Wegt€rn Softnroods' Moufdhgs & Mlllwork Agildltural Wood Produots'

Pllrwood, Parttcleboard

Southem Plywood Invades the West

The Westward movement is being revived by Southern wood product producers who are sending car loads of plywood into the Western markets.

Despite the distance, the Southern producers can compete favorably with the Western producers because of production costs and favorable shipping costs.

Bill Hanrahan, Jlm Haas. Bob Glatt, division mgr.

We are also Pleased to be a West Coast area dlstributor for CF&I steel products as well.

BERGER & COUPANY IA AN INTERNATIONAL COMMODTTIES TRADTNG ORGANIZATION

WITH OFFICEE TN:

San Francisco, Ca. (headquarters); Chlcago' ll.; Colfax, Wa.i Fargo, N.D.; Ftler, ld.; Grand Cavman. Brttlsh West Indies; Santiago' Chilel London, England; Geneva, Swltzerland; Nlcosla, Cyprus; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Moose Jaw, Canada: Jof,annesburg, South Africal and Talpei, Talwan.

For example, Southern plywood manufacturers pay about $10 per cord for their raw material while Western mills pay about $60 per cord. Southern mills also are said to be-more modern and efficient than Western mills.

Southern railroads are offering plywood producers attractive rates to ship West in exchange for commitments for a specified number of cars. Plywood from the South often can be delivered in Los Angeles, Ca., as cheap or cheaper than materials manufactured in the West.

Southern pine plywood has been underselling Western plywood by about $10 per thousand square feet delivered in California.

Industry spokesmen don't see any change likely in the near future although Western producers will probably update their mills. Since timber reserves in the South are extensive supply should be no problem. In addition to ply.wood, the South is also sending lumber, landscape timbers and particleboard into the West.

Hardware Sales Volume Increases

How many hardware stores in the U.S.? The answer, according to the Census Bureau's 1982 Census of Retail Thade, iJ 19,6ll, with 1982 sales of $8.4 billion. Sales averaged $427,000 per store compared with $295'000 in 1977.

Nevada's stores had the highest average' $l million' followed by Alaska's $858,000 and Washington's $783,000. Mississippi's average was lowest at $259,000.

New Household Figures UP

New household formation has revived to a 1.2 million per year rate after dropping from an average 1.6 million iuriirg the'70s to 319,000at the bottom of the 198l-1982 recession. The growth surge is powered by the economic r@overy, analyits report, with the under-30 generation establishing their own homes.