An uptick in housing starts is improving demand for wood products, Boise Cascade reported today, announcing a three-fold increase to its net earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) from a year earlier at $36.8 million on sales of $764.6 million, up 22% for the same period. EBITDA for the company’s wood products manufacturing segment was $28.6 million, four times the $7.1 million reported for the third quarter 2011; the segment’s sales increased by one-third to $259.8 million for the quarter from a year earlier on higher plywood volumes and prices and increased engineered-product shipments thanks to growing market acceptance of the product category. Despite the growth, the company cites below-historical demand levels for its manufacturing and distribution segments and says it will likely to continute to operate some production facilities below capacity to match sales demand. Sales in its distribution division grew 21% during the quarter from a year ago to $605.2 million with volumnes up 8% and prices up 13%. View Boise Cascade’s third-quarter results.