Overview of the Global Forest Products Sector

This chapter provides an overview of the global forest products sector, with a summary of the main trends in production, consumption, trade, and prices of forest products in major world regions during the past 40 years. It is these variables and their trends that the global forest product model (GFPM) is meant to extrapolate for one or two decades. The world's forest products sector is shaped as much by external economic, political, and demographic trends as it is by forces working within the sector itself. Forest products are categorized into five major groups: round wood, sawn wood and sleepers, wood-based panels, total fiber furnish, and paper and paperboard. The world demand for forest products, from fuel wood to paper, has been rising steadily for the past 40 years. Yet there is much variation in these trends by product and by region. Economic and demographic growth in individual countries is critical determinant of those trends. Trade agreements are primary instruments in international and national forest policy issues.