The growth of softwood imports in the US was the subject of a special session during the International Wood Products Association‘s (IWPA) annual convention in Indian Wells, California.
IWPA executive vice-president Wendy Baer said: “The session was designed to help companies assess the changes in the market and their impact on the imported wood products industry – both hardwood and softwood.”
Donald Schramm, formerly of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, said some causes for the increase in softwood imports include environmentalist-inspired logging restrictions, spotted owl issues, a decrease in ponderosa pine production, a strong US economy and housing market, and low log and production costs in the southern hemisphere.
He also examined trends for hardwood plywood, lumber and moulding imports by major exporting countries and the impact that softwood imports has on those products.
Representatives from the softwood producing regions of Austria, Brazil, Canada and Chile contributed to the discussion, giving information on export market trends, product availability and expected future growth trends from their areas.
