APA Media Center News Release
RELEASE #: C7-2003
DATE: April 1, 2003
CONTACT: Jack Merry, Phone:(253) 620-7413, E-mail: jack.merry@apawood.org
Note to Editors: The annual production and market report on which this release is based will be available to the public via APA’s web site (www.apawood.org) on or about May 1.
Structural Panel, Engineered Wood Production Forecast to Rise
North American structural wood panel (plywood and oriented strand board) production is expected to reach a record-setting 40.8 billion square feet (3/8” basis) this year, up nearly 420 million feet or about one percent from 2002, according to the latest annual five-year forecast by APA—The Engineered Wood Association. Glulam timber, wood I-joist and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) production also is forecast to rise. The forecast is based on the expectation that continued low interest rates will support 1.67 million U.S. housing starts this year, and that the economy will grow about three percent, giving a modest boost to demand in the remodeling, industrial and nonresidential construction markets. Housing starts last year totaled 1.7 million, a 16-year high. The war in Iraq and ongoing threat of terrorist attacks are, of course, wildcards that could have both short and longer-term impacts on demand and production.
Residential construction in the U.S. and Canada combined is forecast to consume 21.4 billion square feet of structural panels, down less than one percent from last year. Residential construction will consume nearly 53 percent of total North American production. The remodeling market is expected to consume 9.2 billion square feet, the industrial market 6.8 billion, and the nonresidential construction market 3.3 billion. The volumes in each of those three markets represent about a three percent increase over last year. International market demand is expected to remain steady at about 700 million square feet. Oriented strand board production is forecast to rise 990 million square feet this year, to 23.7 billion, or 58 percent of total structural wood panel production. Plywood output will decline about 570 million feet, to 17.1 billion square feet.
Introduced around 1980, OSB production matched that of plywood for the first time in 1999 and its share of total North American panel production is expected to continue to rise over the next five years. The vast majority of OSB panels continue to be used in construction and remodeling applications, while plywood dominates the industrial market with an 85 percent share of total structural wood panel demand. Those applications include materials handling, such as pallets, bins and crates; furniture and fixtures; and transportation equipment, such as truck trailer liners.
Engineered wood framing products, such as glulam timber, wood I-joists and laminated veneer lumber, now represent about five percent of North American structural lumber demand. That share is expected to continue to rise slowly, reaching six percent by 2006.
Glulam production this year is forecast to total 343 million board feet, up about 1.5 percent from last year. New technology and product development efforts, such as glulam made with LVL and synthetic fiber reinforced polymer tension lams, provide a basis for expecting glulam to continue making market share inroads.
Wood I-joist production is expected to reach 1.03 billion linear feet this year, an increase of nearly five percent from 2002. More than 80 percent of I-joist output is used in new residential floor construction, with the balance in nonresidential construction, remodeling and new residential roof and wall applications. Production of laminated veneer lumber, used primarily as headers and beams and as the flanges of I-joists, is forecast to rise nearly seven percent in 2003.
Complete forecast data are contained in APA’s Regional Production and Market Outlook for Structural Panels and Engineered Wood Products, 2003-2008 (Economics Report E69). The annual forecast report contains economic forecast assumptions, market segment analysis and demand data, historical production and capacity data by product category, regional production statistics, export and import figures, and other information. The full report will be available for $175 as a PDF file from APA’s web site at www.apawood.org around May 1.
Based in Tacoma, Washington, APA represents approximately 140 structural wood panel, glulam timber, wood I-joist, and laminated veneer lumber mills throughout North America. Its primary functions are quality auditing and testing, applied research, and market support and development.