OREGON LUMBER COMPANY TO SELL WOOD TO IRAQ

  A Portland-based wood
  products company has signed a 13 mln dlr contract with the
  Iraqi government to supply finished softwood lumber to Iraq,
  Edward Niedermeyer, president of Niedermeyer-Martin Co said
  yesterday.
      Niedermeyer told the House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on
  International Economic Policy and Trade in Washington that the
  sales agreement contains an option that could make lumber
  exported worth more than 20 mln dlrs.
      The delivery of about 8.0 mln dlrs worth of plywood, in
  addition to lumber, hinges on whether the U.S. Department of
  Agriculture will interpret plywood as an agricultural commodity
  under the credit guarantee program, he said.
      Niedermeyer said the government export credit guarantee
  program (GSM-102) administered by the USDA was the key to
  opening the Iraqi market which up to now had been captured by
  Scandinavian lumber producers.
      "This is the first time we have been able to sell wood
  products in Iraq, he said. Without the USDA program it would
  not have been possible. We hope this will lead to a long term
  export market for U.S. lumber products."
      He said the contract calls for supplying 21 mln board feet
  to 30 mln board feet of softwood lumber for housing,
  construction and furniture manufacturing. He estimated the
  profit potential for his company on the sale at five to six
  pct.
      Niedermeyer spent two weeks in Baghdad negotiating the sale
  late last month and early March. He is a member of the United
  States-Iraq Business Forum, a non-profit group designed to
  promote commerce with Iraq.
      The forum members include Westinghouse and General
  Electric, but Niedermeyer's company is the only wood products
  firm on the membership roster.
  

