Are There Regional Differences in US Hardwood Product Exports?

Abstract

Exporting is a critical component of the product mix for many domestic hardwood firms. Previous research has identified factors associated with hardwood lumber exporting behavior, but less is known about the advantages and disadvantages to exporting associated with the region within which a firm is located, or about exporting of secondary hardwood products. A procedure comparing a measure of production (employment) to the level of exporting in three US hardwood regions (based on aggregations of state-level data) was used to contrast regional relative exporting of primary and secondary products. Several factors were then considered as possible explanations for the observed regional differences. Overall, the results suggested that proximity to seaports (i.e., the East Coast) benefited exporting of both hardwood lumber and secondary products, but the impact was greater for lumber. Thus, for secondary products, regional exporting barriers appeared to be lower. Firm size and sawtimber quality and species were additional factors that were associated with regional exporting. Data for individual states provide clues to interstate movement of hardwood products as they make their way to US ports. This influence also is discussed, but such movement makes state-level analysis of exporting difficult.

Regional Analysis of U.S. Lumber Exports for Important Hardwood Species from 1990 to 2020

“…Figure 1 illustrates the growth of U.S. hardwood lumber exports over the past three decades but precludes information on global destinations, the species and quality (grade) of this lumber, and the relationships with domestic markets and hardwood sawtimber volume. Several studies have sought to determine the characteristics of exporting hardwood sawmills at the state level (Ringe et al 1987, Dickerson and Stevens 1998, Gazal and Wang 2012 or regional level (Hammett et al 1991(Hammett et al , 1992Naka et al 2009;Bumgardner et al 2016). Fewer studies have sought to describe specific markets for hardwood exports (Wang et al 2010, Luppold andBumgardner 2013).…”