New Demonstration Building Project Off to China

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 04:00 AM

Prince George, B.C.- In about a month, Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands, Pat bell will beheading to China again, this time to attend a special “Green Building” show event that will showcase a pre-fab B.C. wood apartment block. ( see photo at right)

The Beijing project will see a three storey apartment building constructed in three days. The prefab work will be done in B.C.

Bell says China’s Vice Minister of Housing and Development agrees the real opportunity is for pre fab modular housing. The building will be returned to B.C. when the show is complete. The opportunity in this sector is huge “The Chinese build, on average, between 6 and 7 million housing units per year in the 6 storey walk up style apartment for which this building process is best suited.” Bell sadds “If B.C. can crack into that market in a modular style of construction, this market will far exceed anything that British Columbia, Canada, or the world is capable of delivering.”

Sales of lumber to China have hit a new high. As was reported yesterday, in December alone B.C. exported 420 million board feet to China in December alone. On an annualized basis, that would translate to 5 billion board feet, a target Bell had set. He knows that when he set that target in 2008, critics said he was being overly optimistic. Now, he believes it is not unreasonable to see shipments to China top 6 billion board feet within the next two years.

5 billion board feet of production amounts to the output of 20 large sawmills and 10 thousand direct jobs. “This market continues to grow at a pace that is unbelievable” says Bell.

The only real drawback for growth in the Asian market, is the capacity of B.C.’s shipping ports. “Transportation is probably my single biggest concern” says Bell. He says Transportation Minister Shirley Bond is working hard to increase the capacity of the ports in Prince Rupert, Vancouver, and looking at opportunities at the ports in Kitimat and Stewart. “We know it (port capacity) is probably our biggest challenge for increasing our mineral exports as well as our forest products exports and also the potential for energy exports, so that is a key area of focus for our government in the coming years.”

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Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: hartbooks on February 23 2011 10:48 AM

Woah - when did our MLAs get the power to behead?

Posted by: lmorge on February 23 2011 12:25 PM

If its so great, why bring it back to canada? Sell it where it stands. We should be able to whip another one together in short order.

Posted by: Palopu on February 23 2011 12:44 PM

Dont like to burst the bubble, but the Ports of British Columbia are a Federal responsibility, not Provincial. Not sure just what Shirley could do to expand these ports. Being Transportation Minister doesnt give here responsibility for Ports, only roads and bridges into Ports. Nor does she have any responsibility for Railways now that BC Rail has been sold.

The Federal Government has put up over $500 Million in the past few years for port expansion, this would include Delta Port, and Prince Rupert.

As usual Pat neglects to mention what the Chinese are paying for this lumber, or that the majority of it low grade. My guess is that the Chinese are paying approx $245.00 per 1000 FBM and the Americans and Japanese are paying approx $300.00 per 1000 FBM. A considerable difference.

In spite of all the Hoopla I have not heard of too many lumber mills coming back on line. There have been a few, and also a few shifts added, but nothing significant, and certainly nothing that translates into 10,000 jobs.

My understanding is that the total lumber exports to China in 2010 was 2.8 billion board feet. So not sure where the above numbers come from. You cannot annualize based on the last month of the year which happens to be the highest month. 2.8 Billion is the more realistic number for 2010.

The total exports are based on lumber from all the mills in BC, so when you pro-rate the exports, and get down to the nitty gritty, the actual increase in exports from the mills in the greater Prince George are doesnt amount to that much. If it did we wouldnt be closing down Rustads, and Clear Lake. I understand that the majority of the exports to China come from Canfors Mill in Quesnel, which was recently re-started, and re-tooled to ship rough, low grade lumber to China. Some is also shipped by West Fraser. This lumber is trucked to Prince George and loaded into containers at the CN Intermodal Terminal.

The balance of lumber in this area is still loaded to the US and moves via Railcar. You can see the loaded cars in the CN yard in Prince George, or on the BC Rail side of the river any day of the week. The balance is trucked or railed to Vancouver and loaded all over the world.

Lets not get tunnel vision on China. The world is our market. The Americans, and Japanese our best customers, at this point in time.

Posted by: metalman on February 23 2011 2:22 PM

That there Hamburger Patty sure says a little, while speaking a lot. I weigh what ever he says against a single grain of ultra fine salt. Just another sad case of runoffathemouthitis.
I am normally against slagging individuals, but he is an inveterate politician, and he really does set himself up for criticism.
metalman.