USA

Growing wood hunger for next 15 years

Article by Robert Spannlang | 13.11.2018 - 07:53
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Softwood lumber © Robert Kittel

In a new study, ForestEdge LLC and Wood Resources International found that the US softwood lumber demand is expected to continue its upward trajectory, reaching an all-time high by mid 2020s. According to this study, the fastest growing demand for softwood lumber will be from the end-use category „non-residential construction“ increasing its share of consumption from 11% in 2016 to 14% by 2030. The biggest end-use market, however, will continue to be the residential housing sector, including repair and remodeling, at a total share of about 70% of the total lumber consumption by 2030.

Overseas lumber shipments to the US are projected to increase from 4.8% to 6.5% by 2030 in the base demand scenario and possibly as high as 35% of total imports in the high demand scenario.