A new study on the effects of the mountain pine beetle infestation on the British Columbia (BC) timber industry will be published in early 2012 by Wood Markets Group.
The report will draw on new information, including predictions by government and forest industry experts about the eventual volume of timber forecast to be killed by the beetle. Wood Markets has hinted that fewer pine forests could be affected up to 2020 than originally predicted.
Other factors which have changed the market include the poorer economic environment, the growth of China as a significant consumer of BC mountain pine beetle-killed lumber and the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar, negatively impacting sawmill economics.
In addition, the rise of the bio-energy and wood pellet sector should allow for more economic extraction of more marginally affected beetle killed forests
Sawmills operating in the main affected areas may also be able to continue on reduced shifts instead of total curtailments.
Wood Market’s report will predict which sawmills, veneer and plywood mills could potentially close and when.
