this will re open rustad bros sawmill,pat bell great job

Dream on pgguru

Not going to happen pgguru!
Maybe when hell freezes over.

Another company has started shipping raw logs to China out of Prince Rupert.
Do these "lumber exports" include raw logs?
Why would they pay us to mill the logs, when they can do it themselves?

Because NO ONE can process wood better than Canadians.

BC Refed would ban the exports of raw log ANYWHERE. Raw log exports are job exports. And adds nothing to the economy.
BC needs to get beyond a raw resource only economy and into secondary manufacturing.

Some info to get you guys up to speed.

Raw log exports on crown timber are restricted.
Private land based timber (ex. timber you sell off your private property) and First Nations tenures are exempt from export restrictions meaning they can ship as much as they want.

It is not feasable to export low grade low value dead pine out of the interior. Pretty much the only logs that do get exported out of this area are to log home builders int the states who pay above low with no risk to jobs.

As far as Rustad is concerned..It wont run again under the Canfor banner. There isnt a secure log suply in the north to feed it.

"to log home builders int the states who pay above low with no risk to jobs."

-Havent had my coffee yet..

I meant to say "above market price"

Lumber?...or raw logs?
I have a family member that works at the port in Rupert...they claim there are far more raw logs being shipped out than we realize.

Exporting raw logs used to benefit from the fact that processed lumber used to have PST built into the price (the pst paid by loggers, truckers, sawmills, etc. on equipment and supplies throughout the supply chain). With HST, lumber and raw log exports will be treated the same.

Andyfrees.

Sorry I was refering to raw logs.

The article itself is lumber exprort because logs are reoported in cubic meters and not lineal board feet.

There are quite a few First Nation tenures on the coast compared to here in the interior so this is probaly the reason for the increase.
Im not trying to defend raw log exports here but the business in the coast is differnet from the interior. The mills we have here in the interior are not set up to handle coastal tree species.
BC is also very over regulated when it comes to aproving new industrial projects so new mills now have to pass the same aprovals as mines do. So in the end it is getting more feasable just to sell logs and not assume a huge capital risk building a sawmill/pulpmill ect...The interior is blessed with existing sawmills.

When I was in Prince Rupert in 1961, 1962 they were exporting raw logs to Japan etc; This has never stopped and they are still doing it to-day. (On a big scale) In fact they are now loading them into the empty containers and shipping them.

The export of logs has nothing to do with the PST or the HST.

The article states that exports of lumber to China exceeded that to Japan BY VOLUME. What this means is that we exported more (Junk) Mill Run lumber to China, however the lumber exported to Japan was first class J grade lumber and we get a much better price.

So, we export less to Japan but we get more revenue, get the picture. China is not noted for importing prime lumber, nor does in pay top price. Until it does, our best customers will continue to be the USA, and Japan.

I agree with Northman insofar as Rustads Mill is concerned. I cant see this mill starting up, certainly not in the short term, and I suspect never.

You know, why can't we be a bit smart on this. Our timber supply is down. yet we are trying to sell more lumber to meet past records. Why don't we increase the value of the timber, reduce the amount of lumber to match the timber supply and earn the same amount. Don't give away our resources. Make sure we have money in it so that we all can make a good living.

Rustad, will never open under Canfor. It was a feel good place to work at, but it just can not produce enough lumber to make a return on investment. Canfor bought it for the timber rights, and this down turn was the excuse to shed it off the mill lists.

What we need to do is build a super mill, outside of Prince George. Set it up with several lines, operating 25 days a month, 24 hrs a day. Pumping out 800 million bd ft a year. That will lower the operating cost.

Alternatively, It is also a opportunity for pocket mills to start up. These are the small time operators, which employs maybe ten people. The sawmill is set up in the bush, the rough lumber is hauled out and so is the wood waste. No burners allowed. 10 million bf a year.

Raw log exports should be stopped not increased!

http://www.globaltvbc.com/money/China+opens+door+logs/3256523/story.html

I think that we should put a stop to ALL raw log exports!
For every log exported,there are fewer jobs in the lumber business.
Considering what is left of our forest industry here in B.C.,exporting logs really doesn't make sense anymore!
I call bullsh**t Pat Bell!

Thank's for the link Dragonmaster!
A good one that everybody should read!
Including Pat Bell!

Palopu .... "our best customers will continue to be the USA, and Japan"

Please remember that you differentiate between higher and lower grade lumber. Given that, the only reason why the USA is one of the best customers is due to volume, not quality as is the case with Japan and the European Union. Thus the USA is not different than China, user of low quality lumber.

I am not sure whether we have enough MSR lumber around now. During the time that Trusco operated here they were getting their lumber from trusses from the USA because we did not have the capacity to produce MSR lumber.

Raw log exports should be carefully controlled, but not eliminated. There are some customers who have a legitimate need for raw logs and there is no point in refusing to service them. These include log home builders and those using special construction techniques (e.g. mortise and tenon) or non-standard dimensions, for whom dimensional lumber is not useful.

Palupo. I disagree.

Elimination of the PST makes the cost of processing logs into lumber and other value added products cheaper for BC manufacturers. Lower cost will result in more production and higher local demand for logs. Higher local demand will result in less incentive to export raw logs.

I am in no way saying that the elimination of the PST will eliminate raw log exports, however, it will increase local demand for raw logs.

"These include log home builders and those using special construction techniques (e.g. mortise and tenon) or non-standard dimensions, for whom dimensional lumber is not useful"

Then open up mills here, produce what they require and sell it to them. Its not rocket science. What it is is, corporate greed backed by gov't.

wow....you all are giving Pat Bell credit for the market opportunities that are available in china, what a joke. The Chinese have been around and looking for someone to supply them with lumber for years...the only difference today is we are desperate and willing to take their business, where we would not have in the past. This has nothing to do with Pat Bell....its easy to be a so called hero when times are tough all you have to do is pretend you have given the naive populous the whole cake when you in fact ate the cake and dropped only a crumb for the little guy to grab onto.

Today's Vancouver Sun has an article in the business section under the headline "China opens the door to BC logs". The article notes that this agreement was only announced within a small circle of industry players. "This is expected to increase log exports to China, particularly form BC Northwest forests" Maybe Wendy Bell would like to take creit for this also. The article is a good read but I don't expect to see it in the Citizen anytime soon.