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British Columbia is a leading supplier
of high quality lumber and building materials to the
United States and offshore markets – international exports
represent over 90 per cent of total industry shipments.
Total wood products exports from British
Columbia were valued at $9.5 billion in 2005. Seventy
four per cent of total wood exports were shipped to the
U.S., and 14 per cent to Japan.
In 2005 the wood products manufacturing industry
directly employed almost 46,000 workers – 32,500 in lumber
manufacturing, and 13,300 in the manufacture of engineered
wood, panel products, millwork products and other wood
components.
Although the industry is primarily
geared to large-scale production of commodity wood
products, value-added manufacturing has increased rapidly
over the past decade.
Between 1995 and 2005, exports of
pre-fabricated housing, windows, doors, mouldings and
other millwork products doubled from $503 million to $1 billion. Lumber manufacturers have also increased
production of J-grade, DIY grade and machine stress rated
lumber.
British Columbia is competitively well
positioned to take advantage of growing opportunities in
the U.S. – especially California – and Asian markets for
factory-built homes, structural engineered wood products,
flooring, and high-value millwork components.
There is also potential for expanded
production of OSB (oriented strand board) and MDF (medium
density fiberboard).
We have a wealth of expertise in
engineered construction methods, foreign building codes,
home design, and earthquake resistant products, plus
world-class institutional wood products research.
British Columbia’s government is
actively supporting market diversification, research, and
product development, and is making more publicly-owned
timber available on the open market for value-added
producers.
In partnership with industry, the
provincial government is helping open up new markets for
British Columbia wood products in Asia – including a
marketing initiative targeting the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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