The West's biggest lumber port sets record volume of business

IJMBER traditionally has been an important part of Southern Califomia commerce. Even before the Port of Los Angeles was organized during the early 1900s, lumber schooners were regular callers in San Pedro Bay.

Sun Lumber Co., the largest lumber operation in the Port of Los Angeles, reported a record volume business in fiscal 1977 - revenue increased SOVo from the past record high year of 1973.

Los Angeles Harbor, which led all U.S. West Coast ports in the amount of cargo handled last year, is the principal gateway for the lumber which goes into structures built in Southem California and Arizona.

Two hundred, ninety-two million board feet of lumber, or 433,394 revenue tons, came across Sun's docks last year. The company's contractor sales lot at Berth 122 afi the storage area at Befih 126 combine to represent one of the largest marine lumber installations in the nation.

Normal inventory at the two yards usually totals around 40-50 million board feet. Howeier, at present, Sun Lumber Co. has more wood stacked in piles at Berths 122 and 126 Ihan ever before.

Ted Schafer, new manager of Berth

122. counts 33 million board feet at his facility, while Tony Pacheco says the inventory nears 40 million board feet at Berth 126, where he is manager.

The facility has a capacity of handling one million board feet per day, equal to the wood used in about 75 average homes. Schafer said the national average of lumber in a living unit is 1l,000 board feet, while Southern Californians use over 13,000 in a typical home.

Located on a 44-acre site, Sun headquarters building at Berth 122 handles large scale, volume business

Story at a Glance

Lumber from the Pacific Northwest and Canada arrives by ocean-going barge at the Port of Los Angeles in huge quantities Sun Lumber Co. received 292 million board feet of lumber last year, a record.

and wholesales many types of lumber to other lumber yards and to contractors of large tracts of homes, apartment buildings and commercial buildings.

The handling dock at Befih 126 receives lumber across the dock for brokers. dealers and other lumber companies as well as for the parent organization Sun Lumber Co., which is a division of Lone Star Building Centers, a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 listed company, Lone Star Industries.

Most lumber comes into the Harbor by barge from tls Pacific Northwest and Canada. An average of 150 lumber barges call at the San Pedrobased Sun Lumber terminal annually. Cargo is moved from barge to shore by crane. After this initial shift, the Sun handling dock is a forklift and straddle carrier operation.

Schafer notes, "Douglas fir is our leading import with mixed species of hemlock, white fir md spruce filling out the list."

Sun has been a tenant of the harbor since 1952, but its roots go back to early area history when it took over the operation of the old San Pedro Lumber Co. which had been in the harbor since 1898.

FB0M THE N0BTHWEST - 4.5 million board feet of lumber from Washington and 0regon is being unloaded from this huge barge at Sun Lumber's Berth 126 at Port of Los Angeles. The twice monthly calling of the barge, together with other shipments, contributed to the company's 1977 annual receipt: a staggering 292 million board feet of lumber!

EARLY DAYS: Lumber has been an imoortant mainstay of Southern California commerce since early 1900s when lumber schooners first called in San Pedro Bay. Sun Lumber Co. took over operation of old San Pedro Lumber Co. which had been in the harbor since 1898.