Demand for eastern spruce pine fir has risen sharply since last year, both to meet the shortfall from tightening European supplies, and as a new market for Canadians hit by the construction recession in the US.
A Canadian timber industry delegation visited the UK this month and held talks with The Timber Trade Federation‘s National Softwood Division. One sawmiller said he was regularly shipping about 70 containers at US$22/m3.
“At first glance, prices for carcassing in the UK match up favourably with returns on Canadian shipments of similar items to the US,” the newsletter Random Lengths International reported.
However, it said many mills believed recent price hikes were not enough to offset the increased fibre costs of the UK’s premium grade specifications and shifting to metric.
“The indications are that returns can be very favourable if you can keep your costs from rising too much,” one exporter said.
Patrick Cooper, in charge of market development for Canada Wood in the UK, said there was lot of enthusiasm for the UK market and no real barrier to selling here.
He said: “Some mills are finding it very easy and some are finding that it’s not for them. It’s a matter of some being better able to and some less inclined.
“It might take a week to turn a mill around for UK specification – you have to change the computers for one thing, but many are doing this, especially if they have several mills and are changing only one while keeping the others in production.”
