N@RTHWtrST NtrWS

By ROSS KINCAID executive vice president

IIELEGATES TO the recent all-industry U conference qot first hand information on trading in limber futures from Richard M. Emlaw, a commodity specialist with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith. Emlaw gave facts on how the futures trading works, what it isn how it will af' fect plywood and lumber markets and how it concerns segments of the building material and lumber industry. Another good meeting, this year's conference gave members an experience and exchange o{ facts with all segments of the industry. More on this meeting later.

From the Vance Building GrouP, came the following interesting rePort: Building material wholesalers have strengthened their position in the market place. Sales at last report were lqnnin-g ;bse to 3O/o ahead of last year. Although slackening of housing production will probably slow down sales, 1969 should be a record year. Even more significant than sales gain is the growing trend to out-of' warehouse sales vs. direct shipments. Ac' cording to a new NBMDA study, out'of' warehouse sales climbed to 76.6/o in 1968 I0/o higher than in 1959. The trend should accelerate as money remains tight and costly. Smart retailers are shifting in' ventory cost and control problems to whole' sale distributors.

Woes Mount for Housing IndustrY

Replacement of on-site lalor with factory fabrication has been proposed as a way to help meet America's critical housing re' quirements over the next 3O year!.- o'The population increase in the next 30 years-estimated at 160 million peopleiepresents more people than the total U.S' population in L939," Mabry said._ ''To satisfy this growth we'll have to build an average of 2.5 million housing units every year through 1999. This year, however, construction for.ecasts show that we'll put up only 1.6 million units-almost I million

Guy O. Mabry, Owens'Corning Fiberglas Corp., has cited census bureau ,statistics to establish the need for an enormous increase in housing construction by the end of this century.

How big are building materials retailers in hardware and allied lines? Vance points up a strong trend to product line diversification, especially among consumer'orl' ented products' Hqre's how important these lines are on a stocking basis by perpercentages: hardware, 93.2% of dealers stocking it; hand tools,76,4/s of dealers; power tools, 62.7/o and electrical sup' ptiesi 53.4ft). Biggest surprise wasthat these lour product groups accounted f-or almost 20/o oI total sales or about $125,' 000 per dealer, substantially -greater than sales by typical hardware retailers'

The WBMA board unanimously adopted a resolution to express to all U'S' senators and representatives from Western's fourstate region its full support o{ the National Forest fimber Supply Act of 1969' This resolution has been conveyed to the senators and representatives.

WBMA's post-exposition South Pacific tour, February l4'March 9, I97O, includes the following people as of early September: (There ur" tiill openings; so, if you -plan to join this exciting tour "down under," cali or write the WBMA office now') Mr. & Mrs. Wilbur Plett, Marion Nuss' baumer, S. H. Gourlay, William Gordon, Charles Kudlac, Al Disdero, Frank Rima, Herb Franke, Robert Slettedahl, Kent Rubow, Fred Ahrend, Mrs. Mildred Klug, A. E. Lundgren, Thaxter Reed, John Ket' tenring and Mrs' I-. C. ScharPf' less than demand." o'The.beneficiary of this shortage of onsite labor is the mobile home industry," Mabry said. "With current sales exceeding 300,000 units a year, it may well be that many of tomorrow's would'be apartment dwellers and home owners will wind up in mobile homes.

Lack of on-site labor, he believes, is one reason the residential building industry cannot meet its construction goals. o'This shortage has reached diro proportions," he said. "it poses a more serious obstacle than any other single factor, including tight *ot ry and outmoded building codes. Of all of the building trades, only the electrical workers-with a 20 per cent jump---show an increase worthy of mention during the past five years."

G-PDonqtes Redwood Lqnd

Two of California's most beautiful coastal redwood groves, held 69 years for public enjoyment by Georgia-Pacific Corp. have been given to The Nature Conservancy, which in turn donated the lands to the State of California.

The 390 acres, worth about $6 million, lie along Route 36 about 12 miles southeast of Fortuna, Calif., and coastal highway U.S. 10I. Spectacular redwood groves, developed over thl years by flooding of the Van Duzen river and bearing redwoods from seedling age to between 400 and 800 years old, form the bulk of the gift land.

Wqll Froming Done by Mochine

The first use in the West of factory-built frame sections, constructed automatically by machines using pre-punched tapes, are in a new tract of homes midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif.

Fabricated by the builder's wholly-owned subsidiary, Vertical Systems, Inc., the machines frame sections 8 ft. high and 2 ft.. 16 ft. in length in seconds. Taken to the site, one carpenter and two laborers erect the frame of a one-story house in less than one hour.

Construction Controcls Increqse

The Dodge Index of construction contract value advanced sharply in August.

"August's sharp upturn was more the result of a concentration of large projects than a revival of the sustained strong demand for construction that prevailed earlier this year," observed George A. Christie, chief economist for F. W'. Dodee.