Written by Gordon Hoekstra
Citizen staff
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
B.C. Forests Minister Pat Bell says the province, in co-operation with industry, is heading to China on the biggest trade mission ever.
Bell continues to hope that China will become an increasingly important, growing market for B.C. lumber. More than two dozen forest sector representatives - including the CEOs of Northern Interior B.C. lumber-producers Canfor, West Fraser, and East Fraser Fiber - will join government officials on the trip, essentially on a push to sell wood and build relationships.
Bell said while doing business in China, unlike other markets, it is important for government and industry to be seen standing shoulder-to-shoulder. "We've done that well, and I think that's one of the reasons why we've broken through while other countries haven't been able to achieve that same break through," said Bell, the third-term MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie.
The province believes the lumber sector is on track to ship about 1.4 billion board feet of lumber to China this year, about double the volume last year, equivalent to the output from six sawmills.
For the first time ever, lumber shipments to China have exceeded those to Japan, traditionally B.C.'s No. 2 export market after the U.S.
However, most of the lumber shipped to China is low grade. As a result, the value of lumber shipped to Japan still exceeds that to China. In 2008, B.C. shipped $177 million of softwood lumber to China, well below the $719-million shipped to Japan. (The value of shipments to Japan peaked in 2000 at $1.68 billion, according to B.C. Statistics).
In 2009, the value of lumber shipments as of the end of August had already topped $200 million.
Bell also noted that B.C. sits only behind Russia in lumber shipments to China, a country with a population of 1.3 billion.
Although China does not have a wood-building culture, British Columbia has been working to introduce wood-building codes, and show that wood construction can be affordable and provide better safety in earthquake-active areas. About 80 per cent of B.C. lumber being shipped to China is low grade, used in concrete forming and secondary manufacturing. The B.C. industry is making some inroads in using wood for roof construction on apartment buildings.
Bell, along with industry representatives, hope to make a case for the use of wood in federal government-sponsored affordable housing during a meeting with the China Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Canfor Corp. noted recently that its shipments of lumber to China exceeded those to Japan for the first time this year. "What is especially encouraging is that these increasing shipments to China are also moving towards higher-value grades of lumber," Canfor president and CEO Jim Shepard said recently, who is part of the trade mission.
The trade mission will also be stopping in Japan.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 November 2009 )
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