B.C.B次元官网网址檚 forest industry is B次元官网网址渂ecoming un-investableB次元官网网址� as new restrictions on old-growth logging and a shift to direct government control of Crown lands take hold under sweeping reforms brought in by Premier John HorganB次元官网网址檚 government, delegates to the Truck Loggers Association were told Wednesday.
Paul Quinn, a forest industry analyst at RBC Dominion Securities, spoke to a virtual panel discussion from Oregon, describing the continuing investment shift by B.C. companies to the U.S., Alberta and Ontario. He said B.C.B次元官网网址檚 major legislative changes passed in 2021 B次元官网网址渢ransfer almost complete control to the governmentB次元官网网址� after years of what had been known as results-based regulation in a tightly controlled industry.
B次元官网网址淚f thatB次元官网网址檚 what we want, thatB次元官网网址檚 what weB次元官网网址檙e going to get,B次元官网网址� Quinn said Jan. 12. B次元官网网址淪imply put, B.C. is becoming un-investable.B次元官网网址�
Russ Taylor, now a consultant after moving from sales with Interfor to 28 years with International Wood Markets Group studying the U.S., Asia, Europe and Russia, warned that B.C.B次元官网网址檚 value added manufacturing has recovered from an earlier decline. But new restrictions on cedar and other old-growth timber mean reduced opportunities in a value-added business that has marginal returns.
B次元官网网址淭he vast majority of value added is dependent on old growth,B次元官网网址� Taylor said.
He described the provinceB次元官网网址檚 focus on mass timber technology as B次元官网网址渢he flavour of the month,B次元官网网址� estimating that lumber for that market can only support a couple of sawmills. He noted that Penticton-based Structurlam, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 leading mass timber company, has opened a manufacturing plant in Arkansas in partnership with Walmart to supply its new home office campus and grow the industry using that regionB次元官网网址檚 southern pine.
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The B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 policy shift is to redistribute Crown harvest to more and smaller operations, and to transfer more of the forest resource to Indigenous communities with land rights. Taylor said B.C. is already a higher-cost market than other provinces and U.S. producers, and further wood supply restrictions can only force new investment to lower-cost jurisdictions.
Quinn said public companies he works with are already working effectively with Indigenous partners, but they are continuing to pay stumpage to the province while sharing revenues with first nations. He called for the B.C. government to B次元官网网址渞ip the Band-Aid offB次元官网网址� and get on with transferring Crown timber revenue to Indigenous title holders, rather than expecting companies to invest with both costs added in an already uncompetitive wood cost structure.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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