Forestland ownership changes in the United States and Sweden

This article examines the changing structure and ownership of the forest products industry in North America and the Nordic countries. The authors explore company-specific perspectives on why some private forest products companies divest themselves of timberland ownership and others do not. The focus is on the United States, where the forest products industry has divested itself of substantial amounts of timberland, and on Sweden, where divestitures have been smaller. In both the United States and Sweden, forest products industries are large and forestland ownership has traditionally been an important component of the portfolio of an integrated forest products firm. The analysis presented here is based in part on literature about the vertical integration of markets.