A Trend Continues

I f ORE THAN 59% of the lumber lflshipped from the Western lumber region of the United States went to destinations in the West, according to Western Wood Products Association's latest report.

This region (excluding redwood) accounts for approximately 607o of the nation's softwood output.

Over 70% of the lumber shipped within the U.S. by producers in the Northwest's coastal area and 54Vo of the lumber shipped from the remainder of the West went to Western destinations.

The report covers 55% of the lumber shipped from the coastal area and 85% of the lumber shipped from the inland area.

Reported total 1978 shipments

SHIPMENTS OF WESTERN LUMBER* TO 11 WESTERN STATES

(*Excluding Redwood)

% COMPARISON FIRST HALF 1978WITH FIRST HALF 1977 from these two areas are down 1.77o over the same period last year. Overseas exports are off 30.9% and shipments to Canada are down 23.3%. The slack in the export markets has been offset by the expanding consuming markets in the West.

Shipments from the West were up 2.7% to 2,918,491,000 board feet.

"Demand for lumber is a result of a variety of phenomena," noted H. A. Roberts, WWPA's executive v.p.

"One is housing starts. The Western market for our products is expanding as Western starts continue to climb. Even though the figures show a slight decrease in shipments to California so far this year, Ihat state still accounts f.or 42.4Vo of the total Western shipments." Roberts said.

Although Western shipments to California for the period were off 5% from 1977, stlll 1,237,969,000 board feet were shipped there. More Western lumber is shipped to California than any other state.

Evidence of growth hotspots are sometimes revealed by "destination of shipment" figures. For instance, 161 ,269,000 board feet of Western lumber was shipped to Arizona in the first half of 1978, a whopping increase of 29.6% over the same period a year ago.

Other Western states shipments up over thel977 first half include: Nevada, up 18%;New Mexico,up 13.8%; Oregon, up 7.6%; Utah up 6.87o; Washington, up 8.8%; and Wyoming, up 4.6%.

Shipments were down from last year in two Western states besides California: Idaho, down .5% and Montana off l.'l%.

Roberts also noted the Western trend away from railroads and to truck carriers, noting "undependable service" on the part of the railroads.

"The rail car shortage will probably continue well into this fall, but we may face still another one again next year," he said.

Story at a Glance

Nearly 60% of the lumber shipped from the West remains in the West, part of a continuing trend reasons include strong local markets, increased rail rates and competitive incursions into traditional Eastern markets by competing species.

So far this year, railroads have carried 3.3% less Western softwood lumber than the first half of 197'7 while truckers have transported 4.7Vo more.

In the other regional markets, Western lumber shipments to the Northeast U.S. were off I3%.