North American forest products markets newsletter Random Lengths has published the results of its annual retail outlook survey.
Questionnaires were mailed to 2,000 US retailers in November asking about 2002 wood products sales volumes, profits, margins, inventory levels and expectations for 2003.
Twenty per cent of the companies responded, 51% of which said that their 2002 year-to-date wood products sales were up compared to the previous year. Dealers in the north-east and the west posted the strongest sales results.
Four out of five respondents said their expectations for business were unchanged or higher than in 2002, but just 34% reported higher margins on wood products sales in 2002 as compared to 2001.
In response to the question of what was the biggest issue needing to be dealt with in 2002, dealers cited declining lumber quality; the switchover from CCA to ACQ; uncertainty surrounding the softwood lumber dispute; and concerns about mould.
