This week British Columbia Forestry Innovation Investment released it’s 2016/17 Year in Review report.
British Columbia Forestry Innovation Investment is a BC Crown agency with a mandate that includes developing and diversifying markets for BC forest products around the world as well as promoting forest practices and the environmental merits of wood products.
According to the agency’s year-in-review report released this week, over the past year, BC FII and its partners in industry and government have continued to support the forest sector by delivering a full suite of innovative, forward-looking programs.
From encouraging partners in China to adopt BC building products and technologies, to working with manufacturers in India, to helping build taller and larger with wood right here at home, BC FII is leading the world in creating new market opportunities for B.C.’s innovative forest products and building systems.
Continued Efforts
While the agency continues to make significant progress, much more needs to be done. Today, a climate of uncertainty clouds Canada’s relations with the US, particularly around market access for softwood lumber. Given that Canada and the US have not reached a resolution to trade disputes, it is essential that the BC forest sector maintain, and indeed accelerate, efforts to reduce dependency on the US market.
China is BC’s second-largest market for commodity lumber and a priority market for the BC forest industry.
Emerging Markets: China, India
On December 1, 2016 Canada Wood China signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BSD-TEDA—a joint venture between the Beijing Science Park Development (BSD) and the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA)—on the research, development and application of prefabricated non-load bearing Energy Effcient Wood Wall technology. The Sino-Canadian low-carbon eco-district project is being funded by Natural Resources Canada and is China’s first large-scale, community-sized demonstration area for wood in construction.
After receiving support from Canada Wood China, in February 2017, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban- Rural Development issued a new standard for multi-storey and high-rise timber buildings (the new code takes effect on October 1, 2017). In line with a global push towards taller wood structures, the code aims to broaden the scope of ap- plication of timber structures beyond the current three-storey limit, allowing wood structures up to five-storeys and, on a case-to-case basis, up to 18 storeys.
After establishing a head office and wood products showroom in Mumbai with the BC Ministry of International Trade, the India team now has small satellite locations in New Delhi and Bangalore to be closer to customers in the north and south of India.
BCFii’s full year-in-review report can be found here:
https://www.bcfii.ca/sites/default/files/report/2017-Year-in- Review.pdf