Lumber Looks Ahead To '54

By Jomes R. Bemis President, Notionol lumber Monufocturers Associotion Woshington, D.C.

Whether you plan to build a new house, panel a basement recreation room, or simply put up a few. shelves, 1954 will be a year of better buys in lumber.

The do-it-yourself enthusiast, particularly, will get more attention from the lumber industry in the year ahead. For the ever-increasing number of home handymen, the lumber industrl' offer nelv ideas and services especially tailored to their needs.

Lumber manufacturers are setting out to a greater share of the honte remodeling and home renovation market in order to ofl:set an ar-rticipated drop in nerv residential building from about 1.1 million starts in 1953 to slightly less th:ri.r a million preclicted for 1954.

\\/hile home builclirrg prospects afe <kin'n slightly, the sale of home handyr.nart lork patterus is bo<tming and do-it, l.ourself actir-itv is on the upgracle across the country.

Recent sur\:eys indicate that in 1952 Americans spent more than three aucl one-half ltillion clollars for do-it-yourself supplies :rnd tools. That's an a\.erag-e of about $77 per householct-$60 of u'hich is reported to h:rve lteen sper"rt for lumber and other building materials. The lumber rnanui factttrers of the countrv realize r',,hat this market means iu terms of present and potential sales and intend to see that its needs are satisfied l'ith the best rlaterials :rnd serr-icd they can p;-ovide.

One step in this clirection has beerr the pre-packaging of lumber. Tliis means that the mannfacturer cuts the boarcls to the various sizes lnost popular fclr do-it-yourself .urork ancl passes alorrg to the consunter- the savirrgs that restrlt from bettcr rrtiliz:rtior-r of r:rn' m:rtcrials. N{ore of tlris t1'pe selling can lie cxpectecl irr the vear ahca<l.

Nlost oi tirc nation's leacling home buildcrs concecle that they rvill havc t<l offer prosltectirrc honrc bul'crs rtr<lrc vitluc f<lr their <krllar <luring 1954. Grcatr:r usc of u'oorl to lcrrrl inclividuality :rrrrl rlistir-rction to r.r(:n' honrcs :rpl)cars t() figtrre lirominently irr their thinkirrg.

C)r'eral1, thc lunrl.rer rn:rrket shorrl<1 remairr rel:rtir.cly stablc cluring 195-1. In total ncn' coustruction activityu'hich absor-bs about tu'o-thirds of tlre lnmbcr ltroducecl in this courrtrr--thc outlook is for a clolllrr volume only about tno per cent lrelou'1953's record figure of ne:rrly 35 billion dollars.

As significant as the ot'eral1 constructic.rn pictu:-e are the opportunities l'hich the lumber industry has to expand its markets ir-r specialized fields of builcling ancl in repair-maintenance-:rlteration activities.

Engineerccl timber construction, lvhich t:rkes full advantage of the functional nature of rvood, has become increasingly popular since \Vorld War II for schools, rvarehouses. supermarkets, churches and other one-story structures rn,here the accent is on economy, safety and utility. The school and commercial building booms predicted for 1954 ol1er lumbermen a chance to step up the pace of engineered timber construction. llasically, tl.rough, the industry is in good health. Lttn-tber productiou for 19.53 is figurecl at about 38.4 billion boarrl feet-a shade alrove the estimated output of. 38.2 billion lroa:-<l feet in 19.52. Lttrnber consttn-rption, rvhich incluclcs exp()rts ar-rcl imports as 'rvcll as changes in distributors' stocks, is c:rlcul:rted at about 4O.7 billion board feet for 1953. conrparecl u'ith :rn estimated 40.4 billion board feet in 1952.

Also important to the industry's future is a neu' ten-year million-dollar research program which the National Lumber l\{anufacturers Association is preparing to launch in an effort to der-elop neu' and improved wood products.

N{ean'ivhile, tl-re American lumber industry has many problems to face in 1954. There a:'e, for instance, high production costs u'hich clo not appear likely to decline, the ch:lllerrgc of other popttl:rr building materials, and competition from foreign lumlrer tnanulacturers.

In the light oi lrhat rl'e k11e$' fqdar,, and the best available er-idence as to future trends, it seems reasonable to expect th:rt lun-r'ber production and consumption next year u'ill closelv approximate this year's figures.

There is a possibilitr. that lumber production next year mav be off five to ten per ce11t from 1953. But it will be difficrrlt to make a positi\ie estimate until general business corrditions for the cotning year ancl ttr-rcertainties in the lumber pictrrrc arc clarified b1' developments in the next feu'rnorrths.

NIrlre certain than any forecast of the 195,[ market is this fact-there u,ill be plenty of lttmber arrailable to meet both civilian ancl deferrse rerluirenrcnts in the vear ahead zrn<1 for all the foreseeirlrle future.

Western Pine Supply Co. Offers Complete Stocks of Mqlcrrkey Doors qnd Plywood

\\/estern Pine Supply Company, rvholesale distributors of E,meryville. non' offer complete stocks of N{alarkey nationally-advertised doors ancl plyrvoods, according to Philip J. NIcCoy, president. Available through lumber dealers throughout Northern Californi:r, the Malarkey line is being promoted b1' \Vestern Pine Supply Company in a series of local neu'spaper advertisements suggesting various uses of Malarkel' products and clilecting tl.re reade: to his lumber dealer. The N{alarkey line includes a complete selection of panel ancl flush doors. and softn,ood and hardu'ood plr'rr'oocls.