BONNINGTON LT]DIBBB OO.

Tilnaknalp DeoA&afuo

TO CALIFORNIA RETAII. YARDS

, Moin Office: Phone YUkon 6-5721

FIC Ghecks Possible Antitrust Violqffons in Plywood Mergers

o Douglos Fir o Ponderoso snd Sugor Pine e Redwood o Plywood r Shingles qnd Loth

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505-6-7 Morris Plon Bldg. 717 Morkel Sl., Son Froncisco 3

The Federal Trade Commission said it is well along in an investigation involving five major fir plywood manufacturers in the Pacific Northwest to determine whether recent mergers of the companies violate Section 7 of the

Clayton Act. A Seattle FTC official said the compapies involved are Georgia-Pacific Corp., United States-plywood Corp., Simpson Redwood Co., Weyerhaeuser Timblr Co. and International Paper Co.

The Seattle office of the FTC expects the investigation to be finished in a few weeks but decision on filingln antitrust suit against any of the majors depends on Washing- tol D. C. after the investigation is completed.

The five companies, the five largest fir plywood manufacturers, have an annual capacity ln the weitern mills of ??7g of the fir plywood industry capacity of about 6.9 billion square feet a year.

Corrmon Cqrrier Certiftcote Los Angeles - Oronge Counties lrfl

Storoge Spcce to Leqse -Adiac6nt to Sonfo Aro freewoy-

Portland, Ore.-A spokesman for the United States plywood Corp. said his company has no reason to be concerned over the current FTC investigation of alleged. monopoly in recent plywood mergers. In recent years, U. S. ety*ooh has been involved in mergers with The Mengel 'Corp., Associated Plywood Mills and Youngsbay Lum6er Co. -

"We have no comment to make at this time,?-said an official of Simpson Timber Co., of which Simpson Redwood Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary. Simpson Redwood acquired all of the assets of M & M Wood Working Co. in August 1956.

A Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. official stated, "Neither the government nor anyone else has advised or conferred with us on any FTC investigation of the plywood industry or ourselves. Our counsel knows of 'no reason for any such investigation."

Georgia-Pacific Corp. officials were unavailable for comment.

Southwest Elects Olson

E. C. (Charlie) Olson has been elected to the board of directors of Southwest Lumber Mills, Inc. Olson started his career as a lumberjack in the North Idaho pine forests, got his first taste of lumber economics as a logging camp clerk, and finally launched his own R. C. Olson l-umber Company, merged January 7, 1954, with Diamond Match Company, now Diamond Gardner Corporation. Olson's home is in Beverly Hills, California. For more than twenty years, Mr. Olson has been a leader in Western Pine Association activities, elected president in 1949 and re-elected in 1950.

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