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About
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About the Author
Matt Layman
After attending North Carolina State University from 1971-1975, I began
my career in the forest products industry in May of 1975 as an inside sales
representative for Georgia Pacific Corporation at its Raleigh, North Carolina distribution branch.
After spending two years in sales and panel procurement for the branch,
I transferred to the Charlotte, NC branch to manage their
"cut-to-size" and industrial program.
In 1979, I opted to relocate to sunny Tampa, FL with Pan Pacific; buying
and selling various imported wood products, such as lumber, plywood,
hardboard, and door parts but the pace was much too slow. Can you imagine
doing business by telex.
Later that year, I joined Tampa International Forest Products' plywood
department and eventually transferred into their infant southern yellow
pine
lumber department. There I bought and sold with a trading floor of
over 20
wholesale traders. Talk about a sweat shop!
In 1982, I and another lumber trading associate formed Monroe Wood
Products, a subsidiary of Shoffner Industries, Burlington, NC. MWP was the
purchasing division for Shoffner's truss plants and remanufacturing facilities,
plus the new company was a lumber and plywood office wholesaler.
That was long before they sold out to Universal Forest Products and everyone became
wealthy.
In May 1985, I published the first issue of The Pine Page, a southern
yellow pine lumber and plywood market analysis and forecast.
From 1988 through 1990, I traded lumber with Arling Lumber,
Cincinnati, OH and from 1990-1992 operated I owned a retail lumber business, Woodscapes
Plus (specializing in pressure treated decks, fencing, playground
equipment and outdoor furniture), in Burlington, NC. It took me two years to
decide retail wasnąt my bag.
In 1992, I dissolved all lumber buying and selling affiliations, with
the exception of lumber futures, to concentrate my full efforts on The Pine Page, now published as Layman's Lumber and Panel Guide. Once you
get lumber in your blood it becomes an addiction, but it won't kill you I hope.
Since that time, the Layman's Lumber and Panel Guide has become the industry's most prominent lumber and panel market analysis and forecast, including coverage of Southern Yellow Pine lumber, Canadian SPF lumber, Western US lumber, southern and western sheathing plywood and OSB. Projecting trend changes is my game, not price. I'll leave the
haggling to you. My lumber trading days are over. I'm enjoying life in a
slower lane and still getting the thrill of the market.
And I am having a ball!
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