CINTRAFOR
Working Paper Abstract
An Assessment of the PNW Hardwood Lumber Industry
Ivan Eastin, Steven Shook, Wendy Sammarco. (45 pp)
Currently, less than one percent of the private and industrial timberlands in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are managed for hardwood production. In order to provide an incentive to manage the hardwood resource actively, hardwood stumpage prices must be consistently competitive with conifer stumpage prices, although this has generally not been the case in the PNW. A variety of factors could contribute to hardwoods being more actively promoted in the timberland managerŐs portfolio. For example, species diversity provides stability in a cyclical market, improves soil fertility, and promotes biodiversity in forest stands.
The hardwood industry in the PNW, largely red alder, has experienced surprising success over the past decade in both domestic and international markets. This success is of interest considering that commercial hardwood species in the PNW have traditionally been considered a low value by-product of the softwood inventory. While PNW hardwoods have enjoyed increased market acceptance, little market research has been done to characterize the hardwood industry or identify the factors that have contributed to its success. The objectives of this research were to: 1) explore the competitive conditions of the hardwood industry, 2) identify the range of products currently manufactured from hardwoods, 3) analyze current hardwood markets (domestic and international), 4) identify the factors that are perceived to restrict the growth of the hardwood industry in the PNW, and 5) assess future market and product opportunities for PNW hardwood products.
Since the number of firms involved in hardwood lumber production in the PNW
is relatively small (less than 15), a census of the hardwood industry was
conducted. The PNW region, for the purpose of this research, consists of
western
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