THE CALIFORf,.IIA LUMBERMERCFTANT

JackDionne,pttrlislw

How Lrumber l-rooks

Portland, January 21-Oregon and Washington's Douglas fir industry broke peace-time lumber production records for eighteen years in 1947 with a cut from 1775 sawmills of 7.694 bill\on board feet, according to Harris E. Smith, secretary of the West Coast Lumllermen's Association.

"This increased lumber production, highest since 1929. has resulted rn the greatest home-building year since 1925," Mr. Smith reported. "There were 830,00O homes started in 1947, and that means framing lttmber was on the ground {or every one of these nerv homes."

Forecasting even larger production in 1948, if suffrcient railroad cars are available ftir lurnber shippers, Mr. Smith said that increased lumber output is the best answer trr inflationary trends. "Lumber has done its part to bolster the nation's economy," he said.

Productior.r in 1947 exceeded 1946 cut by 388 milliorr feet, and was 1.489 billion feet over cttt in 1945, last year of war-time controls, Sr-nith pointed out.

The weekly average of West Coast I-umber l'rodttction in December (5 rveeks) lr,as 132,389,000 boarcl feet, or 89.1 per cent of the 1942-1947 average. Orders averagecl 132,883,000 b.f ; Shipments 144,564,000 b.f. \\reekly average for November were: I'roduction 150,@0,000; (101.0/r, of the L942-47 average) Orders 154,324,000. Shipments 1(r9,667,000 b.f.

Fifty two 'veeks lor 1947, Cumulative Production 7,694,152,000 b.l.; 52 u'eeks 1916,7,306,417,W; 52 rveeks 1945, 6,205,r54,m.

Orders f.or 52 weeks of 1947 break dorvn ;rs follorvs : Rail 5,140,533,000 b.f. Domestic Cargo 1,081,156,000. Export 882,500,ffi0; Local 754,297,C[l0.

The industry's unfilled orcler file stood at 6.58,905,000 b.f. at the end of Decemlter. Gross stocks at 442,032,000 b.f.

l,un.rber shipn.rerrts of 'll8 mills reporting to the Nationai Lumber Trade Barometer rvere 4.0 per cent belorv prodttction for the rveek ending January 10, 1948. In the same .'week new orders of these mills were 6.4 per cent above production. Unfilled order files of the reporting mills amount to 53 per cent of stocks. For reporting soft'w'ood mills, un6llecl or<lers are eqttivalent to 28 clays' prodnctiotl at the current rate, and gross stocks are equivalent to 51 days' production.

For the year-to-date, shipments of reporting identical mills lvere 4.0 per cent below production ; orders rvere 5.4 per cent above production.

Compared to the average corresponding rT 'eek of 193539, production of reporting mills was 85.8 per cent above; shipments lvere 55.9 per cent above; orders rvere 53.1 per cent above. Compared to the corresponding r,veek in 1947, (Continuecl on Page 23)