Log exports to China resume Virginia, South Carolina deal involves six-month pilot program By Peter A. Buxbaum, AJOT Last month, a shipping container left the port of Portsmouth, Virginia destined for the port of Shanghai, China, an event which ended a 14-month ban on the export of logs from Virginia and South Carolina to China. The Chinese put the ban in place for hardwood and softwood logs from the two states in April 2011 after finding a worm, the pinewood nematode, that infects pine trees in a number of American log shipments and which kills trees in some parts of the world. The lifting of the ban resulted from a cooperative effort by agencies in both state governments as well as the United States Department of Agriculture. Late in May 2012, China, the world’s largest importer of logs and the second largest market for U.S. timber, set up a six-month pilot program for Virginia and South Carolina that will allow log shipments from the two states to resume under certain restrictions. The original ban applied only to logs, and not to lumber or other manufactured wood products, because the processing of those products kills any pests that may be present. The export of forest products is important to the economies of Virginia and South Carolina, a well as to the U.S. as a whole. In 2011 the value of Virginia’s log exports was estimated at $57 million, down $10 million from 2010, thanks to the ban. Prior to the ban, Virginia was a major east coast supplier of logs to China. South Carolina’s international forest product exports amount to $1.3 billion each year, although raw logs account for less than $10 million of that total. Still, industry officials in South Carolina expressed concern that the ban by China could put a cloud over South Carolina forest products exports and all of its exports generally. Forest products are the number one export by volume from the Port of Charleston and one-third of the total port movements. Forestry represents the top manufacturing segment of the state economy as measured by jobs and wages. The United States as a whole exported over $7.7 billion in forestry products last year, of which around 25 percent landed in China. Seaports in Virginia and South Carolina handled over $500 million in U.S. forestry exports last year. Curtis Struyk, president of Carolina Ocean Lines and a co-founder of the U.S. Lumber Shippers Association, said he thinks his company will be able to export around 25 percent of the number of containers through the Port of Virginia that it did before the ban. Struyk estimated that he had shipped at least 200 containers of logs a week to China using Virginia ports. “I never thought the ban would have lasted this long,” Struyk said. “I am just glad it is over and am looking forward to getting back to business as usual.” The pilot program was initiated on May 24, following a fact-finding trip to Virginia by officials from China’s Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. The three inspectors sent by the Chinese government spent 10 days in the U.S. at the end of April. Their tour wrapped up in South Carolina where it included guided trips through forests, manufacturing plants, paper mills and a visit at the Port of Charleston. Under the program instituted by by the Chinese government, export logs from Virginia and South Carolina were allowed to re-enter China beginning on June 1 provided they underwent enhanced pest treatment and testing protocols under the terms of the pilot program. Logs exported to China during the pilot program must meet all existing export requirements, as well as certain additional requirements regarding fumigations, a quarantine enhanced for pinewood nematode testing, phytosanitary certifications, as well as restricted ports of entry. At the end of the pilot program, if all logs exported to China have met quarantine requirements, China has agreed to formally reopen the market for exports of logs from Virginia and South Carolina. The pilot program restricts the Virginia and South Carolina log exports to two de