Roundwood Production Up

Roundwood production worldwide climbed to 3,503 million cubic meters in 2005, the last year with global data.1 (See Figure 1.) That represents a 2.3-percent increase over 2004, a substantial acceleration of the average 0.64-percent rate of growth of the previous five years.2 On a per capita basis, however, global production has dropped steadily for more than four decades, from 0.76 cubic meters per person in 1961 to 0.54 cubic meters in 2005, as harvesting and processing technologies have become more effi- cient and as other materials have replaced wood in some applications.3

Roundwood refers to wood that is removed from forests or other areas, whether felled or simply picked up from the forest floor.4 There are two broad categories: fuelwood (used for heating and cooking) and industrial wood products, such as lumber, wood panels, and wood pulp.

While output of the various kinds of roundwood is split nearly evenly at the global level (51 percent fuelwood and 49 percent industrial), the two products often have different values in wealthy and poor nations.5 Some three quarters of the world’s fuelwood is burned in developing countries, where it accounts for 15 percent of primary energy use.6 The other one quarter is consumed in industrial countries—in wood stoves, for example— and constitutes only 2 percent of those countries’ primary energy supply.7

The top six producers—the United States, India, China, Brazil, Canada, and Russia— accounted for 48 percent of global production in 2005.8 (See Figure 2.) All showed increases in harvesting over 2004 except China, which sharply curtailed cutting after floods caused by denuded hillsides devastated the country in 1998.9 Yet China is a major player on the global wood stage: its imports have more than tripled since 1997, making China the world’s largest importer of wood and wood products.10 Demand there has helped fuel the increased output of some major exporters: Chinese imports of Russian logs increased 21-fold between 1997 and 2005, for example.11

Overall, the trend in wood harvesting is up in most regions, primarily because of demand from the rapidly expanding economies of countries like China.12 Rising fossil fuel prices have stimulated demand for wood as a source of heat.13 Government promotion of renewable energy and climate change policies in many countries, which often steer economic activity away from fossil fuels, is another factor.14 On the other hand, rising U.S. and European interest rates in 2005–06 helped dampen demand for wood panels and lumber.15

Illegal logging is a major obstacle to making forest practices sustainable, because illegally sourced wood and wood products supplied at submarket rates tend to undercut responsibly produced products in world markets.16 Illegal logging is primarily driven by demand for cheap products in industrial nations. A 2004 report found that the European Union imports nearly 3 billion euros (almost $4 billion) worth of illegal logs—a substantial share of the 10–15 billion euros worth of illegal logging worldwide each year.17 Illegal logging is also facilitated by illegal products being imported to China from, say, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and then re-exported to industrial countries, especially the United States and Europe.18

One bright spot in the effort to combat illegal and unsustainably produced wood is the growth in certification of wood and wood products. Global certified forested area expanded by 12 percent in 2005, bringing the certified share of the world’s forests to 7 percent.19 About 24 percent of roundwood production comes from certified forests, mainly in Europe and North America.20 (See Figure 3.) Most of this wood is not labeled, apparently because consumers have yet to demand it.21

Most certified forest area is located in industrial countries: North America has 58 percent of the current total and Western Europe has 29 percent.22 About half of the forested area of Europe and about a third of the area of North America is certified, while nearly all the forests in Austria and Finland are.23 In absolute terms, Canada has by far the largest certified area— some 121 million hectares.24 The United States is second, with 35 million hectares.25