By Leo Quigley, AJOT In 2001 there was a long and nasty softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S., and the resulting countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. on softwood lumber closed many of the mills in British Columbia and forced the Province of B.C. and Ottawa, in 2002, to explore other markets for lumber, particularly China. Since that time the Asian markets, especially the Chinese market has grown gradually, encouraged by trade missions and delegations that were intent not only on establishing improved trade relationships with the Chinese, but to demonstrate the advantages of wood as compared to cement as a construction material. Now, a decade later, those learning initiatives and demonstration projects are beginning to bear fruit and, last year, shipments of lumber to China; which were zero in 2001; climbed to over Cdn$1.0 billion or nearly a third of British Columbia’s lumber exports. Reaching this milestone prompted the B.C. Government to issue a statement pointing out that: “the value of British Columbia’s softwood lumber exports to China jumped 60 per cent in 2011, surpassing the $1-billion mark for the first time. Since 2003, lumber exports to China have risen by more than 1,500%. “Total softwood lumber exports increased by seven per cent last year to $3.8 billion. The United States remains the largest market for B.C lumber, accounting for almost $1.6 billion of exports. “Japan, the recipient of $648 million worth of B.C. lumber in 2011, is the third-largest market followed by South Korea. Exports to South Korea rose by 30% to $55.6 million, while those to India climbed 327% to $10.6 million.” The statement said that since 2003, at the start of the joint provincial-federal-industry market development program in China, exports to that country have risen from $69 million to almost $1.1 billion in 2011. “In spite of the global economic slowdown, it is expected that B.C. exports of softwood lumber to China will continue to grow in 2012 as the Chinese government pursues its aggressive housing strategy,” the release said. Much of this increase in lumber exports was due to containerized lumber exports through the Port of Prince Rupert. Speaking at a Transportation Summit sponsored by the B.C. Chamber of Commerce in Vancouver June 5, 2012, Don Krusel, President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority told an audience of transportation executives that annual container exports at the Port of Prince Rupert jumped all the way to 233,000 TEUs in 2011; an increase of over 500% in two years. Interestingly, the products that were exported in those containers were primarily lumber and wood products. Krusel said: “73% of the containers exported through Fairview last year were lumber, pulp, logs, and other wood products. “This was at a time when economic conditions in the traditional U.S. market would have dictated a disastrous employment story in BC’s interior,” he said. “Would that have been the case without the development of new port container capacity on the North coast? I would suggest not. “Although the U.S. will always be a critical market for Canada, the spotlight now is clearly on China and the emerging Asian markets, which are now driving global economic growth. “This is good news for British Columbia and Western Canada. “But this good news depends on our ability to get our products to China and to other emerging Asian markets in a timely and cost effective way. To this end, the key objective of the Port of Prince Rupert is to facilitate this trade and unlock the economic opportunities it affords,” he said. Yearly statistics at Port Metro Vancouver also showed increases in shipments of wood products (50%) and woodchips (57%) last year. Speaking at the same Transportation Summit, Robin Sylvester, President and CEO, Port Metro Vancouver, said container traffic through Canada’s West Coast is expected to double within the next 10 to 15 years and nearly triple by 2030. “We expect an additional 4 million TEU’s of container capacity in both the