South Carolina

Ranking as one of the state’s top manufacturing industries, South Carolina’s forest products industry is a vital component of the state’s economy. The industry employs 37,000 workers with an annual payroll of $1.3billion. South Carolina’s paper and wood manufacturing workforce represents 7.5 percent of the state’s total manufacturing workforce.

Approximately 66 percent of South Carolina is forested.

South Carolina’s Land Area (in thousands of acres)
Total Land Area: 19,268
Forests: 12,651
Forests as Percent of Total: 65.7%
Federal Lands: 1,188
National Forest System: 613

Timberland (in thousands of acres)
Government
    Federal: 867
    State: 177
    County & Municipal: 33
Forestry Industry: 2,322
Other Private Nonindustrial: 9,019
Total Timberland: 12,418

Federal Land Set-Asides (in thousands of acres)
National Parks: 28
Reserved National Forest: 74
Fish & Wildlife Service: 160
Total: 262

Recycled Paper Consumption (in thousands of short tons): 999

Tree Planting (acres)
Federal: 1,190
State, County & Municipal: 1,946
Forest Industry: 32,175
Farmer & Other Private: 63,891
Total: 99,202

Value of Industry Shipments (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $2,019,531
Paper Manufacturing: $4,903,653

Capital Expenditures (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $58,440
Paper Manufacturing: $411,605

Annual Production
Softwood Lumber (million board feet): 1,371
Hardwood Lumber (million board feet): 117
Structural Panels (million square feet): 718
Paper (in thousands of short tons): 1,836
Paperboard (in thousands of short tons): 2,149

Timberland Ownership
Government: 9%
Forest Industry: 19%
Other Private Nonindustrial: 72%

South Carolina’s total softwood and hardwood inventory has increased 63 percent since 1953 despite increasing production of wood and paper products.

Employment
Forestry: 2,245
Lumber & Wood Products (includes logging): 16,624
Paper & Allied Products: 18,060