NEWS BMilETS

After years of futnors, Bendix Corp. is making it official . . As of Oct. l, Arnerican Forest Products Corp. will be known as Bendix Forest Products Corp. -. . officials are quick to stress it is a name change only, all else stays the same.

Rumbles of aworcening shorr age of cement continue. three day delivery weeks in Phoenix & Salt lake City; the situation in Eugene, Or., is described as *'deterisfating;" the ssyere shortage in So. Ca. has resulted. as elsewhere, in price gouging. the shortage is spreading East as demend outruns $pply

Flintkote plans a $40 milUon expansion of its Redding, Ca., cement plant. - others plan new plants or expansion, but the lead time involved means the supply will not be on stream until '8081 ...83% of new capacity will be West of the Mississippi.

Ka*er Cement says it has abandoned its bid to merge with Medusa Corp., a Cleveland, Oh., cement producer; rising share prices apparently nixed the deal Kaiser Cement has sold its St. Helens, Or., wood fiber board products plant to OwensCorntng Fiberglns for $6 million, plus the value of inventories.

Improvements in mortgage $$ availability, some easing of interest rates in Ca., plus strong demand despite historically high interest rates, allowed housing starts to continue their brisk pace in July (latest figs.)

2,085,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, off only 2% from the revised June rate of 2,124,000...

Bldg. permits dropped off II%, reflecting a l-time spurt in permits in Ca. last mo., . . the housing start frg. was the 3rd highest in ?8 forecast consensus now h for 1.9 million in '78, 1.75-1.8 million next year . in Ca. new apt. starts in June were up 977o from the same per- iodin'77...

North Siena Forast haducts has moved from Sacramento to a new l0 acre site in Rocklin, Ca., new offices plus a complete remanufacturing facility .Wab dron Forest hoducts is a new Sacramento office wholesale firm est. by El Louise Waldron (ex. PSF); co. is selling West Coast species plus plywood

Eel River Sawmills, Inc-, Fortuna, Ca., has purchased the redwood div. of Halvorsen Indusfnes, Eureka, Ca., for an undisclosed amount; no changes are planned for the 22 acre Alton, Ca-, mill ...Sunrise Forest Products has moved from Fullerton to San Clemente, Ca.; its other office is in Portland drug stores caried the Pay'n Save name .. - Bloedorn Lumber, the l7*tore Wy. chain, has moved into new Hq at Torrington; the co. is more and rnore getting into d-i-y merchandise at its outlets . .

Coast lltood Preserving has recently doubled the size of its Ukiah, Ca., yard and has been doing more heavy pole business ...Simpson Timber Co. will invest $8.7 million in a new small log sawmill and related facfities at Shelton, lVa.; itns expected to be operational Jan. '79 T. M. Cobb Co. has opened an additional office in Newport Beach, Ca.

Sqaare beat Lumber Yard, Brookings, Or., has added 1300 sq. ft. to its retail store and added more complete contractor and bldg. services. . . the Western lumber industry operated at 97.4% of practical capacity in June, reports WWPA, compared with 91.2% a year earlier and 92.37o the mo. previous

Beal Lumber Co., a div. of Hoff Co., Boise, has changed its name to Western Forest Products.. the new composite panel plant under construction in Baker, 0r., by The Ellingson Companies is due to be completed next May - Lane Cedar Products, Springfield, Or., has purchased nearby Phillipo Forest hoducts 'sawmill operations .

John T. Cote & ,4ssoc. is a new exec. and placement firm, Portland, Or., specializing in the forest products industry American Plywood ,,4ssn. sees a third straight record production year in '78 July hardwood lumber production in the South was 4% higher than June, reports SHLMA; incoming orders were down 2lVo, shipments were off 8% from the previous mo. ..

- K-Y Lumber, Fresno, Ca-, has been closed by owner Jean Hartsock .

Ernst Home Centers' new Rock Springs, Wy., unit is the chain's lst combination drug and home center; before, all

AHI Roafing has moved from $anta Fe Springs, Ca., to Orange, Ca., VSI Hardware Industries has moved to new 45,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Sylmar, Ca., more than double their old bldg. the City of Seattle has reaffirmed its ok of the AAWeather l|ood Foundation system after a meeting with wood industry experts ...California Cascade has taken over North Sierra Forest Products former mill in Sacramento