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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



January 10, 1921 



The Mahogany Situation Today 



An Expert Consideration of Mahogany Supply and Demand in the Chief Producing 



and Marketing Regions 



By R. M. Parks 



The primary purpose of this article is to deal with the 

 question of Mahogany supply in the various producing dis- 

 tricts, particularly with those conditions now obtaining 

 there and likely to obtain during the coming year. How- 

 ever, it is not possible to intelligently deal with the prob- 

 able supply without considering the present and probable 

 future demand, or the manner in which our domestic and 

 foreign outlets for Mahogany and its products are, and 

 will be functioning. The two, supply and demand, are 

 too closely interdependent to be considered one without 

 the other. We will, therefore, touch upon market condi- 

 tions, giving the topic only a brief once-over, since all in 

 the trade are more or less well posted. 



Domestic Demand 



During the boom war and post-war years we witnessed 

 extremely heavy buying of pianos, phonographs and fur- 

 niture at high price levels. Wages were high, with an 

 almost negligible unemployed element, and thousands of 

 people bought more and better furniture and other articles 

 of Mahogany than they had ever bought before. The 

 phonograph industry, which is one of the largest con- 

 sumers of Mahogany lumber, did the largest business in 

 the history of the trade. Phonographs were one of the 

 first "luxury" items to which workers who were being paid 

 unaccustomed high wages turned. 



Witness the story of the four people comprising an 

 immigrant laborer's family. It is said that each of the 

 two children, the father and the mother, insisted on having 

 his own phonograph, so that each, could exercise his own 

 selection of records. The fact that all four of the phono- 

 graphs were in the same living room and were usually 

 all going at once did not seem to offend their individual 

 aesthetic tastes. It is difficult to imagine the chaos which 

 must have been the result — but a good time was had by 

 all. 



It is true that the high w^ages and cost of materials 

 during these boom years kept new building at a minimum. 

 However, the mahogany requirements of the building 

 trade are not, comparatively, so large a factor. With the 

 inevitable decline in wages and material prices we will see 

 a resumption of building, even now in progress, on a 

 larger scale, to wipe out the housing shortage which has 

 developed in the past few years. New buildings inevitably 

 mean new furniture and fixtures, so the furniture industries 

 will share in these activities. 



Export Demand 



Export trade in mahogany has fallen off to practically 

 nothing. Buyers in England, France, Germany, Holland 



and Italy can not afford to pay the high exchange premium 

 against them on the American dollar. Furthermore, they 

 have their own post-war commercial troubles, even more 

 acute than our own. Both England and France, the prin- 

 cipal buyers, have enough logs, received direct from pro- 

 ducing countries, to take care of their requirements for 

 the next few months. The export demand, then, is not a 

 serious factor today and probably will not be for several 

 months. 



Finemcial Conditions 



Today we are in a period of depression, suffering from 

 the natural reaction after boom times. If we cannot call 

 the developments of the past few months a panic, we can 

 certainly term it a slow strangulation. The buying public 

 has gone on a strike against high prices. With the passing 

 of abnormally high wages we see the passing of the de- 

 mand for high-priced luxuries, and a restriction in the 

 buying of necessaries. 



Of course these conditions cannot obtain for long. 

 Fundamentally, American business is sound. Consump- 

 tion goes on, stocks diminish and must be replaced. We 

 can look forw^ard to the future w^ith confidence, but know- 

 ing that those concerns which have over-extended and 

 unwisely laid in top-heavy stocks of high priced merchan- 

 dise will have difficulty in getting through the present 

 trying period of re-adjustment. 



Present Mcihogany Stocks 



From the best available information it would seem that 

 stocks of mahogany lumber and veneers in the hands of 

 importers are just about what they normally carry. But 

 consumers have next to nothing, since they have been 

 running on a hand to mouth basis, delaying buying until 

 the last moment in the hope of filling their requirements 

 at the bottom of the market. 



When it is considered that these consumers, now with 

 bare yards, ordinarily carry about one-half of the entire 

 visible spot supply it is apparent that present stocks are 

 actually well below normal. The price declines of the 

 past few months are, then, not by any means the result 

 of an abnormally large supply, but of the abnormal lack 

 of demand, the result of the general financial depression 

 felt by all lines. 



Past Importations 



It may be well to record here the imports of the past 

 several years. The U. S. Department of Commerce figures 

 show^ that the following quantities of Mahogany were 

 brought into the country, from all sources, during the 

 years shown: 



[ConliinttiJ on piiiif .Mi) 



