lnternational m buying more wes softwood lumber

)014 wrLL PRovE to be another Zrecord year for U.S.-produced western softwood lumber exported into international markets. Running 2Vo ahead of last year's shipments of $l.154 billion into the final weeks, the estimated final should be over $1.2 billion in export sales for the year. Over the past five years this shows a 1007a increase from a healthy $586 million in 2009.

Western species have led the way. Douglas fir has climbed from $l5l million in 2009 to $2'74 million in 2014. Western hemlock and Hem-fir, starting at $41 million in 2009, climbed to $l6l million in 201l, but dropped back to $l1l million in 2014, mostly due to the uneven hot and cold buying habits of Chinese importers. Ponderosa pine has maintained a steady market at about $24 million over the past five years.

Europe, Canada, Chile and New Zealand are the major exporting regions or countries for softwood lumber products into international markets. The U.S. is a smaller niche player in most markets but is a dominate supplier in Mexico and Canada. Considering that most international construction uses stone, steel, or concrete in structural applications, and U.S. lumber is heavily "designed" to be used in structures, it is obvious why U.S. production is in limited demand.

International market requirements are widely varied by species. sizes. grade requirements, and end use of the materials. Traditional U.S. structural species, such as Douglas fir and hemlock are found in many non-structural products. Lower grades of all species, of limited value in structural applications, find a home in crating, pallets and packaging. U.S. species are used in many remanufacturing and gluing facilities, in parts of the world with much lower labor rates, for furniture and millwork components.

Wood-frame residential construction is mostly limited to North America, Japan and parts of Oceana. Even in those markets, North American framing systems using 38mm x 89mm (2x4) structural members, is limited to the U.S., Canada and a small but growing segment in Japan.

Japan is the second largest wood frame building in the world, but of the almost 550,000 wood frame units in Japan last year, only 120,000 were 2x4 based. The vast majority were traditional Japanese metric post and beam timber construction using metric sizes. Structural framing sizes in Australia and New Zealand use 35mm and 45mm by 90mm and 100mm sizes. However, some U.S. softwood producers are successful in these markets and are providing metric-sized lumber to compete with other imports, mainly from Europe and Canada.

Much of the U.S. softwood exported is for non-structural uses. Interior applications, such as doors, windows, frames, mouldings, flooring, paneling and other millwork, is a prime destination for both pine and fir species. Furniture parts and glued panels are also a destination for softwood lumber. Western species, such as Douglas fir and hemlock, in clear and other upper grades, are prized in Europe for wooden window and door parts and frames. Ponderosa and other western pines are used in rustic pine furniture, and for upholstery frames in Mexico, China and Vietnam. U.S. producers are selling both metric and imperial sizes into these markets because much of the stock is ripped and resawn to provide "finished" metric sizes for the local markets.

A large portion of exported lower grades in softwoods are used in concrete supports for forming, wailers and posts. Since much of the worldwide structural construction is based on the use of concrete, there is a large demand for formwork materials at all levels. Some world markets require structurally graded materials, some cultures use the material repeatedly, but some see wood as a single use material and aim for a cost competitive disposable supply, and use the remains for fuel or local d-i-y projects. Western softwoods have found distinct foreign markets based on species and size. For strength, long lengths, and large sections of solid lumber, the Pacific Northwest is the place to go.

The Pacific Rim is the leading market for western species, with Japan the leading destination. Japan is the major export market for U.S.-produced Douglas fir, importing $113 million,

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