es. Softwood is the source of about 80% of the world's production of timber, with traditional centers of production being the Baltic region (including Scandinavia and Russia) and North America. The term softwood is used as opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. Softwoods are not necessarily softer than hardwoods. In both groups there's an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoo… (More on Softwood)