With continued steep border tariffs from the U.S. and new trade threats in Asia, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Interior forest industry is grappling with new regulations on forest waste recovery that it says it canB次元官网网址檛 afford.

The NDP government moved ahead with its promised overhaul of Interior logging regulations at the start of the year, implementing what the forests ministry calls B次元官网网址渁lternative scaling methods to support cost-effective removal of logs designed to become a secondary product, such as pulp and paper, pellets and energy.B次元官网网址�

As with new logging rules on the B.C. coast that have since been fine-tuned, the industry says its initial take on the Interior system is that it is not cost-effective.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a B次元官网网址渇undamental economic problemB次元官网网址� for an industry that is already struggling with North AmericaB次元官网网址檚 highest log costs, said Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries.

B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e talking about the coast, the harvest costs before stumpage are north of $100 a cubic metre,B次元官网网址� Yurkovich said in an interview with Black Press. B次元官网网址淵ou bring it out and you can get $40 or $50 for it. Companies cannot lose that quantum on a sustained basis and expect to continue to be companies.

B次元官网网址淚n the Interior, the costs are a little lower. I would say on average [harvest costs are] about $70 a cubic metre in the Interior. But still, when you bring that waste out youB次元官网网址檙e getting about $30 for it.B次元官网网址�

The province did a consultation tour with the Interior industry on the issue last summer, promising a B次元官网网址渨hat we heardB次元官网网址� report would be released by the end of 2019. But with the ministry grappling with an overhaul of waste wood zones on the coast, where most logging stopped due to stumpage costs, waste regulations and a long strike by the United Steelworkers against Western Forest Products, the report and further regulation have been delayed indefinitely.

Already in force in the B.C. Interior is a new regulation that adds additional penalties for late reporting of wood waste. ThatB次元官网网址檚 another burden for an industry on its knees, says B.C. Liberal forest critic John Rustad.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a tremendous amount of additional reporting required for companies, in tabulating all the information and putting it into government,B次元官网网址� Rustad said. B次元官网网址淚t was always there, but the time frame and stringency in terms of information is what has changed here.B次元官网网址�

Rustad says everyone agrees that B.C. logging leaves too much usable wood on the ground, beyond what foresters say is necessary.

B次元官网网址淧art of that is utilization standards were lax when we were trying to clear out as much of the pine beetle as they could,B次元官网网址� Rustad said. B次元官网网址淭he bottom line is we shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be leaving the waste behind in the woods. We should be utilizing the whole log to the best of our ability, keeping in mind you have to leave some behind for the critters, the biodiversity on the landscape.B次元官网网址�

Wood pellets, which can use almost any waste to manufacture, are in high demand in Japan, where most nuclear plants are still idle after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. Japanese buyers have increased their purchases of pellets to the point where they have cut off retail sales and local users canB次元官网网址檛 keep their pellet stoves running in a cold winter.

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Japan has long been a strong export market for B.C. lumber, but that too is under threat. A large new wood pellet export terminal recently opened in Mississippi, as B.C.-based foreign companies have expanded into the southern U.S.

And a new report by the says a tentative trade deal between Japan and the U.S. effectively ends CanadaB次元官网网址檚 advantage against its giant, and often hostile, southern neighbour.

B次元官网网址淐anadaB次元官网网址檚 advantage of the U.S. in Japan from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership lasted a whole 13 months,B次元官网网址� the report says. B次元官网网址淭he U.S. will eventually expand its partial agreement with Japan and further erode one of the most significant advantages that the CPTPP gives Canada in Japan B次元官网网址� tariff and non-tariff advantages over American exporters.B次元官网网址�

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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