Spokane, WA: (Apr-25-08) A class action lawsuit was brought against Potlatch Corp. and others, alleging the defendants engaged in the price-fixing of oriented strand board, a plywood-type product used as floor and roof decking. The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern US District Court in PA, had the buyers of the product accuse several producers of oriented strand board, including Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Weyerhauser Co. and Georgia-Pacific Corp. Potlatch was accused along with others of conspiring to reduce the supply of oriented strand board as a way to justify raising the price throughout the United States from June 2002 to April 2006.
Potlatch officials denied the allegations and claimed market conditions were responsible for driving prices higher during that time. Sources stated that Oriented strand board is a structural panel made of strands, flakes or wafers sliced from small-diameter wood logs and bonded together with adhesive. Users say it serves the same functions as plywood, but it is often less expensive than plywood because it is made from parts of trees too small for plywood. The product helped Potlatch overcome a three-year revenue slump that ended in 2002 with the company's worst financial performance recorded.
As part of a settlement reached in the case, company officials stated that Potlatch Corp. has settled its share of the federal class action lawsuit with a $2.7 million payout. The company denied any wrongdoing in resolving its role in the 2006 case, and claimed that the settlement was a business decision. Records show that Georgia-Pacific and two other defendants, Ainsworth Lumber Co., and Huber Engineered Woods LLC have also reached settlements in the case. [
