NORTHWtrsT -M r.rEnf,'ne, UilHI-5n-J

By ROSS KINCAID executive vice president

A FTER day and night meetings at ^ the Seattle meeting of the nation' al, developing a statement' NLBMDA vp. Hubert Walker flew to Atlanta' Ga., to present a position paPer to the Price Commission. Excerpted from the presentation:

"We suggest the Price Commission look into aUeged practices which may be contributing to the inflationary trend of prices in our industry, such a8:

(1) Wholesalers may be Pricing their products based on published market prices rather than on their actual landed costs.

(2) Multiple transactions between wholesalers which pyramid base prices, thus the products are not being moved legitimately through the distribution chain.

(3) fie-in sales bymanufacturers or wholesalers which force customers to sweeten the sale by taking products which are not in great demand.

As a consequence, we believe t'he following modifications must be made in the Price Commission regulations, which changes we feel are interdependent and not severable-

Vernon Bauet has purchased the Montana Lumber & Hardware yard at Winnett, and is now oPerating it as the OK Lumber & Hardware Co.

Ilubert and Ron Bartlett have reactivated the yard at Sunburst, oPerating under the name of Sunburst Building Supply. TheY formerly operated Hiline Lumbeq Co, at Browning.

Tony Stein, formerly at Absarokee, is now mgr. of Fullerton Lumber Co., Baker, and superintendent for the Fullerton div, encomPassing yards at Wibaux and TerrY, New England, N.D. and Lemmon, S.D.

Ron Curdy is the new owner of Buildeis Provision, Hamilton, having purchased the yard from Fred Bernatz. Al Simrnons continues as mgr., having expanded to a home-improvement tYPe operation.

A. Establishment of ceiling prices on an item-by-item basis at the manufacturer level, with a continuation of the customary initial percentage markuP Provisions for wholesalers and retailers-

B. Require balanced production of items based on per:centage of previous production, needed to satisfy the demands of the housing market and-

C. A modification in the net ope'rating profit regulation as expressed as a percentage of sales to provide an incentrve to encourage increased production and productivity through the complete distribution chain*that is, from mill through wholesale and rctail levels."

F. l,V. Dodge on 1973

Construction of new housing units in the third guarter totaled 635,010, 19 percent above the year-ago figure. July-September cpnstructior4 after adjustment for seasonal variation, was 9 percent over the second quarter, reports F. W. Dodge.

Fourth among the U.S.'s top ten most active housing areas was Denver, largest in the West, with II929B units. Los Angeles/Iong Beach with 9,511 units was sixth, folIowed by San Francisco, 9,182 units and Phoenix, 8,945 units.

George A. Christie, chie{ economist of Dodge, commented that t'the housing market faces a temporary overabundance of new dwellings coming on stream, in relation to current demands. Sooner or later a correction must take place . . the longer it is delayed, the bigger it will have to be."

Total shelter started in 1972, according to Christie, will be close to 2.9 million units, including some 600,000 mobile units; 1973 production will total 2.45 million unitso including 550,000 mobile honres. Next year's value of new residential building contracts will settle at $38.7 billion, l0 percent below the l9?2 peak which he estimates at $43.1 billion-o'an amount which is likely to stand as the record for several years to come."

The nation is undergoing a housing boom of staggering proportions, 'othe immensity of which is still hard to appr@iate," said Christie. At the end of 1972, the housing industry is now ahead of schedule in meeting the ambitious goal of producing some 26 million dwelling units by the end of the seventies' decade. "We're now produc. ing at the rate that was originally planned for 19750" Christie said in his analysis of the housing market.

In explaining the housing boom of the past two years, Christie singled out money as the key factor. "The potential demand for housing was there all the time, but the sudden availability of mortgage money made the demand effective. Money becarne available only since, and as a result of, the recession of 1970."

If recession is good for housingo will recovery be bad for housing? "Only if it leads to another credit crunch," said Christie. "I don't think we have to worry about a credit squeeze in 1973 since total demands for long-term money outside the housing market can be accommodated."

Vqnce, Lqne-Sfqnton Named Evons Products Distributors

Vance Lumber Co. and Lane-Stanton Lumber Co., Los Angeles, have been appointed Western U.S. and Hawaiian sales agents for hardwood lumber imported by Evans Products from Southeast Asia, Central and South America, according to Gary Wikstrom, director of sales, Evans' international operations.

Vance and Lane-Stanton operate a 7Uz-aqe facility in City of Industry. Ca., and their custom mill can provide milling-in.transit. Wikstrorir said- "the location of the companies offers an ideal distribrrtion point for the many and varied species imported and produced by Evansi'

Evans operates eight 26,800-ton vessels and is the world's largest importer of hardwood plywood and hard. board as well as importing and exporting other building materials for world trade.