OUR PRESERVATMES WITH NO ARSENIC!

BORATE'. Disodium octaborate Tetrahy drate

"Crystal Clear": No color change in wood Interior use, or protected from running water

. No corrosion

. Same price as CCA wet after treatment

ACC: Acid copper chromate

. Looks like CCA!

. Great mold resistance

. Low corrosion

Same price as CCA for above ground use

Slightly higher than CCA for ground contact

In October federal officials conducted another raid in at the yard, finding 16 undocumented workers who were present during the June raid.

Electrical Projects Con fuse D-l-Yers

Results of a new homeowner survey show that electrical and plumbing projects give d-i-yers the most trouble.

The survey, sponsored by Ace Hardware Co.p., queried 1,000 homeowners on which projects troubled them the most. Thirty-one precent of respondents said working with fuses, outlets, and lighting was the number one project that forced them to seek out expert advice.

The next tricky area was plumbing, which stumped 2l7o of those surveyed. Expectedly, cleaning supplies and paintrelated products posed no problems for d-i-yers.

When asked where they get information about performing home projects, 49Vo said at a local hardware store or home center, whereas 44Vo and 377o of those surveyed cited family and friends, respectively.

When visiting a hardware store,6TVo of homeowners said employees helped answer their questions. Only 37Vo found answers in free handout materials, such as brochures.

Structural Panel Output Sets Record

U.S. and Canadian production of structural wood panels reached a record 40.34 billion sq. ft. (3/8" basis) in 2002, tp 3.5Vo from 2001, according to APA. The old record of 40.33 billion ft. was set in 2000.

While the weak economy limited demand in the nonresidential construction market, industry production for the year was able to set the new record largely because of the surprisingly strong housing market and strengthening demand in the remodeling and industrial markets. Residential construction accounts for approximately half of total market demand for structural panels. Housing starts in 2002 totaled 1.7 million, a 16-year high.

APA's latest forecast is for North American production to rise by another 400 million ft. to 40.7 billion in 2003, based on expectations that housing starts will remain in the 1.6 million range and economic recovery will spur additional demand in the industrial and nonresidential construction markets. Obvious wild cards include the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks and the war with Iraq.

Over the longer term, panel production should edge slowly upward, reaching 42.5 billion ft. over the next five years. Demand for housing is expected to continue strong, with starts remaining close to 1.6 million units annually. A long-standing trend toward larger homes, however, could level off, thereby mitigating a major historical structural wood panel demand factor.

U.S. and Canadian OSB production is expected to total 23.5 billion ft. in 2003, or nearly 58Vo of total structural wood panel output. That percentage is expected to continue rising over the next five years, but at a slower rate than in the past as OSB construction sheathing markets become increasingly saturated.

Plywood demand has been limited over the past several months by lack of capital investment in industrial markets, where plywood manufacturers have become increasingly adept at carving out specialty and niche markets. Although the prospects for continued improvement in those markets are good, total plywood production is expected to remain in the 16-17 billion sq. ft. range through 2005. In addition to competition from OSB, the plywood industry has lost nearly all of its European markets to foreign producers and now also faces rising plywood and OSB imports here at home.

Total softwood plywood and OSB imports into the U.S. and Canada last year (excluding the countries' trans-border shipments) totaled 700 million sq. ft., up almost 807o from the year before and260 percent from 2000. About 60Vo of that imported volume was plywood.

Exports, meanwhile, continued to decline in 2002. The two countries' combined plywood and OSB exports (excluding again trans-border shipments) fell 2O7o to 703 million ft.

Engineered wood framing products, such as glulams, wood l-joists and LVL, now meet about 57o of North American structural lumber demand. That share is expected to continue rising, albeit slowly, reaching 67o by 2006.

Glulam output is forecast to rise about 27o to 345 million bd. ft. in 2003. Production of I-joists, which now command about 437o of the raised floor market. should exceed I billion linear ft. for the first time, up from 981 million ft. in2002. LVL output will rise '7Vo to 66 million cu. ft.

Wait & CCA

(Continued from page I 3 ) plants for treatment service," says industry manager Tim Hannon. "We currently are carrying CCA and ACQ and will continue to carry both."

The situation may prove the same for Laurel Lumber, Laurel, Ms. "The treating service is only a very small part of our business. We're primarily a remanufacturing plant," says manager Billy Ryals. "We might leave the treating plant dormant or use it sparingly for commercial purposes."

Confusion and indecision are commonplace. "We'll decide further on down the line," says Jeff Thomas, treating manager, Ellijay Lumber & Wood Preserving Co., Ellijay, Ga. "We're still hoping they might turn this thing over. If it goes through, we might be working with it or might be working around it."

Michele Gunn, v.p./sales manager, Valley Timber Sales, Troy, Va., says, "We don't know yet because the government hasn't given us a final list [of exempt products] yet. We're a very small treater, family-owned, with a single cylinder and a very mixed product line."

"We'11 probably be going to Osmose's ACQ, NatureWood, some time in the fall, but that's subject to change, from day to day," says Karen McCready, McCready Lumber Co., Pulaski, Va. "It's a mess right now. It's a shame. We have a reliable [preservative] right now and we're being forced to change."

Conasauga River Lumber Co., Conasauga, Tn., is also skeptical of the new alternative preservatives. "We'll have to switch," admits John Sloan, v.p.-operations/sales mgr. "But right now, we're in limbo."

D"for"rt Wood Preservers, Bolton, Ms., may convert in "about October," says president Frank James III. "We're going to have to change, so we'll be meeting with engineers over the next couple of weeks to look at the different options available. What we're really looking for is a miracle, some little guy to come along with something new that rocks the industry."

A handful of companies think they've uncovered that miracle. Cook Lumber Co., Tampa, Fl., has been treating with borates-based EnviroSafe Plus since August. Joel L. Miller, president, says the new treatment has been received "real well," but admits his expectations are modest "as long as CCA is around. After [the reclassification], we'll look real good."

Last August, Louisiana Treated Lumber, Kenner, La., resumed using ACC, the chemical the plant was designed to use 20 years ago, but abandoned for CCA in the mid1980s. "It's working just fine" says George Herron, v.p./sales manager. "ACC has been used in the New Orleans area since the early 1950s, so customers are very receptive to it. It might be a problem in other areas, where they may not be familiar with it."

Since ACC is priced comparatively to CCA, Louisiana Treated Lumber has an advantage over copper-based preservative suppliers in quoting government jobs that require arsenic-free materials.

Burt Lumber Co., Washington, Ga., too, is favoring ACC, but also exploring CBA and ACQ, according to sales manager Francis Rizner. It will decide in the fall.

Cnunr. will be a constant. "We have challenges ahead as a company and as an industry," says New South's Forbes. "We have a good new preservative-that's not the issue. The challenge is the price differential, carrying double SKUs on the same dimensions, how to transition ourselves and our customers."

Says Universal's Conklin: "We continue to believe that the wood treating market has been forever changed by the events of the last two years. We are seeing significant research and development in wood preservatives with modifications to 'existing alternatives' like copper azole (introduction of Type B) and ACQ (introduction of Type D) and new systems (e.g., Copper HDO). We expect this pace to continue and possibly quicken."

Sosttprn Pinc Use Guide rrsqtr