We must expand southern pine markets

By J. E. Stevens President Kirby Forest Industries Houston. Tk.

fOonr; in many of America's I industries, we are witnessing widespread changes and restructuring. In the south, the southern pine producers must also change if we are to maintain and improve our market share.

The area which offers the most opportunity, in my opinion, is the repair and remodeling sector. Basically, these zre your "pure consumer" buyers which represent an ever-increasing share of building materials usage. The Department of Commerce recently projected that the building materials products sold into repair and remodeling are estimated to total $63 billion annually, and growing.

We need more exposure in this market as we can no longer rely solely on structural products designed primarily for the home builder. Lumber manufacturers must develop new appearance grades and new products more decorative in nature for both the white and treated markets. We should concentrate on consumer tastes and preferences for material that will satisfy their needs instead of maximizing mill output.

One example that comes to mind is turned posts treated for outside decks. Radius edge decking, which is already available in most areas, is another. Also, we may want to mill more lumber with various patterns and design for outsi$e deck and patio applications as the consumers desire more options for their projects. Unfortunately, southern yellow pine is available now primarily as structural dimension and 4 x 4 posts.

The next decade will result in a groundswell of activity in renovation and improvements of our existing housing inventory. New home construction is projected downward through the 1990s, therefore our largest market will be the tremendous repair and remodeling segment currently being served for the most part by the huge supermarket-type retailers. The southern pine industry must have more products in these stores if we are to keep pace with future growth.

The thrust of these activities will require many changes for the pine producers since they will be forced to make available larger varieties of

Story at a Glance

Soulhern pine must change to improve market share remodeling and repair offers most opportunity new appearance grades and new products must be developed with emphasis on the consumer.

products,in contrast to the shrinking product lines witnessed during the past two decades. These changes will be more costly on a unit basis, but this should be offset by the increased returns from higher product prices, not to mention greater penetration into the consumer markets. If you stop to consider, every existing single family structure in the south is a potential for a treated deck. We need an expanded variety of appearance grade products to be used in conjunction with our current structural dimension.

I do not advocate the elimination or change from the current structural lumber grades or nomenclature, as they have served the construction markets very well and should be continued.

Simply stated, our emphasis in the late eighties and early nineties will, and must, be directed toward the consumer. This person, in turn, will respond if given the opportunity to purchase from a versatile building materials inventory of finished products.

(Stevens, immediate past chairman of the Southern Forest Products Association and an ofJicer of the National Forest Products Association, shared his opinions wllft Building Products Digest exclusiv e ly-ed. )