Forest2Market recently completed an economic impact study for the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). The study quantifies the contribution that forestry-related industries make to state, regional and national economies, and analyzes the most forested regions of the United States based on the most recent year of data available, which is 2013. The following map identifies the regions that were the subject of the study.

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Like most industries in the new global economy, the forest products industry is in a constant state of ever-hastening change. The shifting nature of the business and industry environment is constant and evolves over time. What ultimately matters is how we respond to the change going on around us, and how we adapt for success in the future.

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Forest2Market recently completed an economic impact study for the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). The study quantifies the contribution that forestry-related industries make to state, regional and national economies, and analyzes the most forested regions of the United States based on the most recent year of data available, which is 2013. The following map identifies the regions that were the subject of the study.

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When the Madison Paper mill in Maine closed this month, it marked the loss of the last major softwood pulpwood market in New England. Since early 2014, mill closures in Bucksport and East Millinocket, a capacity reduction at the mill in Jay, and the recent Madison closure have cut roughly 2.1 million tons of softwood pulpwood demand in the state. The closures have also have left loggers and landowners struggling to move softwood pulpwood to other regional mills that use some volume of softwood as part of their species mix.

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During the March/April 2016 period, there was an overall decrease in both pine stumpage prices and hardwood prices throughout the US South. Pine pulpwood saw the biggest decrease (-4.69 percent) dropping to $10.03/ton. The next two largest decreases were seen in pine chip-n-saw (-3.17 percent) and hardwood pulpwood (-3.14 percent). Pine sawtimber prices (less than 1 percent) remained steady while hardwood sawtimber prices (+1.01 percent) saw the only increase during the time period.

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On the heels of March's significant downtick (-8.8 percent), housing starts jumped in April despite signs of an economic slowdown, flagging corporate earnings reports and a US dollar (USD) that continues to lose strength globally. April 2016 housing starts were at a SAAR of 1,172,000, or 6.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 1,099,000. However, this number is 1.7 percent below the April 2015 rate of 1,192,000. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 778,000, which is 3.3 percent above the revised March figure of 753,000.

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Forest industry performance in March and April was reported by both the US government and the Institute for Supply Management. Total industrial production (IP) fell 0.6 percent for a second month in March (Table 3), the sixth decline in the past seven months. For 1Q2016 as a whole, IP fell at an annual rate of 2.2 percent. Continued pullbacks in mining and utilities were responsible for a substantial portion of the overall March decrease, but manufacturing, Wood Products and Paper also retreated.

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