EFFORTS are underway to diversify and strengthen British Columbia’s forestry sector with a new office in London, England.
The office will be a hub for B.C.’s forestry sector to expand its market share across Europe and the United Kingdom.
“British Columbia is the second largest exporter of softwood lumber in the world, and with U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued attacks on our forestry workers and economy, we are not sitting idly by,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests, on Monday. “We are making it easier for our friends across the pond to buy our world-class lumber, and we are supporting our forestry sector to get boots on the ground in more growing wood markets around the world.”
B.C.’s Crown corporation, Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), will be expanding its presence to the U.K. to work with the forestry industry there, around Europe, and eventually, select markets in the Middle East and northern Africa, to grow B.C.’s forestry sector footprint internationally. This new office will give B.C.’s forestry sector a representative to help expand growing wood markets in the U.K. and Europe.
“Expanding into the U.K. reflects FII’s commitment to building resilient, diversified markets for B.C. forest products,” said Rick Doman, board chair, FII. “The current trade-impeding U.S. duties and tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber underscore the importance of reducing reliance on any single market. Together with industry, we’re determined to re-establish B.C.’s foothold in the U.K. and drive growth across Europe and the Middle East and North Africa region.”
This is the newest FII office, joining offices in China, India and Vietnam, and industry-led offices in Japan and South Korea. This international network of offices advances the use of wood as a building material around the world and positions British Columbia as a preferred supplier.
Through export development programs and trade missions, FII expands wood markets, while showcasing B.C.’s high-quality wood products and attracting global investment back to B.C. FII leads research on advancements in wood technology, working with international governments and policymakers on policies and regulations to encourage wood use in new and existing markets.
The Province has taken action to support the expansion of forestry markets domestically and internationally. The expansion into the U.K. and Europe is part of a strategy to expand B.C.’s market footprint in established and emerging wood markets around the world. Market diversification helps the sector be more resilient to global market swings or market instability caused by U.S. trade actions on softwood lumber and other wood products.
Bruce St. John, president, Canada Wood, said: “The opening of FII’s U.K. office marks an exciting step in expanding trade diversification efforts across the U.K. and other parts of Europe. We look forward to working together to strengthen the Canada brand and capture new market opportunities.”
Kim Haakstad, president and chief executive officer, Council of Forest Industries, said: “Expanding B.C.’s international presence through the new U.K. office is a logical next step toward growing and diversifying markets for our forest products. We’re ready to work with the Province to make this initiative a success – opening new doors for B.C. forest products and sharing our story of quality, innovation, and sustainability with the world.”
Brian Hawrysh, CEO, BC Wood Specialties Group, said: “BC Wood congratulates the Forestry Innovation Investment and the Government of B.C. on the initiative to open a new office in the U.K. At this critical point in time, B.C.’s forest products industry is very aware of the need to diversify its international markets. We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with FII to achieve this important objective.”
Learn More:
* To learn more about the work of FII towards market diversification for B.C.’s forestry sector, visit: https://www.bcfii.ca/our-key-
BACKGROUNDER
Softwood lumber imports to the United Kingdom
The U.K. is the largest importer of softwood lumber in Europe. While the U.K. has a domestic forestry sector, it does not meet the needs of domestic building demand. The domestic U.K. forestry sector is limited to providing 3-4 million cubic metres of lumber production, requiring an average of 6-7 million cubic metres of lumber to be imported by the U.K. each year.
The U.K. relies heavily on European supply to meet their lumber demand; however, factors are affecting the European lumber supply, including:
* The end of a beetle-kill harvest following a spruce bark beetle epidemic in Central and Nordic Europe, which created a temporary excess of spruce lumber in Europe, which has ended.
* The U.K has banned the import of Russian wood products, which previously averaged around 5% of its foreign lumber imports.
New construction markets in the United Kingdom
In recent years, several factors have led to a major shift to build with wood in the U.K., including:
* wood being a low-carbon building material;
* wood being less prone to heat loss in the winters; and
* wood being easier to construct off-site resulting in lower costs and labour requirements.
The housing prefabrication market is growing in the U.K., and when combined with B.C.’s leadership in research on prefabrication construction and the growth B.C. companies specializing in wood prefabrication, there is an opportunity for B.C.’s forestry sector to meet the growing needs of this U.K. industry.
Similar to Canada and B.C., the U.K. government has made commitments to building new homes. The U.K. government has set the target of 1.5 million new housing starts over five years, which would be a more than 50% increase in construction over this period. The U.K. government is also committed to retrofitting its aging housing stock and has made commitments to building more social housing.
Beneficial trading relationship with the United Kingdom
Canada and the U.K. have signed the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement, following the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. As of January 1, 2024, 99% of tariffs between Canada and the U.K. have been eliminated, including no tariffs on softwood lumber and forest products from Canada.
