Gaining some perspective on the
timber supply issue is a little like
trying to figure out the stock market.
There are many forces at
work, some of them real and others
mere hype. Everyone seems to
have a different opinion and a
scarier prediction. And as in the
stock market, prices are affected as
much by market psychology as by
reality. Yet no matter what's driving
the lumber market, it is dealers
and ultimately builders who
pay. As forest industry analysts
have predicted, the costs at the
lumberyard are climbing in all
parts of the country.
• In New England, lumber dealers
report that fir plywood, supplied
by West Coast mills, is up by
roughly $1.30 per sheet over
the last