A recent study showed that a total of 293 million board feet of softwood lumber was exported from Oregon and Washington in 2008.
"The volume was up 26.6 percent from the 2007 total of 231.4 million board feet," said Debra Warren, author of the report and economist at the Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service. "During this same time period, Oregon and Washington imported 1.7 billion board feet of softwood lumber, mostly from Canada."
The report was titled "Production, Prices, Employment, and Trade in Northwest Forest Industries, All Quarters of 2007."
The publication was produced by the PNW Research Station and provides current information on lumber and plywood production and prices; employment in the forest industries; and international trade in logs, lumber and plywood. Data were retrieved from the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Lumber exports for the fourth quarter of 2008 from Oregon and Washington totaled 72.4 million board feet, up 19.6 percent from the 2007 fourth quarter volume of 60.5 million board feet. Douglas fir accounted for 57.5 percent of the 2008 softwood exports.
One-third of the Oregon and Washington softwood lumber exports in 2008 went to Japan, while 35.8 percent went to Canada.
The total value of 2008 lumber shipments from the two states was $215.7 million at the ports of exportation, and the average value was $649.52 per thousand board feet. This figure is $182.61 above the national average of softwood per thousand board feet.
The PNW Research Station is part of the Research Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Services, and comprises of ten research laboratories in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, as well as the headquarters in Portland, Ore. The PNW Research Station is one of eight forest service research facilities throughout the U.S.
Warren’s report can be read at www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/30416.