Exports of Southern Pine lumber remained steady in February, amounting to 51.7 million board feet (MMbf), as Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) said in the press release received by Lesprom Network Wednesday.
This volume represents a boost of 12 per cent above the same month last year, contributing to a year-to-date increase of 23 per cent when compared with the first two months of 2015.
Data released Tuesday by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, Competitiveness and Innovation Branch shows:
- Highlight of Exports YTD 2016 (February), compared to YTD 2015 (February):
- B.C. forest product exports totalled $2.25 billion, up 13.3% from $1.97 billion.
- Share of export value by market: U.S. (51.5%, up from 48.3%), China + Hong Kong (24.9%, down from 28.7%), Japan (8.5%, down from 9.3%) and other destinations (15.1%, up from 13.7%).
- Share of export value by product: Softwood Lumber (48.2%, up from 45.6%), Pulp (23.5%, down from 25.3%), Other Wood Products* (16.2%, up from 13.6%), Other Paper Products** (7.3%, down from 9.5%) and Logs (4.6%, down from 6.0%).
Values of Canadian sawmill products exports to the US increased by 23.2 per cent for Jan – Feb 2016 compared to the previous year, to C$1,182 million from C$959 million, reported Statistics Canada April 1. Exports to the World increased by 17.2 per cent in the same time frame, to C$1,628 from C$1,389 million.
Perhaps most important, Retail Sales of US Building Material and Supplies improved by 9.4 per cent in the first two months of this year compared to 2015, to US$40,320 million from US$36,552 million, according to the US Census data released Thursday.
The SFPA also said softwood lumber imports to the US skyrocketed in February, reaching 1.6 billion board feet (Bbf), up 68 per cent from the volume imported during February of 2015.
Imports from Canada alone recorded a 68 per cent increase during February, totaling 1.56 Bbf; just over 90 per cent of that volume was SPF. Through the first two months of this year, softwood imports are up 48 per cent when compared with the same period a year ago.
- See more at: http://www.lesprom.com/en/news/SFPA_Southern_pine_lumber_exports_decreased_by_12_in_February_72932/#sthash.5dV2DTle.dpuf