Wood industry

The wood industry or lumber industry is a—usually private—economic sector concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of forest products, timber/lumber, primary forest and wood products (e.g. furniture) and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some largest producers are also among the biggest timberland owners. The wood industry or lumber industry is a—usually private—economic sector concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of forest products, timber/lumber, primary forest and wood products (e.g. furniture) and secondary products like wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. Some largest producers are also among the biggest timberland owners. The wood industry plays a dominating role in today's wood economy. In the narrow sense of the terms, wood, forest, forestry and timber/lumber industry appear to point to different sectors, in the industrialized, internationalized world, there is a tendency toward huge integrated businesses that cover the complete spectrum from silviculture and forestry in private primary or secondary forests or plantations via the logging process up to wood processing and trading and transport (e.g. timber rafting, forest railways, logging roads). Processing and products differs especially with regard to the distinction between softwood and hardwood. While softwood primarily goes into the production of wood fuel and pulp and paper, hardwood is used mainly for furniture, floors, etc.. Both types can be of use for building and (residential) construction purposes (e.g. log houses, log cabins, timber framing). After logging, which is now typically done using large harvesters, the trunks of the felled trees are cut in lumber mills. In 2012, three of the top timberland owners in the USA by market capitalization were In 2008 the largest lumber and wood producers in the USA were According to sawmilldatabase, the world top producers of sawn wood in 2007 were: Workers within the Forestry and Logging industry sub-sector fall within the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting (AFFH) industry sector as characterized by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has taken a closer look at the AFFH industry's noise exposures and prevalence of hearing loss. While the overall industry sector had a prevalence of hearing loss lower than the overall prevalence of noise-exposed industries (15% v. 19%), workers within Forestry and Logging exceeded 21%. Thirty-six percent of workers within Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products, a sub-sector within Forestry and Logging, experienced hearing loss, the most of any AFFH sub-sector. Workers within Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products are tasked with growing trees for reforestation and gathering products such as rhizomes and barks. Comparatively, non-noise-exposed workers have only a 7% prevalence of hearing loss.