NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 2008FOR0158-001754 Nov. 17, 2008	Ministry of Forests and Range
B.C. WOOD SALES IN CHINA SUPPORT B.C. JOBS

SHANGHAI, CHINA – New orders for British Columbia lumber in the world’s fastest growing market provide a boost for B.C.’s forest sector, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.

 

“The China trade mission has been a great success with participating companies able to secure 83 million board feet in new orders for B.C. lumber from all areas of the province,” said Bell. “If we continue with that pace on a monthly basis, that represents one billion board feet of lumber per year going into China – the equivalent production of four large B.C. sawmills.”

 

Recently released sales data for January to September 2008 show that British Columbia exported 552 million board feet of softwood products to China, well over the record 493 million board feet exported in all of 2007.

 

Key site visits for delegates on the trade mission included the earthquake reconstruction in Mianyang and Beichuan, the grand opening of a wood-frame school campus in Baoshan, the Xiang’E school to be built using wood-frame construction, and the Putuo commercial roofing renovation project.

 

“Forest industry delegates were able to develop some new business contacts on the trade mission,” said Rick Jeffery, Chair, Canada Wood Group. “The biggest market opportunity lies in low-rise housing.

 

“If half of the low-rise housing units being built in China were to adopt North American wood-frame technology for the top four floors and roof, the volume of lumber consumed would be about 25 billion board feet per year – equivalent to the amount of lumber that could be produced from over 40 per cent of B.C.’s allowable annual cut.”

 

The Province, through Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd. and in conjunction with the Canada Wood Group, has been working over the last several years to diversify B.C.’s markets by demonstrating new uses for softwood products.

 

Photos from the China trade mission are available online in the Ministry of Forests and Range media room http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/pab/media/.

-30-

Media contact:	Sophia Proctor Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.