Prince George, B.C. – There is good news out of China today.

Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands, Pat Bell, says Tolko has signed a deal in China for stud lumber.

“This is significant as China has not traditionally been interested in stud lumber” says Minister Bell, “This will secure the jobs at the Tolko Soda Creek division.”

On a conference call from China, Minister Bell says the deal should mean a two shift operation at the Soda Creek mill.

The lumber will be primarily beetle wood, and creates a longer more stable environment for that mill.

Bell says the deal opens a new product door with China “Up until now, China hasn’t looked at studs as a product line, and studs is a big business for us in British Columbia. This particular deal is for a specific product, this mill will be delivering 100% of its production into this opportunity and really represents brand new volume that we have not seen before.”

Although this is now his 4^th trade mission to China, Bell says this one is has a different feel “For the first 5or six years it was largely about developing building codes, improving fire codes, helping  builders understand how you build with wood and creating demonstration projects. The next three or four years were about building distribution networks and making sure that people could move lumber around the country. This trip feels completely different. We’ve gone from tying to push product into the market, to really feeling a market pull at this point.”

Bell says while previous trips have been positive, this one may mark a turning point “I think by the end of this trip we will be saying we’ve made the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.”