SETH L. BUTLDB

WHOI.ESAI.E TTIMBER

214 Front St., Scm Frcncisco llGArlield 0292

Lumber for Homes Now Near Pre-War Level

Washington, D. C., September 29.Home and farm construction will be supplied between five and six billion board feet of 'lumber during the .last quarter of this year, if threatened strikes do not halt production, George T' Gerlinger, president of National Lumber Manufacturers Association, today told Hugh Potter, Co-ordinator of Construction, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion.

"Total lumber production today is about equivalent to that of 19rc," said Gerlinger, who is in Washington, "and more than B0 per cent is norv flowing into normal peacetime channels,"

Another great aid in meeting civilian lumber requirements, Gerlinger stated, would b6 the early release of large and small Army and Navy inventories now held throughout the country, which are not specifically needed for the armed forces in the Pacific. It is presumed that the Army and Navy are now checking inventories, he stated, and they can reasonably be expected to release many millions of feet.

LOS

ADams 4995

Southern pine production, the Gerlinger survey shorvs, will reach lrl billion feet during the last quarter, the bulk of which will go into residential construction. Southern pine output could be increased another I billion feet through some reasonable price adjustments, according to the Southern Pine Association.

The southern hardwood flooring industry will supply around 100 million feet of flooring.

Western pine shipments, barring strikes, for the four months' period beginning October 1 will reach nearly lf billion feet, of which 200 million will be for fruit and vegetable containers, 250 million feet for the military, and over 1 billion feet for home building and other civilian uses, including sash, doors and millwork.

Mill reports {rom the Pacific Northwest show that fir production should increase during the fall months with home and farm building obtaining a minimum of over 1 billion feet during the last quarter, with probably somewhat greater amount next spring.

Additional production in all regions is absorbed in supplying government, furniture, industrial, highway, and railroad uses.

More than 80 per cent of current lumber production is now moving freely into civilian channels, and probably not more than 20 per cent for military requirements.

Total national production in the last quarter of 1939 was 6,549,000,000 board feet and in l94O it was 7,799,O0O,@O board feet. Total production in the last quarter of 1945 will exceed 1939's figure and is expected to be close to 194O's record, Gerlinger said.

The industry is still very short of both common and skilled labor, but it is reasonably expected that this will correct itself in the next thirty days.

The industry as a whole is optimistic about its ability to perform, Gerlinger declared. Inventories will build up accumulatively over a period and most lumber production will move rapidly to the job.