chapter addresses each of these, and discusses their impact on global timber markets, as well as future trends.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0057.22