April 28, 2010

Advertisement

For over 100 years we've been protecting businesses just like yours. Tomorrow we'll do the same. Since 1895, Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company has specialized in Property and Casualty insurance for the lumber, woodworking and building material industries. PLM offers competitive rates, loss control programs and prompt claims response and handling. For more information, contact us at 800-752-1895 or at www.plmins.com.

EPA Toughens Lead-Paint Rule; Tell Us How It's Affecting You

The Environmental Protection Agency rejected calls for delay last week and launched a rule on lead-based paint that's predicted to drastically curb renovations in homes built before 1978. In fact, the EPA widened the rule's potential impact by announcing it will remove a provision that would have excluded a huge number of projects from being subject to the new regulations. How have you been affected? ProSales and the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association want to know. We’re jointly sponsoring an online survey to get your report on the situation. This survey will be open for just one week, until Tuesday night, May 4. To get a copy of the results--including the invaluable written comments--be sure to provide your contact information on the final page. As always, no individually identifiable results will be revealed.
Take the Survey
More on the Rule

Look for Lumber Prices To Sink Soon--Economist

Lumber prices are near their peak and likely will begin dropping "fairly sharply" in May or June, a veteran timber economist predicted yesterday. Paul Jannke, a principal of Forest Economic Advisors, said the three key factors that powered the recent runup in prices--modest rises in consumption, low inventories at dealers, and wet weather--all are short-term phenomena. The North American timber industry's latent production capacity "far outstrips any rise in the level of demand for the next few years," he said
More

ProBuild To Acquire Oso Lumber; Schilling Buys Former Edward Hines Facility

ProBuild announced yesterday it will buy the assets of Oso Lumber of Arlington, Wash., the No. 56 company on last year's ProSales 100. The deal, which will close on April 30, removes one of ProBuild's biggest competitors in western Washington and enables it to better serve markets north of Seattle. Also recently, Schilling Lumber of Saint John, Ind., announced it has acquired Edward Hines Lumber Co.'s former facility in Mokena, Ill. The rest of Hines’ operations were acquired recently by U.S. LBM.
More on ProBuild-Oso Deal
More on Schilling-Hines Deal
ProSales' Deals Database

Advertisement

Long Live Beauty with Fiberon's Horizon™ Decking The enduring beauty of Fiberon's Horizon™ decking. Unmatched in the industry at providing the rich multi-chromatic look and texture of fine hardwoods, new tropical hardwood colors have the dramatic tones of highly desirable exotic hardwoods. The ultimate in beauty and long-lasting performance, Horizon decking is backed by the industry's first 20-year limited stain and fade warranty. To learn more, visit fiberondecking.com.

Earnings Roundup: Owens Corning, Masco, Plum Creek, Eagle, West Fraser

During the past week, a number of building material manufacturers reported generally improving numbers for the first three months of this year. Not everyone made a profit, but those who did post losses said the numbers weren’t as bad as they were a year ago. Here’s a roundup:
• Owens Corning's Roofing Profits Rise, Insulation Stays in the Red. Story
• Masco's 1Q Loss Lightens; Sales Up 3%. Story
• Plum Creek's Manufacturing Ops Post $4M Profit Story
• Eagle Materials' Fiscal 4Q Gypsum Earnings Plummet Story
• West Fraser Swings Back Into the Black in 1Q Story

BFS Squeezed by Commodity Price Hikes; Bison Posts $677K Net Loss in March

An "unprecedented" increase in commodity prices swamped the modest sales gains that Builders FirstSource recorded during the first quarter and led to a net loss of $31.4 million during the period, slightly deeper than the $30.6 million net loss in 2009's first quarter. Meanwhile, Bison Building Materials, the Houston-based LBM operation that has been operating under Chapter 11 since last June, reported a net loss of $677,414 for March. It also reached an agreement recently to sell more than $450,000 worth of rebar-related equipment to Hartman Building Specialties, a Beaumont, Texas-based masonry and concrete supply firm.
More on Builders FirstSource
More on Bison

Arkansas Congressmen Press USGBC Over Wood Certification Rules

Opening a new front in the long-running fight over green-certified wood, three members of Arkansas' Congressional delegation urged the president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to accept wood certified by other systems besides the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being eligible for points under the LEED rating system.
More

Advertisement

Wood-Plastic and Natural Fiber Composites Conference, October 4-5, Charlotte, NC Principia Conferences presents its seventh annual two-day executive conference on the wood-plastic composites industry. Presentations by industry leaders tackle current commercial, supply chain, and technical issues. Interactive panel discussions cover the latest business topics and engage listeners for dynamic results. Exhibition segments are ideal for networking and business opportunities. www.PrincipiaConferences.com

KBMA Picks New Officers, Recognizes Boland, Escue

The Kentucky Building Materials Association has selected Jack Coleman of Coleman's Home Center in Harrodsburg as the group's new president. Joining Coleman as officers are Woody Graham of A.W. Graham Lumber, Flemingsburg, as vice president; and Freddie McWhorter of Clay Building Supply, London, as secretary secretary treasurer.
More

KBIS Sees Cooling Attendance but Hot Products

As everyone expected, the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show saw lower attendance at its annual three-day confab last week in Chicago, but it wasn't all bad news. Manufacturers still continue to sell steak and sizzle. The atmosphere was decidedly subdued, especially compared to the go-go aughties, when booth after was filled with bling from Jacuzzi, Kohler, TOTO, and any number of manufacturers. These days the buzz words are "value," "sustainability," and "energy efficiency." (CUSTOM HOME)
More

House Committee Approves Green Building Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee approved legislation that seeks to make homes and other buildings more energy-efficient and affordable by providing sustainability incentives to lenders and financial institutions. The bipartisan GREEN Act (Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods) now moves to the full House for a vote. (BUILDER)
More

Advertisement
	Times are tough. How do you KNOW you've done all you can do to cut expenses and grow revenue? How do you KNOW your salaries are in line? Building Material Operations Comparison program, presented by the Regional LBM Associations. Cost: $200. Value: Priceless. Contact your state or regional association to participate.

WebbThreads

• Quent Ondricek, Do it Best’s vice president for lumber and building materials, last week honored Builders.’ recognition as ProSales Dealer of the Year by presenting a framed cover of ProSales’ January edition to the guy on the cover, Builders. president Myron Andersen.
Read the profile of Builders. and watch a video on the company.
• ABC Supply Co. is relocating one of its two Fort Lauderdale, Fla., branches to Pompano Beach, Fla. The new, larger facility will incorporate the company’s new Solution Center showroom design, feature a wider array of exterior building products, and give area contractors more convenient access to the products they need.
• The number of people 5 and older who spoke a language other than English at home has more than doubled in the last three decades and at a pace four times greater than the nation’s population growth, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. Between 1980 and 2007, the percentage of speakers of non-English languages grew by 140% while the nation’s overall population grew by 34%. More
• ProSales incorrectly reported March 17 that Amarillo Hardware had closed. The distributor remains in business and continues to serve customers, an officer of the company said.
• The Southern Pine Council has launched a new website—www.ProWoodDecks.com--where professional deck builders can find the key information they need to build safe, durable real wood decks. “There’s a lot of information and misinformation out there about the pros and cons of using real wood versus composites, and we thought it was time to tell people why wood is still the best material available,” said Richard Kleiner, director of treated markets for the Southern Forest Products Association, which sponsors the pine council.

• Focus Information Systems announced the immediate availability of the Velocity LBMsolution, which incorporates SAP Business One software. Focus says it's the first product fully integrated with Microsoft Windows tailored to meet the specific needs of the lumber and building materials industry.
• LG Hausys America announced a new partnership in which Shaw Industries will be the sole North American distributor of LG Hausys' commercial resilient flooring.
• National Gypsum introduced EXP Interior Extreme, a fiberglass-faced mold and moisture resistant gypsum panel that can be used in a variety of interior applications where there's the potential for extreme conditions.
• Metabo now offers a compact, lightweight Angle Grinder Surface Prep Kit for grinding in smaller areas and vertical applications.
• Cadsoft announced its Envisioneer software now has the the ability to receive "intelligent information" from the 20-20 Design system.
• ClosetMaid announced it will introduce its newest do-it-yourself storage system, ShelfTrack Nickel, at home centers nationwide.

Do you have a question, a tip, or a sage piece of wisdom? Feel free to contact ProSales' editor, Craig Webb, at cwebb@hanleywood.com.

Advertisement
	Subscribe to ProSales Magazine – for free. Every issue of ProSales magazine is packed with profiles of LBM dealers and distributors like you, the latest new products, sales techniques that really work, plus in-depth news and industry analysis you won't find anywhere else. Don’t miss a single issue -- apply now for your free subscription.

And don't forget you can find previous ProSales Business Updates online!