The unfortunate reality Rick is that the same rules that may have hurt Mackenzie seem to be helping PG. We have had way less than our share of shutdowns here (knock on wood). It is likely that some fibre has found its way from Mackenzie to PG.

Another unfortunate reality is that if it is cost effective to haul logs long distances then it just shows how inefficient the Mackenzie mills were. Propping up inefficient operations is never sustainable in the longterm. For an example from the past see Skeena Cellulose. For an example in the future see the 'big' 3 in about 5 years.

I agree the fibre should be tied to the communinities, I was one that lost everything too because of what happened in with Pope and Talbot and Canfor.

If you follow through with "Born in BC" logic then it would be more cost effective to just load all our raw timber on ships and send it to the Far East. Huh! What? They are doing that allready?! OhOh! Or maybe we can just put it all on trains and ship it to Mexico to be processed and sent back to Canadian markets. Do not kid yourselves that door is open also.

Wake up Pat, this is for you.

We are dying out here. better act fast and tie them trees to community use. Abitibi has a no competition buyer. Anotherwords all that timber is just going to sit there.

Reality check Pat. your not going to sell China lumber. All they want is raw resources.

By law, only logs deemed surplus to BC mill's needs can be exported. It's not an easy process either. Let's say you want to export logs from PG to China, you need an export permit which would include those same logs being offered up locally for the same price as you are selling them into China for (less transportation).

I agree with Born in BC 100%.

It's about 30-35$ / m3 to ship a log from PG to the Washington border. So a log that is $45 in PG is now at the border for $75 / M3. If our mills can't compete with that, they deserve to be down. Period.

Rumour has it that a number of Canfor mills may be shut down very soon. Can anyone confirm this? I can't.

Well, actually they just cut it down on the west coast and throw it onto a boat and take it over the ocean. Thus its cheap to move it.

I don't think the logs are going state side, but going to China and Japan.

I am pretty sure most mills will take turns slowing down production. Mainly to create a shortage in the lumber market.

Obama might want to say buy local, but he also realizes that he needs a trading partner for an economy.

Yes, 5 canfor mills are taking one week each. 30 million board feet reduction.
Read it on another site.

isn't it amazing a mill pumping out 1.5 million board feet a day with 60 people working. Just 40 years ago, it took 350 people to pump out 100,000 bd ft a day.

Power of Technology. We can outstrip our forest faster than we can grow it.

While I cannot comment on the efficiency of the Canfor mills here in Mackenzie I do know that the Pope and Talbot pulp mill was making money when it shut down. The shut mainly happened due to the parent company not being financially stable. The Abitibi mills were also making money when the market was decent and the company even mentioned that they would re-open the mills when the market recovered.

It was rumored that Canfor really had no intention of keeping their mills in Mackenzie viable as they preferred to ship the logs to PG. Apparently this is a cheaper option than running the mills here. They would still make money by running the mills here however they would make MORE money by running the wood through PG mills.

The government won't reverse their decision about tying resources to communities because they would rather us all live in one central location anyway. Cheaper and easier for them to maintain one large community than a bunch of smaller outlying ones.

Canfor announced today downtime at a few mills including Rustads, Radium, Houston, Plateau. But the good news is they are presently spending money on a few upgrades at a number of mills around here. Westfraser has also committed to spending a few million in Fort St. James. Things are still moving around here and obviously these large players want to be in the right spot when things do turn around.

He speaks, good point. I'll add to that: We can produce way more product than we need. Over production = lower prices. When prices get too low, then production stops. That is what is happening now. We're all witness to mill closures of all sorts.

A similar thing (only different) happened on the east coast. Overfishing.

Look what happened to that industry, and all the people employed by it. Ask them how many lost their jobs. We're just starting our journey to ruin here in B.C. Improper supply/production management, and this is what happens.

our largest customer is the US. Their economy is in the toilet therefore the demand for our product is down, way down.
It is going to get worse before it will get better. Hopefully Obama will make a difference but it depende on how much money he has to throw at the problem and how the banks diecde on where to spend that money.

The pulp market in North America, and Overseas is in the toilet.

Newsprint market same thing.

Lumber market same thing.

To much production, not enough customers.

The logs from Mackenzie will never go overseas, nor will they go to the USA, because shipping costs would be prohibitive. It is mainly coast logs that are exported, and this has been going on since at least 1960 and maybe longer. Its within the realm of possibility that logs from the Hazelton area could go for export through the Port of Prince Rupert, but not likely anything East of there.

The Mackenzie logs could come to Prince George, however I suspect that most people have forgotten, or never knew that Canfor has only two mills in Prince George, ie; Pr George Sawmills, and Rustad Bros. They have an interest in the Lakeland mill also, however its not likely that Prince George would see to many of these logs. Other mill in Prince George is Carrier Lumber, thats about it.

Its more likely that these logs will go the Taylor, Chetwyn, Bear Lake, Ft St James, or if the market doesnt bounce back in the next few years, they will stay in the bush.

In any event they wont be going to the USA or China, so we can forget that scenario.