Western wholesalers meet

WESfERil SEIIES ol regional meetings of North American Wholesale Lumber Association included this session in Los Angeles. Transport expert Cal Jacobsen spoke on rail and truck rates. M.C. Don Derbes noted rail rate changes to the East could mean additional firms will enter the already highly competitive Southern California market. NAWLA exec. v.o. Jack Mulroonev summed up current market and business conditions and was relatively optimistic about 1979. ll I Sterling Wolf e, Bob Eldredge, and Jack Mulrooney. l2l Frank Moloney, Dennis Richardson, Bob Golding, Bill Sullivan. l3l Randy and Don Philips, Ed Fountain, Sr. l4l Blaine Smith, Bill Jones, John Newquist, Mike Jameson, Tim Gaffney. l5l Gordon Beach, John Weston.

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Jim Rossman. (71 Cal Fenter. [8] Ted Pollard, Mark Lofland, Ed Fountain, Jr. {91 Dennis Kirk, Daryl Bond, Greg Arnds. ll0l Dale Bacon, Wayne Gardner, Ralph Cardwell, Bill Baugh. llll Dale McCormick, Don Derbes, Andy Ersek.

Specialists in Quality lmported Hardwood Plywood

RESERVE STOCKS AVAILABLE FOR PROMPT SHIPMENTS

Doorskin Specialistt

Fir plywood

Particleboard

Knotty pine & eedar

Marine plywood

Crezon overlay

Exterior plywood sidings, inelufing redwood, ftr & cedar

Hardwood plywood (full line)

Prefinished paneling (full line)

Sheathing

Moulding, hardboard

Hardwood lumber

Glues & ftnisheg

Softboard & tile

KENT MOXEY executive secretary

/t\ VER 200 Mountain Srares lumber \/ people attended association seminars, a workshop dealers meeting and a board meeting recently.

Lumber sales trainer-motivator Troy Bussey wowed them in Denver and Salt Lake City. The Pence Brothers were great as always with their "6 Ways to Improve Return on Investment" in Casper. Wy., and rhey also spoke briefly at the reception-dinner meeting held by the Wyoming dealers ro welcome the board ol directors to Caslrer.

The board meeting in Casper was attended by all but one director who had to cancel the trip at the last minute because of unforeseen problems.

First item considered by the board was a proposal from an insurance brokerage firm for a comprehensive, first class, money saving fire, liability and auto insurance program for association memDers.

The proposal was adopted by the board sub.iect to successlul completion of' detailed negotiations. It may be March belore we are ready to go on this. We will keep 1,ou inlormed. This really looks like a good deal for members. lt should be worth the wait.

A l9l9 convention planning committee has been appointed by President Jerry Tracy as lollows:

Vern Russell, chairman, Russell Lumber, Douglas, Wyoming

Derrell Ballard, T-Bird llome Centers. Alamogordo. New Mexico

Lyle Blue, Bloedorn Lumber Co., Torrington, Wyoming

K.D. Ker. Max Ker & Son Lumber Co., ldaho Falls. ldaho

Ken Nelson. Everitt Lumber Co., Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado

Joe Poitevin. Anderson Lumber Company, Ogden, Utah

Vern Thompson, Gittings Lumber Co., Denver. Colorado

The 86th Annual Mountain States Lunrber Dealers convention will be held Sept. l0-11, 1979 at the Telon Village (super place) near Jackson, Wy.

President Tracy also has appointed a nominating committee to nominate for directors. officers ilnd groul) insurance trustees for the election at the convention:

David Gibson lV. chairman. Gibson Lumber Co., Albuquerque. New Mexico

Kent Brosh, Crissey Fowler Lumber Co., Colorado Springs, Colorado

Robert Mcllale, Anderson Lr"rmber Co., Pocatello, Idaho

Clayton Carstens. Independent Lumber Co., Grand Junction, Colorado Service on the board or in other leadership positions in the association is ir r alulblc und rewarding experiene e. This is your association. The old saying "You will only gct out of it what you put in" is pertinent.

PLYWOOD & PARTICLEBOARD

(Continued from page 30) sanded production, at least in the short term.

However, a growth market in sanded plywood is possible in the early 1980s. The homeowner additions and alterations market is the second biggest user of domestic softwood plywood.

Almost half of the plywood that is consumed here is a sanded grade and a lot more would be bought if face quality could be improved.

Overall, there could be measurable growth in sanded production in the next five years if there is increased use of imported face veneers.

Now let's take a look at particle- board. Records indicate the first commercial particleboard in the United States after World War II was produced by the Southern Box and Lumber Co., Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1945, although the New Wood plant in North Sacramento. Ca., supposedly went into operation about 1944. A limited number of plants were built prior to 1960.

The year 1960 was the beginning of a massive expansion of the U.S. particleboard industry. This expan- sion was due to technological advances and the increased size of the plants. Today, plant sizes range from a rated capacity of 10 million sq. ft., 3/4" basis per year to the massive plant in Dillard, Or., operated by Roseburg Lumber Co., which is rated at 276 million sq. ft. per year also on a 3/4" basis.

Production is marketed in two major areas: the housing industry and the furniture industry. The percentage breakdown of the production is divided approximately 50%, industrial (furniture), 2501, construction (underlayment), l5oi mobile home decking and l0%, specialty or miscellaneous products.

Although there is no generally accepted definition of structural particleboard, it is usually considered to be any particleboard panel whose primary function safely withstands design loads over the expected life of the structure.

The shortage of construction softwood plywood in 1912 and 1973 led to the development of a general purpose structural particleboard. This panel was marketed as a replacement for construction ply- wood. The construction slowdown in 1974 and 1975 resulted in a decline in the structural particleboard market. ln l9l2 plywood's share of the roof deck market was almost 9406. It has dropped to the 8606 previously mentioned, principally due to this competition.

Raw material uncertainty is the key plywood, lumber and particleboard industry issue of 1978, and it will continue that way, in my view, until we can find a fair and equitable solution to the problem.

The prime reason for this demand-supply imbalance is the deplorable underutilization of our abundant national forest timber resource.

A composite panel is now being manufactured in ldaho which consists of an oriented particleboard core with a veneer face and back. This panel competes as 1/2" roof sheathing in the marketplace with the conventional all-veneer panel.

What is more startling is the impact of the Canadian waferboard. a structural particleboard manufactured from aspen which is encroaching on some of plywood's best markets, especially in the upper Midwest.

What is being done about it?

Although nothing on the exterior betrays it, a handsome ranchstyle home nestled on a wooded suburban lot north of Atlanta may be a model for the "house of the future. "

Innovative new building materials supplied by Georgia-Pacific for this demonstration home in Marietta, Ga., could play a significant role in solving the nation's timber supply problems.

Built with technical assistance from the U.S. Forest Service and American Plywood Association, the 1800 sq. ft. home boasts such adventuresome featureg as engineered 24" framing, Pfen-wood under-floor heating system and Sturd-l-Floor single panel floor construction.

Most significant of the'unusual elements are the composile building materials. Called "Com-ply," as mentioned previously, composites are formed like a sandwich, with wood veneer faces and backs bonded with phenolic resin to a particleboard core made from such wood residues as chips, shavings and sawdust.

These composite materials are made entirely of Southern pine, a first in the field of Com-ply research.

Quick Quotes 1979

(Continued from page 33)

"The Federal Reserve Board is playing "tight money roulette" with the nation's economic recovery."

Earnest A. Becker, Sr., president National Association of Home Builders

"By early 1979, industry-wide sales of solid vinyl siding should be almost twice the volume reported in r97 6."

John W. Belt, Jr., vice president CertainTeed Corp.

"Recent figures indicate that the economy is leveling from hectic growth. This momentum should carry through into early 1979, which looks like a year of high inflation and slow growth as consumers rebuild their financial statements.

"The outlook becomes strikingly more severe if the Federal Reserve Board continues fueling the money supply at a 9-l00lr growth rate. The higher the government props up the economy with artificial stimulants, the deeper it will fall. The day may be postponed, but the drop must occur."

U.S. National Bank of Oregon

"The South and West will continue to grow twice as fast as the North if recent migration trends continue for the rest of this century."

U.S. Census Bureau

"The action of the Federal Reserve Board to raise the discount rate will erase, at least for the time being, the hopes and dreams of millions of young and middleincome people in this country who are trying to buy a home for the first time.

"lt will send mortgage interest rates to an all time high, while housing production willinevitably drop and unemployment will increase."

Vondal S. Gravlee, president/elect National Association of Home Builders

"The cement shortage should ease somewhat the first quarter of 1979."

Bob Hyche, vice president/marketing , Riverside Cement Co.

"A recent survey of 45 senior financial executives of major U.S. nonfinancial firms expect the nation's economy to post a real growth of 3.40/o next year and show an average growth rate of 40lo in 1980."

The Conference Board Research Survev

"We estimate the South will have manufactured some 7.5 billion sq. ft. of plywood this yearwell over a third of the entire industry production. Next year it is predicted that fully 400/o of the nation's plywood will come from the South."

Frank V. Langfitt, Jr., president American Plywood Association

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