otion news

Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association holds its end-of-the-year celebration Dec. 7 at the Mile High Stadium Club,Invesco Field, Denver, Co.

An estimating workshop hosted by Mike Butts is Dec. 5-6 at the Hampton Inn-Cherry Creek, Denver, Co. On Dec. 7. he will lead a seminar on margin management at the same location.

Lumber Association of California & Nevada is welcoming new president Rick Roberts, Sunnyvale Lumber, Sunnyvale, Ca., during its annual convention Nov. 9-l I at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells, Ca.

LACN's 2nd Growth group will hold its holiday meeting Dec. 7 at the Sheraton Cerritos, Cerritos, Ca. Attendees will honor outgoing president Jim Nicodemus, Weyerhaeuser iLevel. and welcome incoming president Grant Pearsall, Capital Lumber.

After other new officers are elected. attendees will celebrate with dinner and a casino night.

Portland Wholesale Lumber Association will hold its holiday luncheon Dec. I at the Red Lion Inn. Portland, Or. Guest speaker will be Major General Raymond F. Rees of the Oreson National Guard.

Portland Hoo-Hoo Club will hold its annual Christmas party at 6:00 p.m. Dec. 14 at the World Forestry Center. Portland. Or.

Santa Claus, clowns, face painter, music. food and drinks will be on hand. The event, which last year attracted about 200 attendees. will benefit a homeless shelter, the Open House Ministries in Vancouver Wa.

Los Angeles Hardwood Lumberman's Club convenes a general meeting Jan. I I at the L.A. Athletic Club, Los Angeles, Ca. Speaker will be David Callwell of the National Hardwood Lumber Association.

$1,248.1

Western Mills Meet Record Demand

The fourth straight record year for lumber demand in the U.S. helped western sawmills elevate lumber production to the highest volume since 1990, according to final 2005 production figures from Western Wood Products Association.

Paced by increased output at mills in Oregon, Washington and ldaho, western lumber production reached 19.3 billion bd. ft. last year, up 3Vo from 2fi)4. Lower prices during the year reduced the estimated wholesale value of the lumber to $7.7 billion. down 3.3Vc

Washington led the state gains, rising 57o to 5.7 billion bd. ft., the best production year since 1929. Oregon remained the largest lumber producing state in the nation, climbing 4.3Vc to 7.4 billon ft.Idaho mills increased output by 3Vo and surpassed 2 billion ft. for the first time in 15 years. Montana and Wyoming posted increases as well. Production in California slipped 2.7Vc to 2.69 billion M. ft. South Dakota. The Four Corner states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah also posted declines in 2005.

The best housing market in more than three decades generated record demand for lumber. Some 64.3 billion M. ft. of lumber was used in the U.S. last year, up 457c from 2004.

An all-time high of 27.6 billion M. ft. of lumber was used in residential construction. framing some 2.07 million housing starts recorded for the year. Lumber used in repair and remodeling surpassed 20 billion bd. ft. for the first time in history. Together, the two markets accounted for 75Vo of the lumber consumed. Production in the southem U.S. posted solid gains in 2005, ising 5.2Vc to 18.99 billion ft. Total U.S. lumber production hit 40 billion ft.. the best year in modern history.

Higher demand also brought record lumber imports into the U.S. market. The volume of lumber imports topped nearly 25 billion M. ft. Canada supplied 21.5 billion M. ft. to the U.S., up 2.5Vc and the eighth consecutive annual increase. European shipments reached nearly 2 billion M. ft. in 2005, up 45Vo.Imports from Latin America and New T.ealand finished the year lower.