MORE TO CHINA
British Columbia has a new top customer for wood products according to a news story in today’s Vancouver Sun.
The paper says B.C. softwood lumber shipments to China, including Hong Kong, came in at $122 million in May of this year. That compared to $119 million of softwood shipments to the U.S. during the same time period. It’s the first time the monthly figures for China have been higher than the U.S., which has been B.C.'s mainstay customer for decades.
In terms of volume, the U.S. was still the province’s largest importer in May at 1.2 million cubic metres. That compared to 1.1 million cubic metres of B.C. wood going to China in May. According to provincial Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell, the lumber exported to China was more expensive. In the past, critics of the market in China have said the Chinese are only buying cheaper, low grade lumber.
“The Chinese are paying for high quality and they’re getting high quality,” Bell said. “It’s such a wide variety of uses that it’s quite unlike the U.S. and makes it far most sustainable on that basis.”
Most of the B.C. wood going to China is used for apartment buildings, roof systems and trusses, commercial buildings and furniture, while much of the B.C. wood going south of the border is used for home construction.
During the first five months of 2011, B.C. exported 2.8 million cubic metres of lumber to China. That’s more than double the amount of B.C. wood shipped to China during the first five months of 2010.
B.C. has shipped $776 million worth of lumber products to all Asian countries from January to May of 2011. That compares to $464 million worth of wood products the province shipped to the U.S. during the same time period.
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