Hurricane sends industry spinning

IJURRICANE Andrew ravaged

I lsouthern Florida and louisiana in lat€ August, turning homes, lives and an entire building supply industry upside down.

Prices and supplies at local home cent€rs and lumberyards were thrown into a frenzy as demand suddenly rose in anticipation of the oncoming storm and exploded once it had hit. "The market (for plywood) just went bonkers," said Clayton Barns, Willamefie Industries. Plywood prices leapt40Vo to 607o in one week, hitting record highs.

Skyrocketing prices in the face of an emergency enraged local homeowners, government officials and retailers, who accused manufacturers of price gouging, and the Florida attorney general subpoenaed GeorgiaPacific, Louisiana-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser and other fimrs to supply documentation justifying the increases.

Louisiana-Pacific responded that any immediate price increases were the work of wholesalers and retailers, since the wood currently being sold at retail was sold by the manufacturer weeks before. The shortages were worsened by the cornmon practice of just-in-time inventories, which kept on-hand stocks low; limited production due to environmental restraints, and the need to transport products over a greater disance. In addition, prices had already been slowly rising in preceding weeks due to normal seasonal cycles.

Panic buying extended nationwide. hices rose so fa.st that many sheath- ing and particlebord producers began quoting 'P-T-S" (Price Time of Shipment) to cover later increases.

In an effort to stem tbe tnemendous inffiases, Home Depot vowed to sell plywood, roofing shingles and polyethylene sbeeting at cost for 30 days in Florida and Louisiana. Unfortunately, tbeir prices attracted profiteen trying o corner tbe market on certain supplies and resell tbem at exorbitant markups. Stores were forced to limit quantities to what one household could rcasonably use, such as no mor€ than 25 sheets of plywood per customer. "We're not going to be able to lose money on these products forever, so we will be managing policies on quantities and costs as we need to" said Home Depot's Lonnie Fogel. Suppliers such as LouisianaPacific, Owens Corning Fiberglas and Celotex also linited price increases on certain products, and GeorgiaPacific returned prices for southern pine sheathing grade plywood to prestorm levels for customers in hurricane-damaged areas. To alleviate the (Please turn to page 24)

Storv at a Glance

Hurricine Andrew storms through Florida and Louislana, ignlting demand and prlces accusatlons of prlce gouglng ... building material suppliers loln relief efforts, dealers work around the clock desplte damages.

Florida Gounty Outlaws OSB For Roof Sheathing

In response to the devastation of Hurricane Andrew, the Dade County, Fl., board of commissioners has approved a temporary ban on OSB, composite waferboard and structuml particleboard in roof sheathing.

The ordinance extends until March l,1993.

"We've had people down there since Day One, and all the evidence we've collected suggests the primary cause of structural and building failure was the fasteners and connections, and builders not following proper fastening schedules, as opposed to the panel failure," said Jack Merry, American

Plywood Association.

APA will work closely with building officials over the next several weeks or months to prove that such producs can, did and will perform under extreme conditions and reverse the commission's decision.

While the commission is attempting to prevent future losses, APA sees the decision as having harmful ramifications on the rebuilding effort. "Right now there is a tremendous need for panel products for rebuilding," Merry said. "There are already shortages, and they need OSB."

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Hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest (19 species)

An uptodate look at Northwest hardwoods (two parts)

A background on alder's popularity (two parts)

The Cinderella tree of the Northwest (West Coast red alder)

Western Maple

Oregon Mfile, smooth & tough

Developing California hardwoods (black oak)

Northeastern Hardwoods (four parts) (yellow birch, hard maple, black cherry, beech, red oak, soft maple, basswood, ash, white birch, yellow poplar)

A background on walnut

Black walnut

General physical properties of Southern hardwoods (16 species)

Working with hardwoods (16 species)

Hickory's looking good (two parts)

Koa: the Royal Hawaiian hardwood

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Malayan Hardwoods (chart) (48 species)

Some Malayan Hardwoods (two parts) (10 species)

A quartet of related Asian Hardwoods (apitong, Surjun, keruing, yang)

The five species of meranti

Ramin: a commercial light hardwood

Commercial satinwood

The romance of teak (two parts)

South American

Tropical woods from Mexico (cocobolo, goncalo alves, primavera, canalete)

More on tropical woods from Mexico (guanacaste, lingnum vitae, Grpomo, ebony)

Banak: a mahogany substitute

Cedro: the volatile Latin

The heavyweight and the lightweight 0ignum vitae, balsa)

Two prominent Brazilian hardwoods (rosewood, jacaranda, goncalo alves)

Two varieties of brosimum

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