Where in the U.S. should investors put capital to work in the forest industry? New research from Forisk ranks local markets and shows how the answer differs for timberland investors, sawtimber consumers, and users of pulpwood. For example, rankings highlight key markets in Georgia and the central South for timberland investors, and markets in Mississippi and Alabama for sawtimber and pulpwood users. In the Pacific Northwest, scores highlight markets across Western Washington and Oregon for timber investors.

The 2022 North American Timber Market Rankings Study, just published by Forisk, provides numeric scores for local markets in the U.S. South and Pacific Northwest for timberland investors and wood-using mills. Results include back-testing of Forisk’s market rankings from 2019, and provide the raw data for each score by market related to forest and wood supplies, wood demand and competition, log prices, and regional risk factors such as logging capacity, residual markets, weather/fire exposure, and exports.

“This research divides the South into 30 local markets and coastal Oregon and Washington into 7 markets based on how wood actually flows in those regions,” said Dr. Shawn Baker, Forisk’s Vice President of Research. “In addition to back-testing results from 2019, we also tested the sensitivity of each score to identify markets that offer investors more opportunity or risk.”

Forisk also produced a data package with 15-year forest supply forecasts and analysis of growth-to-drain (sustainability) by market in the South and Pacific Northwest for softwood on private timberlands.

 

For more information about the 2022 North American Timber Market Rankings Study or the available data package of market-level supply forecasts, visit Forisk’s website or contact: Heather Clark, hsclark@forisk.com, 770.725.8447.