The world is running low on cheap wood, Global Wood Summit hears

By Nelson Bennett
Business in Vancouver
October 29, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States, International

Russ Taylor

As a global wood market expert, Russ Taylor is often asked: “Are we running out of wood?” The answer is “no, but…” “Absolutely we’re running out of cheap wood,” he added. …Beetle kill in Europe produced a surplus of 675 million cubic meters of cheap timber, he said — similar to the volumes produced in B.C. due to the Mountain pine beetle infestation. But that bonanza is now coming to end, the same way it did in BC. …He noted that Finland and Sweden are planning to reduce their harvest levels by 25 per cent. Russia implemented a ban on log exports few years ago. The upside of a shrinking global log supply is that it means importing countries will not have the raw supply for their own sawmills, which is good for lumber exporters, like BC. Taylor said he sees improvements on the horizon for the forestry sector, but it’s about five years away.

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