Annual Lumber Demand Hits New High

With single-family housing starts the highest in 20 years, lumber consumption in the country topped 52.6 billion bd. ft., up 3.3Vo from the previous record year of 1997, according to the Western Wood Products Association.

Prior to 1997. the all-time lumber consumption year was 1987, when 50.6 billion bd. ft. was used.

This year, WWPA forecasts lumber demand nationwide to slip l%o to 52.1 billion bd. ft., still the second highest year on record.

Most of the decline in lumber use is expected in residential construction. Housing starts are forecast to fall 5Vo to 1.535 million this year. Single-family housing starts, which use on average 13,500 bd. ft. of lumber each, are anticipated to decline by SVo.

The increase in consumption also brought record lumber imports. Some 18.7 billion M. ft. of lumber was imported to the U.S. last year, mostly from Canada. Imports comprised almost 367o of the lumber used in 1998.

U.S. lumber exports were off 29.6Vo in 1998, pulled down by Asian economic problems. Exports to Japan,