Double down on market and product diversification

Over the last two decades, in partnership with the provincial and federal governments, B.C. has led the charge in developing new, overseas markets for our high-quality wood products, particularly in Asia where approximately 30% of our products are now sold. This has helped reduce our dependence on the U.S. market where we continue to face punishing tariffs on softwood lumber products.

Developing new markets is not a short-term exercise. It takes years to develop product familiarity, codes, standards and market acceptance. But the benefit of these efforts has been significant for B.C.

We see more opportunities to expand our markets if we double down on these efforts. Using wood in manufacturing, resort construction, the building of institutional wood framed multi-storey buildings, and the opportunities in industrialized construction all offer promise for increasing demand for the products we make.

Around the world, there is a growing interest in low-carbon, renewable products from sustainably-harvested forests. This is B.C.’s strength and we should grow our opportunities ahead.

But it’s not just markets. While we will have lower overall harvest levels going forward, the fibre will be of better quality in some areas than the timber that was impacted by the mountain pine beetle. As the chart below shows, B.C. already manufactures many premium quality forest products – from dimension lumber and pulp and paper, to a wide variety of value-added products. However, given that the cost of fibre is increasing, we need to continue to explore new ways to generate as much value as we can from the resource.

CHOICES FOR A BETTER FUTURE:

Increase focus on value

38. Commission and fund a global “new market opportunity” study to identify prospects and help tailor B.C.’s new product development efforts.
39. Kick-start further product research and development by considering economic incentives to drive investments into high-value products from the forest resource, such as new biofuels.
40. Set an industry target to increase the proportion of value-added manufacturing in B.C. by a minimum of 20% within 5 years.

Aggressively pursue access to global markets

41. Continue existing efforts to build and diversify overseas markets and forestry trade missions, including ongoing support for Forest Innovation and Investment.
42. Increase B.C.’s profile abroad with a Premier-led trade mission to key Asian markets focused on forestry.
43. Introduce an export tax credit for products shipped to non-U.S. markets.
44. Continue to support efforts to negotiate a new softwood lumber agreement with the U.S. that works for B.C.