What's happening to cedar supplies?

limited areas in the U.S. will feel the same availability pinch. Production between 1986 and 1990 averaged 1.14 million cubic meters, but is due to drop to .88 million cubic meters through 2005. This cedar is widely used in interior applications such as paneling.

While supply side shortages have caused some price fluctuations, "going back to the 1972 dollars and in terms of buying power, cedar is still a good value," WRCLA executive director Ken McClelland notes. He expects 1993 shipments to be about the same u 1992.

As well as appealing to the environmentally green buyers, "cedar is etching out a brard of consumers that wants an original home, one that is not just a house, but a home with natural character," McClelland says. Moving western red cedar from a commodity to a specialty product price-wise has been the aim of the industry, and the association is attempting to do this on several fronts, including opening two U.S. offices, one in Chicago and a second in the Atlanta Ga., area, which offer consumers, from do-it-yourselfers to architects, infomration on cedar's special qualities and uses.

Cedar producers, mindful that the consumer is looking for quality and pre-finished products, are attempting to meet both needs by providing items such as pre-stained siding. In order to supply a wider range of home and garden cedar products, suppliers are either acquiring a partial interest in smaller specialty or value added plants or forging marketing agreements with mills that can custom-cut smaller orders, McClelland explains.

Bob Thompson, MacMillan Bloedel's North American cedar distribution manager, says cedar "has always been a specialty product but has not been priced that way." Tight log supplies, reduced production capacity, plus increasing consumer recognition of cedar's special qualities "should continue to remove cedar

Story at a Glance

Western red cedar supply tight and expensive as lumber products become spocaalty items main supplier B.C. hard hit by restrictions on cutting and bad weather from conmodity pricing and place it within a less volatile market of specialty products," he contends.

With the housing market improving and looking for quality products with natural characteristics, western red cedar is well placed to capialize on its status as a star performer among western woods, McClelland adds.

WRCLA represents 16 primary and secondary cedar manufacturers in western Canada and northwestern United States. Members, who are large integrated forest products companies as well as independent operators and specialty remanufacturers, produce a wide range of exterior sidings and deckings as well as interior paneling and many specialty items. About 85Vo of B.C.'s cedar production crosses the border into the U.S.