M. Shahbandeh
Research expert covering agriculture & FMCG
U.S. forest products industry - statistics & facts
The total amount of land covered by forests in the United States - as defined by the U.S. Forest Service - amounts to more than 750 million acres, or approximately three million square kilometers. Alaska is by far the U.S. state with the largest amount of forested land, followed by Oregon and California. About two thirds of all U.S. forested land is timberland, producing or capable of producing industrially utilized wood. Most of this land is held by private owners.
Top forestry products
Such resources promote a strong forest products industry in the United States. The U.S. produces around 11.97 billion cubic feet of industrial roundwood, distinctly less than a decade earlier. The most important products incorporating industrial roundwood are lumber, pulp products, plywood and veneer. Prices for timber products remained stable or increased over the last decade. The highest increase was reported for wood pulp and paperboard.Employment and economic impacts
In total, the U.S. forestry and forest products industry employ approximately 953,000 people, making this sector one of the most significant employers in U.S. manufacturing. The industry shows an annual payroll income of almost 53 billion U.S. dollars. Industrial shipments of the wood and paper manufacturing industry are worth some 282 billion U.S. dollars. U.S. paper mill shipments alone, for example, are worth some 45 billion U.S. dollars.Leading companies
Major players are summarized in the so called forest, paper and packaging (FPP) industry. International Paper is one of the largest FPP companies in the United States. Kimberly-Clark is another top player in this sector globally and currently leads the U.S. market, with more than 19.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2021. Westrock follows closely behind these two companies.
