Forestry Industry Insights: The 2020s So Far

As we move through the midpoint of the decade, now is a good time for decision-makers to reassess the health, direction, and dynamics of the forestry industry in North America. The period from 2020 to 2025 has been shaped by supply chain disruptions, shifting trade flows, and increasing demand for sustainable building and packaging materials.

This overview draws on data from both Canada and the United States and offers a valuable lens for identifying supply and demand patterns, cost benchmarks, and potential cross-border growth opportunities. All data was accessed through the UN FAOSTAT database, then compiled and cleaned at NetNow.

Canada’s Forestry Sector: Strong Export Performance and Resource Abundance

Canada continues to uphold its reputation as a resource-rich exporter. Its forestry sector plays a critical role in the country’s economy, especially in rural and northern regions. Here are the key performance trends from the last several years:

1. Net Trade Leadership in Key Product Categories

Canada is a major net exporter of wood products. In particular:

• Coniferous Sawnwood: 25.6 million m³ net exported

• Oriented Strand Board (OSB): 5.1 million m³ net exported

Additional net export categories include:

• Industrial roundwood

• Wood fuel

• Medium/High Density Fibreboard (MDF/HDF)

• Particle board and Hardboard

However, Canada does rely on imports for certain items such as wood chips and particles (-2.7 million m³) and plywood and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) (-631,584 m³), which indicates targeted supply gaps in the domestic market.

2. Production vs. Trade: Canada as a Volume Supplier

Canada boasts high production volumes of key commodities:

• Coniferous Sawnwood: 39.4 million m³

• OSB: 6.6 million m³

• Wood chips and particles: 13.6 million m³

Interestingly, despite producing large volumes of wood chips, Canada imports over 2.7 million m³ of this commodity, signaling regional imbalances or specific quality demands that domestic supply doesn’t meet.

3. Export Value Reflects Product Complexity

In terms of trade value, Canada sees significant export revenue from:

• Coniferous Sawnwood: $7.5 billion

• Chemical wood pulp: $3.6 billion

• Printing and writing papers: $1.5 billion

• Other paper/paperboard: $1.8 billion

Lower-value exports per cubic meter are typically raw or bulk goods:

• Wood chips and particles: $0.04/m³

• Industrial coniferous roundwood:: $0.06/m³

Meanwhile, processed goods like Hardboard and Plywood command higher prices per m³, reinforcing the opportunity in value-added manufacturing.

United States: A Heavily Demand-Driven Forestry Market

The U.S. forestry industry is large and complex, with substantial domestic production capacity but also a clear reliance on imports for certain building materials and finished wood goods.

1. Significant Net Imports of Construction-Grade Materials

The U.S. is a net importer of:

• Coniferous Sawnwood: -23.6 million m³

• Plywood and LVL: -5.9 million m³

• OSB: -4.8 million m³

• MDF/HDF and Veneer sheets

This import dependence highlights the U.S. construction and furniture sectors’ reliance on external supply, particularly from Canada.

2. High Production of Raw Logs and Pulpwood

The U.S. leads North America in raw material extraction of:

• Coniferous Sawlogs and veneer logs: 148 million m³

• Coniferous Pulpwood: 133 million m³

Despite this, much of it remains for internal use or is exported in raw form. For example:

• Wood chips and particles: 44.3 million m³ produced, with nearly 4.9 million m³ exported

• Coniferous Sawnwood: 62.4 million m³ produced, but high imports persist

This suggests a structural gap between raw material availability and domestic processing or conversion capacity.

3. High Value Imports and Niche Export Advantages

Key import categories (by value) include:

• Wooden furniture: $21.2 billion

• Coniferous Sawnwood: $7.6 billion

• Builder's joinery and carpentry: $2.4 billion

At the same time, the U.S. exports large volumes of:

• Chemical wood pulp: $4.2 billion

• Recovered paper: $2.5 billion

• Paperboard materials: Over $7 billion

Export value per m³ is particularly strong in:

• Non-coniferous wood fuel: $2.12/m³

• Veneer sheets: $1.29/m³

This reflects a strong niche for high-efficiency energy products and thin, flexible wood applications.

North America’s Trade Synergy: A Complementary Relationship

One of the most important themes emerging from the data is the complementarity between Canada and the U.S. in the forestry industry:

• Canada exports what the U.S. needs—particularly Sawnwood, OSB, and pulp-based products

• The U.S., with its expansive log and pulpwood output, supports paper production, packaging, and global pulp exports

This interdependence fosters stability across supply chains. For companies operating across borders, this means:

• Opportunities in logistics and transport: Optimizing cross-border flows of wood products

• Manufacturing partnerships: Sourcing unfinished inputs from Canada, finishing domestically in the U.S.

• Credit evaluation: Benchmarking against import/export pricing trends

Strategic Considerations for 2025 and Beyond

As the forestry sector continues to evolve, executives should monitor:

• Sustainability mandates: Growing global pressure to reduce deforestation and increase traceability in wood sourcing

• Machinery and automation: Increased investment in forestry technology to process raw materials more efficiently

• Shift from raw to processed goods: Profit margins are increasingly driven by value-added production

• North American trade policy: Tariffs and environmental regulation could shift trade balances and cost structures

The forestry industry remains foundational to construction, furniture, and packaging sectors in both countries. With the right strategic positioning, firms can leverage this decade’s data trends to align with the market’s direction and secure a stronger foothold in one of North America’s most resilient resource-based supply chains.

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