Chinese demand for B.C. lumber takes off
Link: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=08d079c6-eea7-41db-8b3f-ea97c900d0a7Summary
This article talks about the sudden demand of B.C lumber from China. It was reported last week that they took on 10 million board feet of wood destined for Asia. Longshoremen loaded the Saga Wave with the largest load of lumber to leave Port Alberni in nine years, and half of it - five million board feet - was going to China. The article states that China's sudden emergence as a new major market for B.C. lumber is filling some of the void left when the U.S. housing market crashed two years ago, resulting in huge spread sawmill closures and worker layoffs here. B.C. exports to China have doubled since 2007, which was double 2006 exports. As a result, the forests ministry is forecasting 945 million board feet this year, but Forests Minister Pat Bell said he believes exports will reach the one billion mark.
Connections
The connection between the article and the concepts in chapter one is scarcity. Through out the years, China has been vastly developing using tons of woods and other resources. Therefore its scarce now and they are realizing the consequences of deforestation and are required to import foreign lumber. The high demand of woods moves lumber closer to an abundant resource
Reflection
In my opinion, I believe its a positive act towards lumber industry in B.C due to the huge demand by countries in Asia, especially China. Moreover, it opens up more opportunity for B.C lumber to be sold as the industry dispute with United States. Therefore, in the long run it will help increase B.C's lumber industry and provide more job positions in British Columbia.
