In the past five years, exports of Southern Pine lumber have more than doubled. During 2015, the top three destinations for Southern Pine exports remained unchanged: China (129.6 MMbf), up 20%; the Dominican Republic (86.9 MMbf), up 12%; and Mexico (73.8 MMbf), up 30%.
For the month of December, Southern Pine exports totaled 45.7 MMbf, a jump of 17% above the volume exported during December 2014. December shipments offshore break down as follows: 25.2 MMbf dressed, 7.3 MMbf rough and 13.2 MMbf treated lumber, according to Southern Forest Products Association.
Softwood lumber imports to the U.S. finished 2015 with a volume of 13.7 billion board feet (Bbf), up 10% from 2014. December imports amounted to just over 1 billion board feet, up 13% above December 2014 imports. During all of 2015, softwood imports from Canada totaled approximately 13.1 Bbf, with 1.1 Bbf imported in December alone.