Ohio Roundwood Utilization by the Timber Industry in 2006

Book excerpt: To identify changes in the structure, size, and wood raw material inputs of the primary wood processing industry in Ohio, the Ohio Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service conduct a periodic survey of this sector. The current assessment of the state of the primary wood products industry in Ohio is based on information collected for the period 2003 through 2006. Average annual roundwood removals from Ohio forest lands are estimated to have been 91.2 million cubic feet during the period, virtually the same as the harvest level found by the previous survey in 1989. This volume includes 5.2 million cubic feet of saw logs and veneer logs exported to other countries, 62.5 million cubic feet of logs for domestic use, 23.5 million cubic feet of pulpwood. Of the log volume harvested from Ohio forests that was consumed domestically, 96.5 percent was processed by the State's 197 sawmills while veneer mills processed only 0.7 percent. Of the pulpwood volume, 74 percent was consumed by the pulp and paper industry and the remaining 26 percent was consumed by the engineered wood products industry, predominantly by panel (oriented strand board) manufacturers. Considering saw log transfers among states (excluding international shipments), the ratio of imports to exports for Ohio is 5.6 to 1, indicating that Ohio remains a net importer of saw logs.