Published March 1965 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C, 20510 Volume V -- Number 12 March 19, 1965 Byrd's Eye View Public Service Column by Senator ROBERT C. BYRD PULP, PAPER, AND PAPERBOARD INDUSTRY OF THE U.S.S.R, AND EUROPEAN SOVIET BLOC COUNTRIES U. S. pulp and paper industrialists are pondering the possible threat posed to our pulp and paper industries by the emergence of the U.S.S.R. as a leading economic power, its increasing activity in the field of international trade, and the capability of European Soviet Bloc countries to influence world markets for pulp, paper, paperboard, and allied products. The answers are important, because of the need to analyze prospects for future exports to world markets and to determine the wisdom of U. S. ventures into overseas investments. Due to the nature of the pulp and paper industry, heavy initial capital outlays are required, often in terms of millions of dollars. This necessitates long-term planning to cover a minimum period of one or two decades to permit reasonable amortization. In the past, exports of wood pulp and various grades of paper and paperboard by the U.S.S.R, and its European satellites have been important, but they were not major in size as compared to those of other exporting countries. Much of the trade among these European Communist countries has been inter-bloc, so that import export figures have tended to remain approximately equal in balance. Also, while the satellite countries possess important production facilities for pulp, paper, and paperboard, they are handicapped with regard to major future expansion because of limited raw material resources. However, the converse is true of the Soviet Union, as its potential is enormous, With respect to timber alone, it is estimated that the net growth on presently accessible Soviet forests would support a pulp and paper industry based on annual pulpwood production of approximately 66 million cords, or 25 percent greater than estimated 1965 U.S. pulpwood consumption. The potential annual growth of Soviet forests and the likely opening of newer, more remote areas, would raise the production capacity to a substantially larger quantity. The factor, presently unknown, which makes the difference in estimating Russia's future production and export capacity is the relative degree of importance assigned to the industry in the U.S.S.R.'s overall economic development plan. Until recently, it has ranked low, and it was anticipated that, for at least the next 15 years, the exportable surplus to world buyers in pulp, paper, paperboard, and products should be negligible, unless the Soviet government directed heavy exports for political reasons despite adverse domestic effects. It is noteworthy, however, that the U.S.S.R. has announced upward revisions in 1965 production figures. As an example, chemical wood pulp production for 1950 totaled 2,315,000 short tons. The figure for 1965 is 6,012,000 short tons, an increase of 194 percent. Paper and paperboard production in 1953 was 3,259,000 short tons, with 1965 production set at 7,771,000, an increase of 133 percent. The revised figure for 1965 is now 3,543,000 short tons, an increase of 162 percent. Whether the announcement of the upward revisions revealed action to meet increased home consumption or, instead, an intention to move powerfully into the export market, can be more accurately determined through examination of 1966 production and export figures, when available. --30--