Factors contributing to global demand for forest products

The world community nowadays is faced with the consequences of unlimited exploitation of natural resources. The problems of deforestation, climate change, biodiversity reduction, and environmental disasters have become the result of irrational forest management, population growth, and industrial development. Being an economic resource forests in a market economy are involved in economic turnover and are considered mainly as a source of income and often as a gift by forest users and governments. The fast-growing demand for wood in the 20th century was easily covered by the new forest areas development. The demand for forest products in its quantitative and qualitative characteristics varies among countries and regions of the world. Wood consumption in the country depends on the level of the country’s economic development, its population and poverty rate, provision with forest resources, natural and climatic conditions conducive to their restoration, as well as on the demand in domestic and foreign markets, the availability of processing capacities and innovations. This article identifies and clarifies the main factors affecting the global consumption of forest wood products. It has been established that the description of forest markets and demand for them is carried out in the framework of two approaches involving different factors classifications. In both approaches, the effect of various individual factors is studied, and the identification of demand factors is carried out on an empirical basis. As a result of the study, the factors of global demand for forest products were grouped: natural-geographical, demographic, political, scientific, technical and economic. In each group, the factors most influencing demand are determined and a characteristic of the individual factors influence is given. Knowing demand factors makes it possible to influence the forest products consumption, to forecast changes in forest use, forest industry, and forest trade.