Retailers, Home Builders Protest Trade Pact

Claiming the Canadian softwood trade agreement has created havoc in lumber markets, sending lumber prices and homebuilding costs soaring, retailers and home builders are urging the Clinton Administration to scrap or at least renegotiate the deal immediately.

During a recent joint press conference by the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association, National Association of Home Builders and National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C., NAHB pres. Randy Smith said, "We think the whole deal should be ripped up. We think it's inappropriate."

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office vowed to make no changes in the pact, which allows 14.7 billion bd.

Osmose Adds Armor All

Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc., Griffin, Ga., has developed and will distribute a new premium line of Armor All Water Repellent Pressure Treated Lumber.

The water repellent is applied during manufacturing to help reduce cracking, splitting and warping and provide eight times the water repel- ft. of lumber to be shipped free into the U.S. from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Shipments above that level receive import tariffs of $50 to $100 per 1000 bd. ft.

The fallout, say dealers, has been the recent spike in lumber prices. "The increase in the price of the lumber retailer's bread and butter items such as 2x4s and 2x6s is over 6OVo when compared to the same time period a year ago," said NLBMDA chairman Carl Tindell, Tindell's Inc., Knoxville, Tn. "Government intervention in the lumber market causes volatile prices that are impossible to predict. (Retailers) are often forced to sell lumber at a loss when these spikes occur."

Brand Treated Wood

lency of typical brush-on products.

The wood products, as well as three new premium pressure washers produced by Ex-Cell Corp. and marketed under the Armor All name, begin shipping this fall.

The strategic alliance between chemical producer Osmose and Armor All, with its strong recognition among consumers, parallels recent deals between Hickson Corp. and Thompson's and between CSI and Olympic.

Osmose and Armor All, though, expect their new product to be priced lower than any other water repellent lumber. "Most other premium, water repellent brand lumber products are too expensive for widespread use in projects like decks and fences," Armor All's Rich Loomis said. "We'll be offering consumers an attractive, durable product from a brand they know and trust, at a more affordable price."

Five Theft Suspects Arrested

Police have arrested five current and former employees of Pelican Building Center, Hilton Head, S.C., capping a months-long investigation of suspected lumber thefts.

An anonymous caller tipped the lumber company that a load of lumber worth $2,500 was to be delivered to the home of one of the suspects. Pelican officials went to the area, located the lumber and called authorities, who made the anest.

Pelican had notified detectives several months earlier that the company was "losing a significant amount of inventory in the lumber vard area."

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E-mail . hoover@mail.thomson.net fiVER the last 10 years, faced with regulatory \-/and supply restrictions, lumber producers for the first time have experienced serious competition from the outside in home construction. Long-time contenders as well as manufacturers of new materials are having varying success making in-roads into traditional wood products markets, from siding, decking, doors and windows to structural materials.

We asked representatives from the wood products, engineered wood products, steel, plastics and concrete industries to forecast each material's success in the short-term and long-term, and whv.

By Robert H. Hunt President Western Wood Products Association Portland, Or.

If,/HEN it comes to selecting construction materials, V V builders have more choices than ever. Steel, concrete and plastics are continually touted as the next replacement for wood. Yet, use trends show that lumber remains, by far, the top choice for American builders. That's not likely to change in the near future.

The volume of lumber used in residential construction in recent years has been near all-time records. This has come despite a steady effort from non-wood competitors to gain a foothold in traditional lumber markets.

WWPA predicts some 18.88 billion bd. ft. will be used in residential construction in 1996. That volume will represent almost 39Vo of all lumber consumed in the country. It's also the fifth highest annual volume for residential construction recorded in the past quarter century.

The higher volumes of lumber used in residential construction are not due solely to increased housing starts. In 1996, on average, some 13,200 bd. ft. of lumber was used per housing start (single-family and multifamily starts combined). Ten years ago, residential lumber use averagedjust over 10,(X)0 M. ft. pgr start.

The lumber market has indeed seen dramatic changes over the past decade. ln the West, the continuing loss of access to public forests for timber supplies has sigrrificantly reduced the industry's capaciry to supply traditional lumber volumes. The effects of such changes can be seen in price