It will take decades to recover. The Liberals basically stood by and watched the forestry sector become completely anaemic.

But, Pat will try to take credit for quoting stats, while his government didn't do much at all.

Savvvy,

Tell us, what could they do to combat the US housing crisis, the near depression which hit North America?

Its pretty convenient to blame the current government.

If the economy is so hot in the forestry - maybe Pat Bell can tell why the school district closed so many schools - people should be just flocking to PG

Savvyy.. Must work for Canfor..

Its nice of Pat Bell to always be optimistic, but the real increase of softwood prices have to be countered by the rise of our dollar. So reduce the $328 by 15%- the net new price is $278, still not break-even for most mills.

I beleive the story is titled:


"Positive Signs of Forestry Recovery".


You know what, its true. Being part of the foresty industry things are getting a little better, hopefully they continue to get better, we all can use a little relief.


Herbster,

278 is still allot better than 196.

well start up rustads and winton global,what are canfor and sinclair group waiting for? they shouldnt use the word idefinetly idled

They are starting up I think in the next few weeks from what I've been hearing....

The reason prices are up is because of the huge drop in supply and not in anyway because of demand. The 'last mills standing' have been able to increase their prices because of the lack of supply. A free market in action. Problem is demand is continuing to drop... American housing industry is breaking records every consecutive month now in home foreclosures and they have a 3-years supply right now in new homes unsold... this is not good for the long term... any recovery will be temporary for sure especially now that interest rates will be going int he wrong direction.

AIMHO

So lets see here...
- the trees are all dead
- the dollar is high
- many mills have shut down indefinitely
- unemployment in forestry is rising
- there is no housing market in the US
- the ministry of forests has massive cuts pending which will further increase forestry related unemployment
- even mother nature is creating difficulties with all the warm weather this winter

Sure there are some encouraging signs... if you look hard enough.
But do they outweigh all the negatives in the forest industry right now???

For the few mills which have a timber supply the outlook is positive.

The major issue is the pine beetle kill. These dead trees are quickly reaching a point where the conversion to a marketable product is no longer cost effective.

Everyone should take a deep breath and look at the upcoming changes to the allowable annual cut and ask where is the mill in question to harvest logs.

Maybe, Canfor shut Rustads and other mills to ensure the timber supply for the low cost super mills.

Frank

I beleive the story is titled:


"Positive Signs of Forestry Recovery".


You know what, its true. Being part of the foresty industry things are getting a little better, hopefully they continue to get better, we all can use a little relief.


Herbster,

278 is still allot better than 196.

hey frankgeorgeson,u think polar and clear lake are low cost? or obselete technolohy?rustads sawmill was a great mill

dan - only the pine is dead, not "all trees". There are huge baskets of non pine supply in our region that has been left alone for years to chase the pine.
Also - please show your facts for "unemployment in forestry is rising"? Our company and many others are finally hiring and getting back to the numbers we were at in the past.
As for the cuts in the ministry offices - every government office in the province is over staffed as far as most people are concerned so no one can complain about these cuts unless one of them is thier job.

I heard just the opposite, that Rustad will never open again and Winton Global is undecided. Rustad is out of fiber & Winton Global will be too expensive to start up. They haven't settled their contract yet either.

I have heard (from what I consider a good source) that a decision will be made on Winton Global by the end of June. Supposedly a letter has been sent out saying that all severance packages will be paid out at the end of June if a decision to reopen has not been made.

Rustads I have heard rumors of them reopening, but that is nothing more than coffee shop talk. Canfor Quesnel will reopen before Rustads, their yard is full of wood and they can be running in a few days if the decision to go is made.

Winton Global has one huge advantage over allot of the other mills, they have a good supply of green spruce within a comfortable distance of the mill. Most others have to truck it a long distance.

Actually the numbers are worse than that, Stompin' Tom. Bell used the eastern price of wood which is higher than the western price. The western price is $298 * .85 = $253.00 Sure its better than $196 but really no one should get too excited.

rustads has more fibre than any other interior mill

herbster,

I have never heard of eastern or western price, no idea in the world what you are talking about.

I am very familiar with the composite index pricing. Here is a link:

http://www.randomlengths.com/base.asp?s1=Daily_WoodWire&s2=Market_News&s3=Random_Lengths

here is a limk to Natural Resource Canada webpage. They explain it all here.
http://canadaforests.nrcan.gc.ca/article/pricemonitor#softwood

Pat Bell speaking like a true politician, telling us what we want to hear, just about to fade into the sunset with his big pension. What have you been smoking while on vacation in China. Mackenzie will never be back to its former self ever, let alone by late summer! Find out what is happening before spewing B.S. Conifex is making one mill from two sites, you do not have to be that smart to figure out that means less jobs. But I guess nobody has ever accused Mr. Minister of Forests of being that bright.

Pat hasn't done more than act as a cheerleader. Sorry -- top 10 doesn't cut it. Results do.

One should remember that Winton Lumber is run through the sawmill in Bear Lake and then trucked to Prince George and put through the planer. This is a rather expensive way to do business.

When you consider that Canfor has a part interest in Winton Global, then you might start thinking that they might just process the logs at Canfors mill in Bear Lake. It all depends on the market.

I wouldnt hold my breath on Rustads re-opening. Canfor has wanted to shut this mill for years, and the sale of BC Rail and the recession gave them the opportunity. Again it all depends on the market, however at this point there is not a single log in Rustads yard.