Lumber demand from China is putting sawmill workers back on the job, said Forests, Mines and Lands Minister Pat Bell Tuesday during a tour of Western Forest Products’ sawmill in Ladysmith.
Statistics for December are still to come, but Bell expects final exports for 2010 will top 2.8 billion board feet and exceed $660 million, to more than double last year’s shipment values.
Provincial lumber exports to China between October and November were about 350 million board feet – one of the biggest monthly gains the market has seen in the last three years.
The government said in a release that more than 200 people are at work in Western’s Ladysmith, Somass and Nanaimo operations due in part to the growth of the Chinese market for B.C. forest products.
“Demand from China has been a key factor, allowing us to switch much of our commodity production from the U.S. housing market to Chinese customers,” said Western’s vice-chair Lee Doney.
Western-Ladysmith closed its doors in April 2008 due to the collapse of the U.S. housing market.
It restarted in September 2010 after re-tooling to produce metric-sized hemlock and fir lumber specifically for the China market.
Also on Tuesday, Bell refuted claims by the U.S. that B.C. subsidizes lumber companies by charging minimal stumpage rates for timber damaged by the mountain pine beetle.
The U.S. government has filed for arbitration under the U.S.-Canada 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement over B.C.’s timber pricing policies.
B.C. claims its auction-based pricing system ensures the full value of timber – whether impacted by the mountain pine beetle infestation or not – is captured by the government.
“Clearly, the scale of the mountain pine beetle infestation is something we’ve never experienced before, and is the reason for an increased harvest of low-grade timber in British Columbia,” said Bell.
“The irony behind the U.S.’s complaints is that since the Softwood Lumber Agreement came into force, U.S. lumber producers have actually increased their share of the U.S. market.
The U.S. and Canadian governments must each nominate an arbitrator within 30 days, by February 17.