Mid-America Lumbermens Association
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MLA LINE Lumber Industry News Express |
Mid-America Lumbermens AssociationMLA LINELumber Industry News ExpressVol. 3, No. 20 – September 27, 2004MLA Buyers Guide Watch the mail for your copy of the MLA 2004 Buyers’ Guide and Dealer Directory. Printing was completed last week and copies are being mailed beginning today. The Directory includes an improved format with many extras not included in previous guides. If you don’t receive yours by October 8, please notify the MLA office. All members get one free copy – additional copies are available for $30 each. (Nonmember price: $150 each.) Many thanks to advertisers and suppliers for their support. MLA FALL FLING – NOV. 18-19, 2004 Presented by Federated InsuranceLast year, we renewed the “Fall Fling” concept as the Annual meeting of MLA members. Thanks to members’ enthusiastic response, we are continuing this outstanding event. Both dealers and associate members appreciated the opportunity to mingle with one another, exchange ideas, laughter and sometimes a story or two. We have planned a casual yet informative and educational event that will be well worth your time. Please plan to participate in this exciting event. Thursday, November 1810:00 a.m. – MLA Board Meeting, Chateau on the Lake, Branson, Mo. 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. – Member meet-and-greet reception 6:00 p.m. – Dinner or Show (on your own) – Order tickets in advance at www.bransonshows.com Friday, November 197:30 a.m. – Breakfast and Annual Meeting – This is your opportunity to meet leaders from the National Association, hear an update of MLA activities, install and recognize the new MLA Board of Directors, and hear about special association programs including new round-tables being organized now. 9:00 a.m. – On the Bottom Line with Bill Sharp - This short program is brim full and spilling over with ideas you can take home and use to improve the bottom line of your P&L. Here’s what will happen: · You will get the results of the U.S. Lumberyard Cost of Doing Business survey of the “typical” U.S. yard. · You and others in the room will quickly brainstorm practical ways to improve a few key items on your financial statement by small amounts. · You will be staggered by the impact of these improvements on your BOTTOM LINE. This is not an accounting mumbo-jumbo program. If you understand the terms “sales, gross margin, inventory turns and collection days,” you won’t have any trouble staying up with the instructor. But, because of time restriction, you’ll need to buckle your seat belts. It’s lean meat only .. no time for soup or salad. Noon – Meeting adjourns – But … you can stay to enjoy beautiful Branson. Start your Christmas shopping, play golf (weather permitting) and enjoy the last of the fall foliage. Make it a great get-away for you and your family (or leave the kids at home)! Registration InformationTo attend, all you need to do is register. Complete the registration form and return by Friday, October 30. Let us know who is coming and we’ll do all the rest. This meeting is sponsored by Federated Insurance, your suppliers and your Association. This will be a fun get-together and a way to thank you for your support and membership. The cost to you is your time and your travel expense. We’ll cover all the meeting expenses. Cost: No charge for the meeting. To get a registration form, just contact the MLA Office at 800-747-6529. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. MARK YOUR CALENDAR Note these important dates and events on your calendar and make plans to attend. Details will be forthcoming: Building Material Auction – The Fall MLA auction is set for October 30-31 at Wyandotte County Fairgrounds, Kansas City, Kansas. If you have surplus building materials, returns, unclaimed special orders or used rental equipment robbing you of valuable warehouse and yard space, consider consigning these items to the auction. Material receiving dates will be October 26-28. Call 800-245-9690 for more information. Area Meetings – Dates are being set for area meetings throughout the MLA territory. These dates have been set in Arkansas. More information will be sent when details are confirmed. November 9 - Little RockNovember 9 – Springdale November 10 - Hot Springs November 10 - El Dorado Educational Symposium – Plan to participate in the special trip to the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin and the Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. Special hotel arrangements have been made. It’s set for December 8-9, 2004. Contact Art Brown at 800-747-6529 with questions or simply reply to this newsletter and request registration information. 2005 Education Programs – Dates are set for MLA’s most popular education programs. Mark your calendar and start planning for these sessions. Registration forms will be available this fall. Feb. 14-15 – Basic Estimating, Wichita, Kan. Feb. 16-17 – Basic Estimating, Kansas City, Mo. Feb. 17 – Yard Foreman School, Columbia, Mo. Feb. 18 – Advanced Estimating, Kansas City, Mo. Feb. 24 – Yard Foreman School, Oklahoma City, Okla. March 10-11 – Basic Estimating, Tulsa, Okla. If you need this training and none of these dates or locations is convenient, please notify Olivia at MLA to discuss the possibility of scheduling another session. We appreciate your input. LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSESGreen Building Initiative… As a lead supporter of the Green Building Initiative (GBI), the WPN was on hand at a recent conference to promote mainstream approaches to green building among executive officers of state and local Home Builder Associations (HBAs). Co-sponsored by the Executive Officers Council and the National Association of Home Builders, the conference included numerous opportunities to inform HBAs across the country of the resources available through the GBI, and to offer assistance in developing and promoting their own green building programs. The message was warmly received by the more than 350 executive officers and other HBA staff in attendance, many of whom voiced their support of both the GBI and the efforts of the NAHB to develop a builder-friendly residential standard. The GBI is now actively engaged with HBAs in Cleveland, St. Louis, Houston and Kansas City, and expects to add at least six additional markets by the end of this year. Source: WPN Update, published by the Wood Promotion Network, September 14, 2004. BC to Pay Weyerhaeuser Co. US $24.7 Million… In March 2003, the British Columbia government announced plans to reallocate 20 percent of issued logging rights in order to make more wood available on the open market. "Reallocating 20 percent of the long-term replaceable logging rights held by major licensees will open up new opportunities in the forest economy," said the provincial Forests Ministry. Earlier this week, Weyerhaeuser became the first company to reach a deal with the provincial government. The British Columbia government agreed to pay Weyerhaeuser Co $24.7 million. While negotiations with 26 other companies are in the works, the Weyerhaeuser deal covers 14 percent of the logging area available, most of it in coastal areas. Source: LBM Daily, September 16, 2004 Potlatch Corporation Sells Minnesota OSB Facilities to Canada-Based Ainsworth Lumber… Potlatch Corporation announced that it expected to close the sale this week of its oriented strand construction panels business for $455 million to Canada-based Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. Potlatch was in the process of reviewing how best to utilize the proceeds from the sale; options included debt reductions, changes in dividends, business expansion, buying back shares, and converting to a real estate investment trust. A company spokesperson indicated that the board would meet soon to discuss options. Ainsworth Lumber, in the meantime, announced that it intends to sell $450 million in secured and unsecured Senior Notes. A large portion of these Senior Notes would be private placement of $275 million aggregate principal amount of 7.25 percent senior unsecured notes due October 1, 2012. A smaller portion would be $175 million aggregate principal amount of floating rate senior unsecured notes due October 1, 2010. The proceeds of the sale of these notes would go towards funding Ainsworth's acquisition of Potlatch Corporation's OSB facilities in Minnesota. Source: LBM Daily, September 21, 2004 Housing Starts Provide a Pleasant Surprise to Analysts… August housing starts surprised analysts and observers alike by rising six-tenths of a percent for an annual rate of 2 million units, rather than declining as was expected. Predictions placed units built at around 1.93 million. Margaret Whelan, UBS analyst, comments: "In our view, this pace of construction reflects the continuation of robust demand, as evidenced by high backlogs." Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons, concurs. "It suggests that the housing market is still quite healthy despite the increase in mortgage rates earlier this year," Thayer said. Source: LBM Daily, September 22, 2004 Rainy Weather Forces Mills to Lay-Off Workers… Lumber mills from Carrot River to Hudson Bay are faced with a gloomy reality: rain is cutting into the harvesting of timber, which causes raw timber shortages and necessitates temporary lay-offs. Weyerhaeuser announced on Wednesday that the company may cut as many as 175 workers from their payrolls for up to ten weeks. According to Carrot River's manager, Andy Borsa, the lay-offs are unavoidable but not permanent: "We know forestlands and our forestry contractors are doing everything possible to keep our mills supplied. However, we need to be realistic in planning for the possibility of not having enough to keep the mill operating at full capacity for a number of weeks." Source: LBM Daily, September 24, 2004 DETAILED MARKET SHARE DATA NOW AVAILABLEIn our September 7, 2004 UPDATE we reported on NAHB Research Center data from 1997-2003 showing that wood volumes were up and market share was stabilizing. We now have the 2003 data by US region, for single and multi-family homes, for structural and sheathing products, for floors, walls and roofs and for siding, decking, porches and fencing. Collected as part of our benchmarking efforts and via our partnership with NAHB, a summary of the data will be forwarded directly to WPN partners. The detailed data can be purchased from the NAHB Research Center at (301) 249-4400. Please note that the volumes reported are in square feet of area constructed, not raw volume. In addition, some of the data suffers from small sample sizes and the more the data is subdivided, the less precise it is.
Structural Materials Floors - Total usage up 4%, engineered wood usage up 1%, concrete up 9%, lumber joists up 3%. Wood market share down to 61.5% from 63.0% (down from 70.4% in 1998). Exterior Walls - Total usage up 4%, wood usage up 1%. Wood market share steady at 96% (up from 94.5% in 1998). Interior Walls - Total usage up 5%, wood usage up 5%. Wood market share steady at 96% (up from 94.5% in 1998). Roofs - Total usage up 9%. Wood market share steady at 100%.
Sheathing Materials Floors - Total usage up 8%, OSB usage up 12%, plywood down 2%. Wood market share down to 62.3% from 62.6% (down from 72.2% in 1998). Walls - Total usage up 3%, OSB usage up 12%, plywood up 13%. Wood market share up to 66.2% from 60.9% (up from 59.1% in 1998). Roofs - Total usage up 8%, OSB usage up 6%, plywood up 9%. Wood market share steady at 98%.
Source: WPN Update, published by Wood Promotion Network, September 14, 2004 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY “The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already achieved them.” – Denis Waitley We're here to help. Until next time.... MLA Staff 816-561-5323 800-747-6529
The opinions, views, and interpretations expressed in this publication do not constitute legal advice. Questions and concerns regarding your company’s compliance with Federal or State regulations should be directed to the appropriate Federal or State agency.
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