10% in the second quarter compared to the first
At the moment, including British Columbia, about 11 million m3 of unprocessed logs are being shipped every year to China (about 70% of the total). This represents an increase of 30% over 2012-2013. And this trend is confirmed in 2014, when in the first months of this year, exports were up 14%, followed by a further increase of 10% in the second quarter compared to the first.
The states of northwestern USA are the main contributors to exports (53% of the total), followed by British Columbia (41%). This phenomenon is now spreading in the south of the United States, where export of yellow pine logs rose 130% in the first five months of 2014. These exports, destined mainly to China and India, increased share from 2% to 6% of the US total in just two years.
''Half of forest harvesting on the west coast of the US and Canada are going as unprocessed logs to China. Volumes increased significantly in 3 years and log prices follow the same progression,'' said Darren Hadlock of the Quadco company. This boom in log exports to China have great consequences for forest owners. Thus, prices of Douglas jumped 78% since 2009 and 17% since 2012. The price surge of hemlock is even more impressive: +93% since 2009 and 18% since 2012 (see table below).
Manufacturers of forestry machines are ''rubbing their hands''. This renewed activity is increasing their business. ''After the 2008 crisis, our clients had rounded back. But today we are witnessing a renewal of our machinery fleet. On the northwest sector of which I am responsible, we went from 10 heads sold in 2009 to 60 in 2014,'' says Darren Hadlock, who also speaks about an explosion in orders spanning on over 4 months now.