World Forestry
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The international wood harvest is substantial and exceeds 3.4 billion cubic metres annually
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Approximately half of the annual wood harvest is used as fuel wood
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Most of the global forest industry is based on natural forests
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A major regional imbalance exists between percentage share of annual harvest and percentage share of the productive forest base
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Softwood species currently account for 41.0% of the annual global harvest
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Plantation forests currently account for only 4.74% of the international productive forest base
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10.0% of the softwood plantation forests are planted in fast growing species
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New Zealand contains 17.8% of the fast growing plantation forests (second to Brazil with 23.4%)
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New Zealand contains 34.0% of the global radiata plantation forests (second to Chile with 35.0%)
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Population growth alone is increasing demand for wood by 77 million cubic metres per year, which is equivalent to the total yearly harvest of British Columbia (New Zealand's current annual harvest is approximately 15 million cubic metres)
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Wood consumption increases with a country's increase in economic and social development
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World trade in forest products represents 13.6% of world consumption
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Regional imbalances in supply and demand result in significant traded volumes of forest products
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Pacific Asia is the main world market for softwood - this region is currently responsible for 30% of the world GDP and is projected to top 50% of the world GDP by the year 2015
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Chile accounts for 1.1 percent of wood trade, Russia 2.2 percent, Sweden 8.2 percent, and Canada 18.8 percent.
