Hardwood plywood's bumpy road 1964-'74

T HE shifts and changes in the marI ketplace are well reflected in the dual purpose chart below that indicates shipments ofhardwood plywood at the center and prefinished hardwood plywood made from purchased plywood on the right side of the chart.

Beginning in 1964, the shipments of hardwood plywood were at 1,442.2, rose sharply the next year, then did some ups and downs for the next few years and peaked out at 1,954.3 in 197 2. lnterestingly, the figure for 197 4 of 1A50.4 is very close to that of a decade previous.

Under the heading of prefinished hardwood plywood made from purchased plywood, the shipments show a strong, steady growth pattern over the last I I years. In 1964 rhe quantity expressed in m. sq. ft. surface measure moved from 483.4 to a high point, also in 1972, of 2,996.1 and then slipped back to the last year point of 2,05 I .l , nearly five times the 1964 figure.

These data as well as the additional information following is from the U.S.

Story at a Glance

Shipments of hardwood plywood are set forth in the chart, statistically picturing the fluctuations in the marketplace of the last 11 years additional facts on the hardwood plywood industry are in the story.

Department of Commerce's most recent compilation of hardwood plywood statistics and represents the most current figures available.

Their report also pointed out that total value of shipments, including interplant transfers, of hardwood plywood amounted to 5404.4 million in 1974 or l% less than the $409.4 million reported in 1973. Total production of hardwood plywood amounted to 1,641.0 million sq. ft. surface measure in 1974,a decrease of 19%from the 2,O48.4 million sq. ft. surface mea- sure reported for 1913.

There were 186 establishments producing hardwood plywood in 1974 compared to 204 establishments in 1973.

Total shipments, including interplant transfers, of all types of veneer core hardwood plywood aI 1,286.7 million sq. ft. surface measure in 1974 decreased 23% from the 1,662.2 mrllion sq. ft. surface measure reported for 1973.

Board core hardwood plywood slripments amounted to 132.O million sq. ft. surface measure in 1974 compared to 116.8 million sq. ft. surface measure in 1973.

Container and packaging type hardwood plywood shipments were 31.7 million sq. ft. surface measure in 1914 compared to 31.2 million sq. ft. surface measure in 1973.

Total shipments reported by 67 establishments of pre finished hardwood plywood for 1974 amounted to2,912.9 million sq. ft. surface measure, compared to 3,553.8 million sq. ft. in 1973.

SHIPMENTS OF HARDWOOD PLYWOOD AND PREFINISHED HARDWOOD PLYWOOD: 1964TO 1974 l"Shipp.d as prefinished" rellects hardwood plywood produced and prefinished at the same location.

2Duto fo, "prefinishers" are not directly comparable with information published prior to 1972 due to an updating of our panel. l6 establishments accounting for approximately 10 to 15 percent of the shipments value were added to the survey. Information for prior periods is not available.

3lncludes an undetermined amount of receipts forprefinishing hardwood plywood owned by others.