Wood product manufacturers throughout the British Columbia province, Canada, will benefit from a new program to provide dedicated access to timber and accelerate the growth of value-added manufacturing, supporting innovation and creating jobs.
For the first time, small and medium-sized secondary manufacturers will have a dedicated fibre supply under a new licensing program. The BC Timber Sales (BCTS) Value-Added Manufacturing Program will be open to facilities producing high-value products, such as mass timber, plywood, veneer, panelling and flooring.
Value-added wood products are increasingly in demand as alternatives to carbon-intensive construction products such as cement. This growing demand has resulted in steady job growth and market expansion and by providing greater certainty of long-term timber supply the new BCTS Program will accelerate further expansion.
The program will be restricted to facilities that have minimal or no forestry tenure and will require that facilities be accredited as a value-added, secondary manufacturer. Initially, BCTS will dedicate 10% of its available timber supply to the program for licensees to bid on. More volume is expected in the future.
Value-added manufacturers prove that B.C.’s forestry industry can get more value and create more jobs for every tree harvested. While overall harvest levels in the forest industry have decreased over the past decade, employment in the value-added sector has grown steadily – by approximately 35% – since 2012. Value-added facilities have also better withstood global market volatility, helping to build a more resilient forest sector.
The new BCTS Program supports other recent initiatives from the Province, such as the $90-million BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund to support capital investments in the value-added sector, and changes to strengthen the Manufactured Forest Product Regulation to limit exports of raw log and unmanufactured lumber.
