48 



TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



region surrounding it, is to-day forced to obtain from 80 to 90 

 per cent of the lumber from Pacific coast forests some 2,000 

 miles distant. Douglas fir, common dimension, 2 by 4, from 

 western Oregon and Washington, for example, cost at retail in 

 Minneapolis in February, 1920, $60 to $65, whereas in 1900 2 

 by 4 dimension of white pine could be purchased for $15 to $20. 

 The growing scarcity of white pine has constantly tended to en- 

 hance its value. During January and February of this year it 

 is said that the relatively few remaining northern pine mills 

 could obtain almost any price desired for their lumber cut. 

 Price lists recently issued by two groups of mills, for example, 

 quoted prices varying $15 or more on the same grades. Figure 

 17 reflects wholesale prices of three grades of northern pine in 

 Minneapolis at intervals of five years from 1900. 



Even in normal times lumber purchasers in nonforested and 

 depleted regions are at a distinct disadvantage over purchasers 

 in regions of lumber production. This disadvantage becomes 

 much more pronounced in times of scarcity and unsettled con- 

 ditions such as the present, when the excess in retail prices, 

 deducting all transportation costs, may even exceed the total 

 price of the same grades under normal conditions. 



PRICES AND COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND 

 DISTRIBUTION. 



Figures indicative of the increasing costs which have en- 

 tered into lumber manufacture and distribution will be given 

 separately for (1) production, (2) transportation, and (3) re- 

 tailing. Along with these figures showing the increase in costs 

 are given also figures as to increases in selling prices and the 

 ratio of transportation charges to retail prices. 



MILL PRICES AND PRODUCTION COSTS. 



Figure 18 shows in graph (a) the trend of average selling 

 prices of Douglas fir, southern pine, and Inland Empire species, 

 separately by years, for periods from 1905 to 1919; graph (6) 

 these prices expressed graphically on a percentage basis, with 

 3914 as the index year; graph (c) the average mill price re- 

 ceived by a typical Douglas fir mill plotted in relation to operat- 

 ing cost. 



Pacific coast. Table 16 shows mill prices for Douglas fir 

 lumber produced on the Pacific coast in Oregon and Washington 

 incorporated in graphs (a) and (c), and adds the average 

 selling prices in December, 1919, and January and February, 

 1920, as determined from index grades of a large volume of 

 lumber sold by a number of mills. 



TABLE 16. Average price per thousand feet lumber tally. 



The average prices shown above for a number of mills do not 

 include underweights and sales of special stock and by-products, 

 which would tend to increase them slightly. The two sets of 

 prices as given above are believed to be representative of high 

 and low average mill prices. 



Compilations prepared by the West Coast Lumbermen's Asso- 

 ciation show that manufacturers west of the Cascades received 

 in 1919 an average of $25.70 per 1,000 feet for all species. The 

 association's figures are based upon data from 50 mills, and the 

 average prices received by the different mills, including returns 

 from lath, wood, and sawdust, range from $20.50 to $35.50, a 

 variation of $15. It is fair to assume, therefore, that the 

 average mill price of Douglas fir during 1919 was between $25 

 and $30 per 1,000 feet. 



The average mill prices given for the months of December, 

 1919, and January and March, 1920, are based on sales reported 

 to the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, and represents a 

 large volume of business. It will be noted that the average 

 price for March (based on orders taken) amounted to over 

 four and a half times the average price received in 1915, and is 

 $20 higher than the average price shown for 1919. 



A comparison of 1919 production costs in this region with 

 costs in 1913, 1914, and 1915 indicates that the cost of produc- 

 ing lumber has a little more than doubled. On the basis of 

 information collected and compiled by an accountant employed 

 by the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, the average cost 

 of logging Douglas fir by manufacturers in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington during 1919 amounted to $10.89, this figure being an 

 average of an output of about 1 billion feet. Costs of manu- 

 facture show similar increases. In 1915 the average manu- 

 facturing costs of 30 mills in Oregon and Washington was $5.53 

 per 1,000 feet, while in 1919 the average manufacturing cost, 

 as determined by the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, 

 amounted to $10.21 per 1,000 feet, or, with shipping and selling 

 included, $11.83. 



COMMON BOARDS 

 AW&.AL 5IS 



No I COMMON BOARDS 



' '*'~J6 



FIG. 17. Wholesale prices at Minneapolis of northern pine lumber. 



The total cost of producing lumber in the region west of the 

 Cascades, in Washington and Oregon, in 1919, based on informa- 

 tion collected and compiled by the West Coast Lumbermen's 

 Association, but presented below in a little different form, and 

 compared with other data showing average costs and mill price 

 for 1913, is as follows : 



