Huge Potential On Horizon For BC Mills
By 250 News
Prince George, B.C. - With the volume of forestry product exports to Asian markets reaching a new milestone this fall, B.C.'s Forests Minister says there is the potential for "an additional six mills' worth of production going into China next year."
In releasing news yesterday that 40.2-percent of our total exports went to China and Japan in September -- almost equal to the volume going to the U.S. (42.5%) -- Bell says, "We're expecting next year potentially four-billion board feet of lumber to go to China, that compares to about 2.6-billion board feet this year." With each interior mill producing 250-thousand board feet, that forecast would mean a huge production boost for B.C..
Bell is attributing much of the volume growth to containerization and, he says, the expansion at the Port of Prince Rupert has been key.
"It's been a huge advantage and I would attribute a good chunk of the growth to the fact we now have Prince Rupert available to us," says Bell. "It really has created a strategic linkage to China and Japan."
The Forests Minister says the cost of transporting a thousand board feet of lumber into Shanghai, China is about the same as shipping it to the U.S. eastern seaboard -- about 60-dollars per thousand board feet. So while the Asian market seems geographically distant, it's actually 'very close' from a cost perspective. "And having Prince Rupert there and the increased capacity that's available has been key to us building those exports."
Bell says, in addition, he remains committed to having a mill in the northwest re-open, or a new one built. "We are in discussions with a number of proponents that are interested in the potential of a sawmill in the region."
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Posted by: Born in BC on December 10 2010 7:20 AM
A pellet plant would help, but its the wood chips that bring in the real split off product money for the saw mills that absorbs so much of their operating costs. Wood chips need a pulp mill within 300km, or shipping become prohibitive... the Northwest needs a pulp mill, or they have no basis for a forest industry of any significance.
IMO the solution... paper cups for lemonade stands in South East Asia. Hundreds of millions of people paying a penny in built in deposit per cup... that in turn is paid out to collectors of used cups at a depot for shredding and eventual use in conjunction with pellet fired co-gen plants burning mixtures of organic waste and coal in hybrid electric generation. Something that would be a big sell in isolated island communities.
Think Tim Hortons of Asia with cold lemonade or ice tea rather than hot coffee, and rice instead of donuts... a half billion cups used daily of eco friendly pine beetle killed trees... a penny a cup is $5 million a day in revenue for the producer, and another penny a cup is $5 million dollars a day for the people that collect the cups as a source of low income revenue for those in need who can be saved from beggary. Any cups that escape the collectors are simply biodegradable and contribute to the soil.
A half billion cups a day would keep a pulp mill in the Northwest going full production as long as its hot and people are thirsty for a cold cup of beverage in the target markets. A pulp mill at full production enables a forest industry in the Northwest where shipping location and proximity to resources become a competitive advantage in the long term.
Easily doable IMO.