Increasing our Global
Competitiveness:
The Time Has Never Been Better
By David Elstone
T
he current coastal BC narrative is about a region with
a diverse and high-quality timber base, relatively high
delivered log costs and largely antiquated conversion
facilities – a view that does not sing out to investors as a
place to park their funds. And yet when one sees the timber
of this region, you can almost taste the potential, and not
just at sawmills, but throughout the entire supply chain. At
a very general level, it seems the rest of the global industry
has been moving forward, while the BC coast has little to
report for change.
Now is the time to rewrite this less than attractive narrative
with a new pitch that speaks to stakeholders, First Nations,
and investors alike. Both the logging and sawmilling sectors
are ripe for technological advancements. In fact, the window
of opportunity exists now since manufacturers have mended
their balance sheets from the lows of the recession and the
upside to the business cycle has yet to ramp up, at least from
a US market perspective.
Since the 2005 peak in North American markets, investment
in the coastal sector has been less than that needed
to maintain our competitive edge. Coastal sawmilling
production has decreased by 40 per cent, from 2.5 billion
board feet to 1.5 billion feet, on the heels of a number of
sawmill closures and a reduction of overall operating rates.
On the logging side, delivered log costs,
although high, have been reduced
over the last dec YH