N TWS BRI ETS

The recent salectiae irucreoses in the Jrrime rate at many banks to 5/o is expectecl to lx: the norm in the: Zesr shortly; it is the first broad-based increase of the rate at which bank's lend S.$ to their best customers since last July

Another resumptiln ot' the Vest Coast dock strike remains a possibility as iabor and Pay Board forces aork behind the scenes to elf ect e u:0ge int'rease that both will ok; observers say it's 50/50 at this time for anorher walkout . the Price Commission approued a 7.37/o lumber, plywood and timber price hike for Willamette Industries; it allorvs them a revenue eain of 2.s2% ..

Placeruille Lumber is suing Green Inclustrial Sheet Nfetal Co. for $1.1 million in coniunction, wirh a December lire that caused extensive damage to their plant and equipment; (see The Merchant, p.32, Feb.) . . Boise Cascade has been hit rvith a class action suit charging fraud in recreational land sales; B-C calls the suit oopart of a continuing harassment"

Ceorgia-Pacific plans another 500,000 sq. ft. for their new bldg. mtls. distribution centers in '72, plus n 10/o increase in the number of the centers; this is in adrlition to a number of plants and mills .I/ance Lumlter Co., City of lnclustry, Calif., is now the exclu-sive sales reJlresentative in So. Calif., t'or R.F. Nikke-l's milLwork diu.; they al-.o are serving the Hawaii, Nevada and ArizOna areas.

The home huiklers nssn. is continuing its barrage of letters to the White llouse and Congress on "high lumber Jrrices;" they seek lower, more stable prices Dodsr: Inde.x on neut controcts for alL types ol c:onstruction slipped 6/o in lreb. after .3 straight jumps; total is slill \4% ahead of last year

Payless Cashuays, Inc. has bought sites for stores in Sonta Fe and Albuquerque, N.M.... Haas & Porter, a new- lumber and dimension firm has opened offices in Arcadia, Calit., Canby Builder's Supply, Canby, Ore., has completed a 20,000 sq. ft. addition Burkland, Lum6er, Salem, has al-.o finished a storagehldg..,.

Diticline l,umlter's new El Cajon, Calif., yarcl is the largr:st couererl rctail t'acility in the [/.S.; 70,000 sq, ft. are roofecl at the {i750,000 oyreration ...Pacilic [,u,mlter has closerl ils (]loverdale, Calif., yarcl; land was takenforafreeway...

0m,uteg's home center, Carpinteria, Calif., has added 5,.500 sq. ft. ... Bowman's [-u,ntber, Artesia, ltl.M., has tacked on 3,500 sq. ft., both are to handle increesed c o n s tLm er trade American Lumber Species has added a new sales office in Derter, Ore., manned by J. H. N{anis Solaang Mill & Lumber has gotten an ok from the city to face-lift their yard . .

N-AWLA is pontlerin{! a n(tmP t:h,ttnge to North Americon Wholesale [,umber Assn.; they are developing a wood products wholesaler pamlrhlet for promo and rec ru i t i n g . . NeimanReed's Lumber Clty stores in So. Calif. have won the top award from Scott's Lawn Products for oulstanding rctoil promotion

Di Ciorgio has completed its previously. announced purchase of Hearin Products. Beaverton. Ore., {or $;1,500,000 in stock Ster;Le Barne.tt, Boise Cascade" is the ncu pras. ol the A merican Institute of Timber Construr:tion; H. R. Ballew, Mid-West [,umber, is vp.; M.1. Th.roop, Laminated Wood Procluctso sec.treas.; W I. Tu,rner. Weyerhaeuser, was re-named to the board...

Housing stqrts hit u ncu) rpcord in Feb., 2,678,000 at a sea-.onally adjusted annual rate, up 8.4% from the previous month; auailability of $8 was catled the main reason b e h i n d housinq's sensational performance S-& I's mortgage rates increased in Feb. and savings in their tills were 1B/o ahead in Feb. of Feb. '71 ...

Trvo of California's maior lumlter producing counti,es, Humboldt and f)el Norte. have asked Presiclent Niron to declare them discster areas t'ollowing retent rain and lloods, move woukl make them eligible for federal relief ...Stanley's Lurnber and Horduare, Alamogordo, N.N{. furnished the land an,d materials so local high school students could build their own hause as part of a course on building trades; profits from the house sale will go to Stanley's .

Euans Products lrlans to open about 30 more retail stores in '72 as part of their design to be a notion-u,it[e retailcr , Disston. Int'.. af ler l7 years as a div. of H.K. Porter (io., is now an irrdelrendent corp. ... Pulmer G. [,eu,is Co., Seattle, plans a 3for-trvo stock split, as cloes Pope ctTttLbot...

Certuin-teed Products, Pacilic Lumber Co., Pope & Talhot, Eaans Products, Palmer C. Lewis, Diamond Nt'|. and |im Walter Corp. have all reported in with record sales and earnings.