Lumber exports to China have already surpassed last year's final total, according to trade data released by Statistics Canada.
This means British Columbia has broken another record, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell announced Sunday.
Lumber exports over the first eight months of the year total $746 million. For all of 2010, B.C.'s lumber exports into China were worth $687 million.
"We've now exceeded for the year, three billion board feet of sales into China," said Bell. "Last year, we did 2.9 [billion board feet] for the entire year and the total value of those sales is just under three-quarters of a billion dollars."
Bell said based on the output of an average saw mill in the interior, such as Carrier, the province has shipped the entire production for a dozen mills for the entire year.
"I think it's great news in terms of stability and jobs for the people in and around the forest-dependent communities like Prince George, Vanderhoof and Mackenzie," Bell told The Citizen. "Having a new market like China that is taking such a substantive quantity of lumber really is giving us stability in terms of the overall market picture."
The record number of lumber exports have resulted in thousands of jobs in the province and the re-opening of mills in towns such as Ladysmith and Mackenzie.
B.C. is also breaking records with respect to overall merchandise exports to China and Hong Kong. Over the first eight months of 2011, overall exports are worth almost $3.4 billion - an increase of more than $1 billion over the same period in 2010.
Bell told the Citizen that not only is the trade relationship with China very healthy, but markets in Korea and Taiwan are also doing very well.
Lumber exports to Korea up 26 per cent over the year to date in 2010, while those for Taiwan were up 37 per cent.
"So while they're not as big as China, they are taking substantial amount of lumber and when you add the two together, it'll be about the production of two saw mills," Bell said.
The minister will be accompanying Premier Christy Clark on a trade mission to Asia from Nov. 4 to 16 and on the way back, Bell said he will stop by Korea for the first time.
"[The province] has a small trade office in Korea already and we are looking at the potential of expanding that office," he said. "When you see numbers like this, it gives you a real sense that would be a good decision."
With the growth in Taiwan, which is currently serviced out of China-based offices, Bell said the province may want to also consider their options in building a stronger relationship with that country as well.
"It's not the kind of news you would expect to hear right now, given what's been going on in the global marketplace," said Bell. "There's lots of doom and gloom out there and when you see numbers like this, it shows British Columbia is really bucking the trend."
