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TFeated wood production slips slightly
TTIOTAL production of treated
I wood slipped 8.7V0 last year to 578,874,000 cubic feet, according to the American Wood Preservers Institute's annual Wood Preserving Industry Production Statistical Report.
During the same period, annual gross sales for wood preserving plants fell just 4.0Vo to $3.65 billion, mainly attributable to the continued rise in the cost of materials for the industry. The percentage of the cost of materials compared to the value of shiPments has grown from 74.8Vo in 1990 to 80.2Vo in 1994.
Story at a Glance
Treated wood production talls 8.7"/o in 1995, sales down 4% ... southern pine contin' ues as dominant species.
Shipments of particleboard and medium-density fiberboard experienced comparable decreases from 1994 to 1995.
Of the 486 plants surveyed bY AWPI. 3l%o were in the Southeast, 32Vo in the South Central region,25Vo in the North, l5%o in the Northeast, lOVo in the North Central, less than 570 in the Rocky Mountains area, and 87o in Pacific Coast states.
Waterborne preservatives were used in treating 77.8Vo of the 1995 wood product volume. Creosote solutions accounted for 15.9Vo, oilborne preservatives for 5.7Vo, and fire retardantsO.6Vo.
More than 40Vo of the volume treated with waterborne preservatives was treated in the Southeast. Over half of all creosote production was based in the South Central. Oilborne preservative treatments were concentrated mainly in the South, including 40Vo in the South Central and nearly 20Vo in the Southeast.
The most commonly treated Product was lumber. The 251,280,000 cu. ft. of lumber accounted for 43.4Vo of all treated wood produced last year. About 987o of the lumber was treated with waterborne preservatives.
Poles, crossties and timber accounted for 74,124,000 cu. ft., more than a third of the total industry volume. Creosote-treated crossties accounted for 94Vo of that total.
Plants treated 73,862,000 cu. ft. of timbers, 98Vo of it with waterborne preservatives.
More than 69Vo of the wood used by the preserving industry last year was southern yellow pine. Over 6 billion bd. ft. of southern pine sawn lumber was treated in 1995.
Oak was the second most-used species at 9.3V0, followed bY mixed hardwoods, hemlock, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, mixed softwoods, and Norway Pine.
The 1995 Wood Preseming Industry Production Statistical Report is available for a fee from the American Wood Preservers Institute, 1945 old Gallows Rd., Ste. I 50. Vienna. Va. 22182; (703) 893-4005.
