Plywood News

U. S. Plywood Corp. To Get 20% ol Closes Fir Plywood Plants Output of New African Plywood Mill

Summer Vacation Period

All the Fir plywood plants of the Pacific Northwest have been shut down for an average of two weeks. This is ir, accordance with their labor contracts. Not all of them will re-open at the end of that period. Reports frorn some of the plywood centers state that some of the mills arc going to wait and see what the market 'trends are, before starting turning the wheels. At any rate the shut-down \as been general during the early part of July.

Frost To Diskibute Super Hcrrbord In San Diego Arecr

The Frost Hardwood Lumber Company, Market at State Street, San Diego, who have long served the retail lumber dealer trade in the San Diego territory with a complete jobber's stock of softwood and hardwood plywoods, hardwoods and building specialties, have recently added to their line a complete stock of genuine Super Harbord exterior type plywood, according to an announcement by the Harbor Plywood Corporation.

Recent shipments from the Hoquiam Washington mill include Giant size Super Harbord in several thicknesses and in lengths rp to 192". These outsized panels are particularly suited for the boat builder, for truck bodies, signs, and for cantilever overhangs, where the great strength of plywood is engineered into the structural features of buildings.

Lumber dealers will welcome the availability of this distributor's stock of quality outdoor plywood, which heretofore has been considered to be on a special order basis in the San Diego region.

Government Book on Plywood Is Complete Mcrnucrl

The Forest Products Division of the U. S. Department of Commerce at Washington sells for ten cents a copy, a 44 page book, profuse with illustrations, pictures, charts, etc., on the subject of "American Douglas Fir Plywood and Its lJses," which should be a part of the library of every merchant of plywood.

Big Aberdeen Plant Down For Three Weeks

Aberdeen, Washington, July 1: The big Aberdeen Plywood Corporation mill, which employs 360 workers, has closed down for a three weeks vacation, and may remain down even longer, depending on market conditions.

Vast timber resources of French Equatorial Africa lvill be tapped for American consumption this fall.

Under an agreement completed by Lawrence Ottinger, president, United States Plywood Corporation, and W. D. Illyne, chief of the mission of Compagnie Francaise du Gabon, 20 per cent of the output of the world's largest hardwood plywood mill, now nearing completion at Port Gentil on the Ogooue River in Gabon Province (FEA), will be available to the plywood company.

Pierre Pelieu, newly appointed governor of Gabon province, who has been director of the Office of French Overseas Territories with offices in New York City since 1944, hailed the new agreement as "an important step fostering international trade as advocated under the Marshall plan." Just before leaving New York to take over his new post, M. Pelieu said:

"The more goods we sell to the United States, the less we will need under the Marshall plan. American dollars are especially needed for the purchase of heavy machinery."

Mr .Ottinger explained that the new hardwood plywood mill will have a capacity of 10,000,000 feet a month of 'ivhich 2,000,000 feet will be available for American building, furniture and re-veneering purposes. He said:

"The entire project is being financed by the French, including the Paris banking house of Seligman & Co. United States Plywood Corporation is furnishing the technical skill in construction of the plant and will put it into operation about November 1.

"The quality of timber available in Gabon for plywood is exceptionally fine, the average diameter of the logs runnir.rg from 4 to 5 feet. Jhe predominant species is Okoume or Gabon mahogany, generally considered one of the finest woods for plywood manufacture and widely used in all European countries. In appearance Okoume is very much like African mahogany, somewhat lighter in color and not quite so highly figured."

M. Illyne pointed out that the great bulk of the output of the Gabon plant will be used to stimulate the French building industry. He explained that initially the plant will employ 700 native workers and 100 Europeans. The plant will be self-contained, having its own power plant which will be operated with wood waste. The homes of the Europeans will be air-conditioned. The natives objected to having their homes air-conditioned.

Another feature of the plant is an air-conditioned storage room for plywood. The controlled humidity prevents moulding.

For the past two years, United States Plywood has been importing Korina logs, a blonde hardwood from the Belgian Congo. The veneers are cut in New York City and made into plywood at the company's Algoma, Wis., plant.