Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered products.

Pulpwood can be derived from most types of trees. Categorizing trees into hardwood and softwood is the easiest way to characterize types of paper produced from pulpwood.

Hardwoods are raw material that are preferred for pulp used in printing papers. It has small dimensions in its fibres, which can be useful for small-scale uniformity, opacity, and surface smoothness, all important for printing paper.

Softwoods are the preferred raw material for strong papers, due to the length and slimness of the fibres. Low-density softwoods, such as firs with thin-walled fibres are preferred for papers with high demands for bonding-related strength characteristics. Some of these characteristics include tensile, burst, and surface strength.

Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, while old growth forests account for 9% and second/third plus generation forests account for the balance.

Hardwood has anatomical structural differences to softwood, which influences physical properties, durability, workability, and bonding. Different types of cells complete the three main tasks in hardwoods compared to softwoods. The main tasks include stabilization, water conduit, and storage.

Hardwood applications can be sectioned into four areas:

Hardwoods (such as oak) are the preferred raw material for joists, roof structures and timber frames. The use of solid hardwoods has decreased during the last couple centuries, most likely due to the development of wood-based materials that allow for larger constructions not limited to the size of trees.