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PORTLAND, Ore. June 5, 2009.
A total of 145.0 million board feet of softwood logs and 68.0 million
board feet of softwood lumber
was exported from Washington, Oregon, northern California, and
Alaska in the first 3 months of 2009 according to a report published
by the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, USDA Forest Service.
“ The volume [of softwood log exports] was down 27.5 percent
from 200.0 million board feet in the first quarter of 2008, while
the first-quarter volume [of softwood lumber] was down 11.7 percent
from the 2008 first-quarter total of 77.0 million board feet,” says
Debra Warren, an economist at the PNW Research Station.
Warren is
the author of “Production, Prices, Employment,
and Trade in Northwest Forest Industries, All Quarters 2008,” a
publication produced by the PNW Research Station. This publication
provides current information on lumber and plywood production and
prices; employment in the forest industries; and international
trade in logs, lumber, and plywood. It also provides volume and
average prices of stumpage sold by public agencies. Data were retrieved
from the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Other statistics found
in the report are:
(Softwood log exports)
Some 88.2 million board feet or 60.8 percent of the first quarter
2009 west coast log exports went to Japan, 45.2 million board
feet or 31.2 percent went to South Korea, 0.1 million board feet
or 6.8 percent went to Canada, 25.0 million board feet or 17.2
percent went to China, and 0.1 million board feet went to Taiwan.
Log
exports for the first quarter of 2009 from Oregon and Washington
totaled 136.7 million board feet, down 24.2 percent from the
2008 first quarter volume of 180.4 million board feet. A total
of 864,000
board feet of logs was exported from northern California, up
from 450,000 board feet in the first quarter of 2008. Alaska exported
a total of 7.4 million board feet in the first 3 months of 2009,
compared with 19.2 in 2008.
Douglas-fir accounted for 67.2 percent
of these log exports; western hemlock, 13.8 percent; and spruce,
3.4 percent; other softwoods
made up the remaining 15.6 percent.
The total value of log shipments
for the first 3 months of 2009 was $99.5 million at the port
of exportation, and the average value
was $686.08 per thousand board feet. Douglas-fir averaged $765.90
per thousand board feet; hemlock, $566.23; spruce, $281.16; and
other softwoods, $540.33.
(Softwood lumber exports)
Some 15.4 million board feet or 22.6 percent of the west coast
first-quarter softwood lumber exports in 2009 went to Canada,
26.1 million board feet or 38.4 percent went to Japan, 5.0
million board feet or 7.4 percent went to Indonesia (yellow-cedar
from
San Francisco), 9.1 million board feet or 13.4 percent went
to the Philippines, 2.8 million board feet or 4.2 percent went
to
South Korea, and 3.0 million board feet or 4.4 percent went
to China.
Lumber exports for the first quarter of 2009 from
Oregon and Washington totaled 62.2 million board feet, down 8.7
percent from the 2008
first quarter volume of 68.1 million board feet. A total of 5.6
million board feet was exported from northern California, compared
with 8.8 million board feet in the first 3 months of 2008. Alaska
exported 0.1 million board feet of lumber during the first quarter
of 2009, compared with zero in the first quarter of 2008.
Douglas-fir
accounted for 57.6 percent of the first quarter 2009 softwood
lumber exports; cedars, 7.4 percent; and western hemlock,
5.9 percent; other softwoods made up the remaining 29.1 percent.
The
total value of first quarter 2009 lumber shipments from the
west coast was $52.0 million at the ports of exportation, and the
average value was $764.62 per thousand board feet. Douglas-fir
averaged $787.99 per thousand board feet; cedars, $941.27; western
hemlock, $807.18; and other softwoods, $662.11.
The full report
will be published soon and will be available online in July
at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/index.shtml
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