CHINA SHIPMENTS UP
The value of B.C.’s softwood lumber shipments to China (including Hong Kong) for the first eight months of 2011 was $746 million. That’s considerably higher than the $687 million shipped for the entire year in 2010.
The figures were released early this week by the B.C. government. In terms of volume, the government said more than 3 billion board feet of B.C. softwood went to China for the first eight months of this year. That compared to 2.8 billion board feet for all of 2010.
B.C. Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister (and the former Minister of Forests) Pat Bell predicted that B.C. will deliver 4 billion board feet of lumber to China for 2011, which he adds was the target he had set several years ago.
“Even the most optimistic supporters of mine said I was nuts,” Bell said about his 4 billion board ft. target. “But, we haven’t had a month under a quarter of a billion board feet (to China) for quite some time, so I think we should easily surpass that mark.”
The United States is still B.C.’s largest market for softwood lumber. The number two spot now goes to China after they surpassed Japan, which is now number three.
Several B.C. sawmills have put their employees back to work in order to meet demand from China and the lumber shipped to China during the first eight months of 2011 is equal to about 12 average-sized sawmills. The value of B.C. softwood shipments to China had grown from $65 million in 2006 to $315 million in 2009. Last year’s $687 million in shipments was the previous record. The U.S. consumed almost $1.8 billion of B.C. softwood in 2010, which was down from a peak of $5 billion in the mid 2000s.
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