BUILDING BOOM FUELS LUMBER SHORTAGE

Good trees are hard to find.

The government has limited cuts on its properties and competition for timber from individual landowners is fierce.

"Good quality hardwood lumber is hard to find," said Stan Petzoldt, chairman and chief executive officer of East Perry Lumber Co., headquartered in Frohna. "We can still find regular softwood timber, but the quality hardwoods like red oak and white oak are difficult to find."

East Perry Lumber purchases trees from farmers throughout the area and markets timber in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

"We have turned to private owners to find all of our timber now," said Petzoldt. "We used to cut some timber out of national forests, but the government has just about quit selling timber."

Even with the scarcity of the hardwoods, Petzoldt points out that it is the softwood, or construction lumber, that is playing havoc with prices these days.

The hardwood timber is used in flooring, furniture, cabinets and door frames, Petzoldt said. Softwood has more construction uses.

Earl Saupe agrees. At least 20 percent of the cost of a new house comes from lumber products, said Saupe, president of the Pocahontas Lumber Co. in Jackson. That includes lumber, plywood and roofing.

Lumber prices for the past three years have been like a roller coaster, up and down.

Lumber retailers and builders say lumber prices generally have risen since 1992.

"It is supply and demand," said Earl Blechle of Southeast Missouri Builders Supply in Cape Girardeau. "The prices have been up and down the past few years."

Lumber prices took off just after Hurricane Andrew in August of 1992 and stayed up until about June or July of 1993, then edged down a bit."

Prices remained at lower levels through the winter, November through February, but started edging up again as home building activity increased.

Home building in Cape Girardeau and the nation has been up from 10 to 17 percent over the past three months, resulting in more demand for lumber.

"We noticed another increase in prices last week, especially in plywood" said Jim Turner of Michael Annis Inc., a commercial and residential builder.

"But if you compare the prices of lumber today with prices from 1980 and figure in annual inflation rates, lumber is still a bargain," said Saupe.

Lumber prices until early 1992 had been stable for a number of years.

Lumber industry veterans say the main reason for the increase in prices is a shortage of timber, especially in the United States, where more and more forest land is being set aside for environmental purposes.

In the Pacific Northwest, huge tracts of land have been removed from forest production to protect some endangered species of owls.

Natural disasters -- fires, hurricanes, storms and tornadoes -- have also added to the lumber shortage.

The United States, one of the leading lumber producing countries in the world, uses more than 60 billion board feet of lumber every year, more than any other country.

Weather is a contributing factor in rising lumber prices. Rains can slow logging operations.

In past years when lumber shortages have hit the United States, people would look to Canada to crank up production, edging prices up a bit. But during the past three years, Canadian prices have more than doubled.

As lumber prices increase, the cost of everything containing woods, from do-it-yourself bookcases to new homes, will climb. The National Home Builders Association says the increases in lumber prices are tacking more than $2,000 to the cost of a 2,000-square-foot house.

To the buyer, the increase is greater, about $3,500 to $4,000 more for a $150,000 house.

About half of the lumber produced in the United States is used in the construction industry. About a fourth is used in remodeling and repairs, and the remainder is used to manufacture boxes, crates, furniture, toys and other wood products.

Some of the byproducts are used for other purposes. Sawmills send small logs and wood scraps through a chipper. The chips are used to make paper, hard board, plastics, rayon and other products.