THE CALIFOR}*IIA

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PEGGY STIBUNG Araiststrt Editor

How Lrumber Lrooks

Portland, Oregon, June l2-Production of lumber in the Douglas fir region at the end of May totaled 4.254 billion board ieet, 6.7 per cent below output for the same period Iast year, according to Harris E. Smith, secretary of the \\rest Coast Lumbermen's Association.

Although belor,r' 1951 record cut, lumber produced so far this year is 4.2 per cent above the last five year average, Smith said. Orders through May are 8.3 per cent behind last year and shipments are off 7.4 per cent.

Smith said orders of. 4.241 billion feet and shipments of 4.D6 billion feet are keeping close pace rvith output for the first five months. Loss of production due to the 17-day logging strike dropped rveekly averages of lumber cut for May to 172,630,000 board feet, rvell belorv April's 212,273,000 feet.

The rveekly average of West Coast Lumber production irr May was 172,630,000 b.f. or 92.2/o of the 1947-1951 aver age. Orders averaged 165,191,000 b.f.; shipments 777,875,000 b.f. Weekly averages for April were: Production 212,273,0W b.f. (113.4% of the 1947-1951average); orders 205,840,000 b.f.; shiprnents 218,646,000 b.f.

Five months of 1952 cumulative production 4,254,316,000 b.f.; five months of 1951, 4,557,814,000 b.f. ; five months of 1950, 3,844,509,000 b.f.

Orders for five months of. 1952 breakdown as follorvs : Rail & ttsck 2,899,646,m0 b.f.; domestic cargo 862,293,000 b.f.; export 269,498,W b.f.; local 209,994,000 b.f..

The industry's unfilled order file stood at 848,482,000 b.f. at the end of l\{av, gross stocks at 917,160,000 b.f.

Lumber shipments of 486 mills reporting to the National I-umber Trade Barometer were 10.4 per cent below production for the week ending June 7, 1952. In the same week new orders of these mills were 10.6 per cent below production. Unfilled orders of the reporting mills amounted to 42 per cent of stocks. For the reporting softwood mills, unfilled orders vrere equivalent to 22 days'production at the current rate, ancl gross stocks were equivalent to 49 days' production.

For the year-to-date, shipments of reporting identical mills u'ere 6.5 per cent above production; orders were 5.0 per cent :ibove production.

Compared to the average corresponding week of 1935-1939, (Continued on Page 52)

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