China Importing Less Wood
Thursday, October 18, 2012 @ 3:58 AM
Prince George, B.C. – China’s hunger for wood seems to be easing. The Wood Resources International publication says there has been a significant drop in the amount of logs and lumber being imported by China this year.
Over the first 8 months of this year, China imported $4.3 billion dollars worth, down 19% compared to the same period in 2011. According to Hakan Ekstrom of Wood Resources, the biggest decline came in logs imported from Russia, and the USA and in lumber from North America.
During the first eight months of this year and for the third consecutive quarter, China has reduced its softwood imports. Eight four percent of that softwood comes from Canada and Russia, with the balance coming from the USA, Chile and New Zealand.
In August the average value for all softwood lumber imported by China was down nine dollars to $200/m3 over the past year. Meantime, costs for Canadian lumber have steadily increased for a 12 month high in August.
Pellet exports from the two primary pellet producing regions in North America have continued to grow reaching a high of 760,000 tons.
The expansion of the wood pellet industry in the US has resulted in that country becoming the largest exporter of wood pellets in the world.
Hakan Ekstrom says US export volumes are expected to increase from 1.5 million tons in 2012, to 5.7 million tons in 2015.
Exports from both Eastern and Western Canada are expected to grow, but not at the explosive rate taking place in the US.
Comments
Maybe we could send all government representatives from every sector over there to find out why.
China, everyone wants to trade with them, and they know it.
Water which needs to be tread carefully, or you will get yourself into big trouble.
They will get you to expand your business than cut off the order, than come back and buy out your business for pennies on the dollar.
I think He spoke has it right. Too bad more people don’t get it. When a country starts trhowing money all around for natural resources, watch out. Just like the Japanese did before WW2.
China has long range plans, They work in 50s and 100s of years not five years like us.
Be very wary is all I can say.
China buys logs and lumber from all over the World.
90% of the export lumber from BC to China, was low grade lumber used for concrete forming. With the low price of lumber in the past3/4 years, most BC Mills would have gone broke without the sale of this **crap** lumber to China.
Sales to China also allowed us to process a lot of our beetle killed timber. Again, this fibre would have rotted in the forest without the sales to China.
So at the end of the day, BC Mills continued to operate through a recession, and get rid of beetle killed wood. China was able to obtain cheap lumber.
Now with the price of lumber rising to $303.00 per 1000fbm US. and with the US housing market picking up, the focus is on selling to the US market (and Japan) where the money is.
Historically China buys huge volumes when the price is low, and sits back when the price is high. They will not be paying the US Price for lumber to be used for concrete forms.
Oh no.. to avoid anymore concerns.. immediately send Pat Bell and Shari Green from Prince George..
Big Companies like Weyerhauser, Canfor, West Fraser, etc; have been selling lumber to China for years, and in fact have established offices in China. They have been selling lumber and pulp and paper to China long before Pat Bell, and Sheri Green ever came on the scene. Weyerhauser has been selling to Japan since 1923.
Its time to stop the BS that these politicians have anything to do with the selling of products around the world.
In fact it is a rare day indeed that these politicians even have a meeting with these companies, let alone getting involved in the selling of their products.
Same thing applies to IPG. These companies have operated for years importing and exporting products without the **so called** help of IPG. IPG is not a source that is used by any established company.
Well said Palopu! In the big world stage of resource based companies especially, they have been strategically operating on that stage despite City Hall & IPG ever since there was the first nickel to be made. If they happen to bump shoulders with these big guns, it is just a political “nicety”.
IPG sure has a swell website. No need for rose coloured glasses on it. How much money does city hall recieve from the return on investment from IPG? Be specific. If none why does IPG exist?
There is no money returned to the City from IPG.
In fact they receive in excess of $1 Million a year from the City to operate.
IPG Exists because it was set up years ago, has been a complete failure, and no one at City Hall has the gonads to get rid of it.
There were many suggestions to the Core Reveiw to get rid of IPG, and have what little work they do, be done by the City.
They should in fact be the first **cut**.
Whats the chances of that happening????
The world would be much better without trade. We should just consume goods that are made locally. I am going to throw my computer in the fire to keep me warm. But I guess I won’t have a stove, lots of wood though so it will be an open hearth. Imagine the hunting and fishing we would have. Nothing like killing animals with sticks and catching fish with cedar bark nets.
The world would be much better WITH trade. But that’s what it should be ~ ACTUAL trade.
The exchange of the relative surpluses of one nation for the alternate relative surpluses of some other, so that there can be a diversification of CONSUMPTION in both. To the mutual benefit of the citizens of each.
That isn’t exactly what we’ve got now, where the goal of every nation is to run a so-called ‘favourable’ trade balance with other nations for the supposed necessity of enabling its citizens to have enough *money* to live.
That kind of ‘trade’ is a complete perversion of physical reality.
It’s like saying we could no longer actually feed, clothe, and shelter ourselves, nor provide anything else that is now provided internally, if we lost access to international markets.
That we have no resources, no manufacturing plant, no infrastructure, and the knowledge, and skills, and ability to construct, operate and maintain these things are all completely absent and couldn’t be created. That we are truly a ‘poor’ nation physically, which we clearly are NOT, as well as psychologically, as too many here seem to now believe.
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