Wait & CCA

(Continued from previous page) ing with CCA until New Year's Eve," Joe Kusar says. "We will make a decision in the fourth quarter on the direction we will take after that."

Cook County Wood Preserving, Adel, Ga., "will be treating with CCA until the last day, because there's nothing wrong with CCA," says David Sorrell, plant manager/sales manager. "We'll probably make our decision on what to switch to about December 1."

"We're going to hold on to the last minute before switching to CBA," affirms Paul Shields, owner, Goldston Lumber. Goldston. N.C. "I don't see any advantage to [switching now]. My customers don't want it because it's so much more expensive. If your customers don't want it, it doesn't make any difference whether I want it or not."

"We'll change, but not until the first day of January 2004," says Billy Hall, sales/purchasing manager, Georgia Wood Preserving, Crawfordville, Ga. "I'm afraid a lot of treaters are going to go out of business, and a lot of customers are going to stop buying treated wood; they just won't be able to afford it."

"We'll probably treat with CCA till the last minute of the last hour," says Gary Stovall, u.p., Southern Lumber & Treating, Jacksonville, Fl. "The problem we have in Jacksonville is we've got a local competitor, and they're not switching until the last minute. So there's no way we can switch beforehand to a more expensive product, because we couldn't compete."

Stovall is leaning towards ACQ, but is also considering ACC. "A lot of treaters will switch when the big boxes switch," he says. "But the longer we wait, the farther back we get put in line by the chemical companies. It's a mess right now."

Stovall anticipates gradually escalating lumber prices through the fall, as larger treaters try to buy as much lumber as possible to treat with CCA before the deadline. "Money is cheap to borrow, so they could treat enough lumber to sell for six months after the deadline," he theorizes.

Could dozens of treating plants shut down in January, helplessly waiting for their turn to be converted?

"We've tried to warn everybody not to wait," says Curt Bean's Priddy.

(Continuedonpage I2)