Plywood industry well set for 1979

An anticipated downturn in 1979 housing construction will be cushioned for the plywood industry by strong nonresidential construction demands, plywood industry leaders have been told.

Speaking atthe 42ndannual meeting of the American Plywood Association in Portland, Or., APA president and chairman of the board, Frank V. Langfitt, Jr., told the group that 1978 homebuilding activity has run stronger than national forecasters originally predicted.

A housing slowdown originally expected in 1978 probably will not occur until 1979, Langfitt said, but the delayed downturn may take a bigger "bite" out of 1979 plywood demand.

Fortunately, strong plywood demand anticipated in industrial and nonresidential construction markets will keep the plywood industry in what Langfitt termed an "overall healthy position" even when housing starts drop off somewhat.

One problem the industry faces, the APA official declared, is the uncertainty of timber supply, leading to higher costs for plywood's basic raw material.

The Carter Administration has recently "shown some welcome recognition of the potential for greatly increased timber production from national forests," the APA president said. "Even so, the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II), considering possible withdrawals of timberlands for addition to the federal wilderness system, could be a pro-Wilderness stacked deck," Langfitt added.

Still another industry problem is the "startling impact" of Canadian waferboard competition in the U.S. Northeast and Upper Midwest. Langfitt said this competition has cut the plywood industry's share of the roof deck market from almost 94% in 1972 to 86%.

The key to solving marketing setbacks and continuing growth of the industry is cooperative promotion ofthe product, he said.

The extreme importance of effective plywood marketing was also stressed in a promotion-oriented address by APA exec. v.p. Bronson J. Lewis.

"Plywood's progress has been dynamic, and we're going to keep it that way, in a back to basics promotion program that shoots for literally every realizable market under the sun," Lewis told APA members.

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