to know about I'UITlDer pilCeS

kiyou National Forest in Oregon during Oaober in which the Port Orford Cedar sold at $1,000.05 per MBF, far above already high Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine rates.

Outlook

funds to cut 1I.833 billion feet. Now regional foresters estim4te that they will sell only 10.6 billion feet, or 3 billion feet less than is permitted.

Another problem is the ability of the Forest Service to set any price it wants on the stumpage that it sells. In fact, prices were set so high on certain timber sales in Oregon last summer that mills did not buy the stumpage. Random, Length:s also reported on a timber sale in the Sis-

Canadian mills also faced a prolonged strike during the summer months. Although Canadian mills' do not normally ship their product into Western markets. the strike caused distortions because it caused Eastern buyers to purchase lumber either in greater quantities in their normal areas or in other production areas than they would normally consider. The scope of the problem can be seen because Canada will normally prodwe 25/o of all lumber produced in North America each year.

1973 is expected to be another difficult year. Most economists and in' dustry sources expect at least two million starts. It is expected that mortgage interest rates will remain low enough to maintain a healthy pace of homebuilding and none seem to expect a credit crunch. In addition" jobber inventories are very low as opposed to L972 when wholesalers had sizable inventories. Many predict a shift from apartment building to single-family. Though there are some soft spots in certain areas or regions, most view 1973 with optimism.

At the present time, 1973 looks like another year of shortages.