MoreControls Lifted

The Cost of Living Council has lifted wage-price controls on remaining segments of the solid wood products industry.

The exemption from economic controls, granted lumber and plywood last Aug. 12, now includes a variety of fabricated lumber and wood products. Specifically, the March 6, CLC action applies to millwork, wood kitchen cabinets, nailed and lock-corner wood boxes and shook, wood pallets and skids, prefabricated wood buildings and components, wood preserving, and wood containers and wood products not elsewhere classified. The exemption does not apply to executive or variable compensation, which is still subject to control regulations.

CLC Deputy Director James W. Mclane thinks decontrol of these additional products is not likely to result in excessive price increases because the wood products industry is highly competitive and because most companies already were exempt from Phase IV rules due to their small size. Mclane said that, since the decontrol action last August, lumber prices have declined appreciably.

Wholesale prices of those wood products remaining under controls after Aug. 12, 1973, rose only 1.996 over third quarter levels, he said, while the wholesale product index for all industrial commodities rose 4.6% over the same period.

"The extension of the original lumber exemption will put all firms in the industry on equal footing and end the disadvantages faced by controlled firms in purchasing certain raw materials," Mclane said. "This decontrol action also is expected to reduce shifts in product mix and reduce incentives to export lumber products."

The CLC warned that, as with all such exemptions, the firms remain subject to review for compliance with appropriate regulations in effect prior to the exemption. Compliance actions include Internal Revenue Service investigations, notices of probable violation, remedial orders requiring rollbacks or refunds and a possible penalty of $2,500 for each stabilization violation.

New How To Magazine

Initial response to HOW TO, the new quarterly consumer magazine to be published starting this fall by the National Retail Hardware Assn., is meeting the expectations of the publishers in every way.

That's the word from Richard H. Lambert, exec. v.p. of NRHA and publisher of the new 95c quarterly magazine for do-it-yourselfers. HOW TO, subtitled "the make itlfix itlgrow it magazine, will be sold exclusively at better hardware stores, lumber and building materials dealers and home centers. Together, these retailers comprise a market that is setting new records in the sale of hardware and lumber and building materials.

"Editorial emphasis in HOW TO magazine will be on meeting customer needs for detailed how-to-do-it information," according to editor John Sullivan.