WE SERVE THE WEST FROM FOUR LOCATIONS

MacBeath hasinventories and extensive stocks of three and four inch top grade lumber in sugar pine and hardwoods including maple, cherry, walnut, ash and others. In addition, we maintain excellent stocks of one and two inch hardwood and spruce. We also offer mouldings, treads, risers, sills, dowels, thresholds, fine plywoods, veneers and chopping blocks. Accessory supplies and millwork facilities give complete buying convenience with quality assurance second to none.

7653 Telegraph Road

Montebello. CA 90640

(714) 994-6240

(213) 723-3301

930 Ashby Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94710

(415) 843-4390

1576 South 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84115

(801) 484-7616

MainOffice

2150 0akdale Avenue

San Francisco , CA 94124

(4151 647 -0772

I N THE retail lumber yard that I stocks dark red Philippine mahogany; in the pattern shop that uses jelutong; in the furniture plant that utilizes meranti; one hears the same question: why have the prices of imported hardwoods doubled within a year?

Although importers and distributors must bear the bad news of continued price hikes to their customers, they are not to blame. Actually, some local distributors have decreased their mark-ups on imports to try to make the prices palatable to their customers.

The price hikes are coming directly from the overseas suppliers, and they have been substantial. FAS dark red Philippine mahogany since last summer has increased almost $400 per thousand; jelutong inl2" widths, a whopping $4751 light red meranti at least $250; keruing about $250 and so on. The cost of ramin at the mill level has about doubled during the last two years and teak prices have almost tripled in five years.

These increments are approximations; many of the finest producing sawmills in Asia are quoting even higher prices. Dark red Philippine mahogany, for example, can cost as much as $900 per thousand. kiln dried, f.o.b. Manila. On top of these increases, the cost of oil has driven up ocean freight and kiln drying costs.

The U.S. dollar's poor performance in international money markets has also partially added to these price increases with some species. The dollar has lost at least l0o/o of its purchasing power in Malaysia during the past year, thus driving up costs of meranti, jelutong, keruing and ramin. Yet in the Philippines, where the value of the