BC wood products to China and Mongolia

BC continues efforts to develop markets for wood products in China.

B.C. WOOD TRUSS ROOFING GETS GO-AHEAD IN CHINA

The Shanghai government has formally approved a B.C. designed roofing system as part of a plan to renovate 10,000 city apartment buildings in the lead-up to the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell, and Ida Chong, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development, announced today.

“Shanghai officials have recognized that building with wood is cost-effective, energy-efficient, and good for the environment,” Bell said. “With this approval, B.C. wood producers now have access to a market for as many as 10,000 new roofs over the next two years.”

The approval applies to a wood truss roofing system designed by Chinese officials in collaboration with B.C. Forestry Innovation Investment, the Province’s international marketing agency for B.C. forest products, provided engineering assistance, access to B.C. lumber, and demonstration sites donated by B.C.

“China represents the greatest growth opportunity for B.C. forest products of any market around the world,” said Chong, who is Minister responsible for the Province’s Asia-Pacific Initiative. “And with government and industry working together, we’re quickly establishing B.C. as the leading supplier of high-quality lumber and wood products.”

In the first nine months of 2008, exports of B.C. wood products to China were more than for all of 2007 and were valued at more than $166 million.

For the past five years, the Province and forest sector, along with the federal Canada Wood Export Program, have targeted China as a major growth market for forest products. The renovation market, in particular, has been identified as having high growth potential due to a deteriorating infrastructure of apartment buildings and medium-rise housing.


MONGOLIA BUYS 48 B.C. HOUSES

A major contract for a Cowichan Valley business to supply homes to Mongolia shows that B.C.’s efforts to sell more wood products around the world are working, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.

In the $4-million project, the Pacific Homes division of Pacific Building Systems is supplying 48 townhomes for a new development in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. All major structural components – including floors, walls and ceilings – of the homes will be built in Cobble Hill, and then shipped via containers to Mongolia where they will be assembled.

“We’re building everything from the foundation up using B.C. wood, finishings and other building products,” said Ray Greene of Pacific Homes.

Through Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), the Province has been working with the Mongolian government for the past 18 months to adapt its building code to Canadian standards and build capacity for a wood-frame housing sector. This included building two demonstration homes in Ulaanbaatar, and funding the British Columbia Institute of Technology to provide training and technical support to Mongolian officials and developers.

Pacific Building Systems sells prefabricated buildings to clients locally and around the world, including the United States, Korea, Iceland and Israel.

Several major mining projects by Canadian companies are underway in Mongolia and expected to create more demand for new housing as well as public infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and other facilities.

Several wood-frame public buildings are being built as part of the Wenchuan earthquake reconstruction program funded with $8 million contributed by Canada and British Columbia.

Through the earthquake project, Chinese officials in the central part of the country are learning more about the benefits of wood-frame construction and Canadian advanced wood technology.

-------------------------