Fundamental changes governing timber pricing and harvesting methods due to be made in British Columbia are set to impact upon UK importers of specialist timber and mills receiving lower grade softwood.
These far-reaching moves, say the British Columbians, are designed to bolster their presence in the UK, “offset the proliferation of low-cost commodity softwood” from rival sources and, in turn, boost BC timber in “growth markets where individual wood quality, not just price, takes precedence”.
By raising its profile in the UK and Germany, where BC’s market share has been reduced, the province hopes this new initiative will allow it to filter through developments in sustainable forestry and opportunities to market more certified wood. BC exports almost 90% of its forest products, worth over €9bn a year, so suppliers retain a strong desire to satisfy the UK and “balance the effect of cheap, often inferior wood entering Europe”, a situation compounded in recent times by lower demand for this material in Japan and the US thanks to the former’s weak economy and the latter’s oversupply and tariff situation.
The need to capitalise on new trends, coupled with a realisation that BC needs to tell its forestry story to reinvigorate softwood shipments, has prompted several new schemes. At their fulcrum is a Forest Revitalisation Plan proposed by the provincial government. The plan not only governs harvesting and sustainable forest management, but also timber supply and pricing. It recognises that in such a fluid market, buyers need reminding of the uniqueness of certain product lines. Hemlock, Douglas fir and western red cedar have a central place in the UK industry – a fact being emphasised as part of a wider message reinforcing BC’s forest management record.
UK specifications
Roger Arveschoug, managing director of Capricorn Timber, in Uttoxeter, agreed. Up to 40% of his £6m turnover is generated by western red cedar. “There has been a significant increase in its use for exterior cladding because you do not need to treat or impregnate it for use outside,” he said. “Western red cedar is a lovely wood; we love dealing with it. Architects have made a great sea change in its use, with wooden cladding used in far more public building projects. The jobs it is being used for now were not really about years ago. The expansion of cedar is going to continue, helped by the fact that pricing has become a little more competitive of late too.”
Last year, BC shipped 28,846 thousand bd ft (68,000m3) of softwood to the UK, making it the province’s second biggest European export market. Tony Belgrove, of MBM Forest Products Ltd, said: “What has dropped is the commodity product from Canada, the lower grades, because of competition. But there is no competition for western red cedar and Douglas fir. There will always be a market for this specialist product.”
Greater flexibility
Key among the changes included in the Revitalisation Plan will be greater flexibility for mills’ harvesting timetables so they are not obliged to process timber during periods of slack demand. It will provide value-added manufacturers with more access to timber, diversifying product lines to make it easier to weather demand fluctuations and make mills less reliant upon a single softwood market such as the US. Stumpage charges paid by companies harvesting timber in Crown forests, which cover 95% of BC’s forestlands, are also to be more market driven, which the government hopes will trickle down and improve mill competitiveness.
A central plank of the plan is to reassure UK importers that BC forests are sustainably managed and well regulated. Forests cover 60 million ha of the province although less than one third of 1% of this area is logged each year, a fact that often gets little daylight behind the shadow cast by anti-logging protesters. This is a central challenge facing BC, say analysts. Earlier this year, an independent watchdog, the Forest Practices Board based in Victoria, said everyday forest practices continue to improve. A ‘results based’ forestry code is also to be introduced which it is hoped will, in turn, make it even more transparent how harvesters meet specific environmental standards, with regular inspections taking place.
“There is an abundance of old growth forest – 25 million ha in BC – with around 15 million ha likely never to be harvested due to conservation, inaccessibility and other restrictions,” confirmed the BC Market Outreach Network, a new programme operating at arms length from the government to address perceptions over sustainable harvesting. Since 1992, BC has doubled its protected land base to more than 12% and a further 14% is designated for special management, so other wildlife values take precedence over logging.
Certification
BC is also making steady progress on third-party certification. By 2006, the province is scheduled to have almost 50 million ha of forestland certified under Forest Stewardship Council, Sustainable Forest Initiative or Canadian Standards Association schemes. CSA is a member of the PEFC council and it is understood that it will shortly submit its application to have its standard endorsed by PEFC. Assuming this is successful, it is hoped that during 2004 CSA-certified timber shipped to the UK will be able to carry the PEFC label.
Several UK importers confirm they would welcome a greater volume of certified timber from BC. International Timber‘s national commodity manager Philip Vokes has seen BC’s forestry practices first hand. He said: “FSC was the first substantial mover in the UK for certification, so buyers tend to ask for it rather than an equivalent scheme from Canada or elsewhere. Having said that, we would like to get to a position where we can offer customers ‘certified timber’ rather than purely ‘FSC-certified timber’, using several standards.”
Capricorn’s Roger Arveschoug added: “Canadian wood generally is up to a certain high standard, not only as FSC but certified to CSA which is another acceptable standard.” And MBM’s Tony Belgrove said: “British Columbia in particular is probably one of the most highly regulated and monitored areas in the world. Its environmental credentials are very high.”
