Bright futurc for structural wood panels

By William T. Robison President American Plywood Association

T HE U.S. structural wood panel

I industry will likely finish 1989 slightly behind the 27.2 billion square feet 1988 record. But the long-term forecast looks bright.

A new fiveyear forecast targets more than 3l billion square feet of demand by 1994.

It is an ambitious goal, to be sure some five billion square feet of new demand, with steady and substantial increases in each of the industry's major markets. To be achieved, it will require overcoming major challenges. Chief among these is the unprecedented spate of legal entanglements and other well-funded tactics calculated by preservationist groups to shut down our industry's raw material supply.

I believe there are signs that legislative and public viewpoints on this critical issue may be slowly changing in our favor. There is no doubt that we are in for a long battle with those who threaten economic devastation to.our industry and rising consumer pnces.

While that battle continues on a united industry front, APA is pursuing long-standing but recently reaffirmed objectives. The5el include building greater market demand for structural wood panel products, maintaining consistently high product quality standards, and expanding APA cooperative activities with other wood industry organizations.

Story at a Glane

Structural wood panel industry will overcome threat to supply by preservationists. promotions will help expand our markets.

A key element of APA's marketing strategy is continued development of the industry's major nonhousing markets: remodeling, industrial, nonresidential construction, do-it-yourself sales, and the international market.

Residential construction still offers attractive opportunities, however, and remains the industry's single largest market.

We are enthusiastic about the residential remodeling market. A growing inventory of older residences, increasing costs of new construction, the mobility of the U.S. labor force, and the increasing proficiency of do-it-yourself remodelers combine to make this a major area of opportunity.

Significant volume increases are likewise targeted in the nonresidential construction market, where demand for office and commercial space in many areas of the country is finally catching up with the overbuilt inventory produced earlier in the decade.

Tremendous room for growth remains in the industrial market. Our "Big Bin" demountable container design and the life-cycle costing benefits of structural wood panel pallets are yielding a growing share of the competitive materials handling sector.

Perhaps the greatest promise of growth exists in the international arena, where U.S. structural wood panel products are finding increasing favor as a construction and industrial material. A decade of aggressive promotion activities in cooperation with the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid significant dividends in markets around the globe. U.S. industry last year shipped more than one billion square feet (3/8inch basis) of structural wood panels for the first time ever. APA has set a goal of almost doubling that volume to a total of 2.5 billion square feet by 1994.

Resource availability, economic uncertainties, competitive products and responding to ever-greater marketplace demand are among the many challenges facing the structural wood panel industry in the 1990s. Yet, with the commitment and promotional ingenuity demonstrated by the industry in the past, we continue to affirm our strong belief in the rich untapped potential of the marketplace and the excellent prospects for industry growth.