The Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) say that increased competition is a good thing. Especially when it comes to B.C. Timber Sales Licenses.
MFLNRO media spokesperson Cheekwan Ho said to Lakes District News, that a B.C. Timber Sales license has been issued to Chinese company, Yaorun Wood Co. Ltd. to harvest approximately 55,000 cubic metres near Houston in the Morice Timber Supply Area. The license was awarded to Yaorun Wood Ltd. in February of this year and will expire in August 2012.
Ho said that awarding a B.C. Timber Sales License to a Chinese company is not a common occurrence, however any foreign company is able obtain a license as long as they are an individual or corporation registered as a B.C. Timber Sales enterprise in category one, two and three under the B.C. Timber Sales regulations.
"We believe that this is the first case of a Chinese based company harvesting timber in the area," she said.
According to Ho, increased competition is a good thing when it comes to B.C. Timber Sales opportunities.
"One of B.C. Timber Sales’ main objectives is to provide a credible reference point for costs and pricing of timber harvested from public land in B.C.," she said.
Additional timber harvesting activity also means more logging jobs and Ho said it is likely that local contractors pick up the extra work.
No other international companies are currently logging in the local area, however Ho said, "United States based company Hampton Affiliates relies on local timber supplies to feed the two sawmills it owns and operates in the Burns Lake area."
She added that providing international company's such as Yaorun Wood Ltd. with a B.C. Timber Sales License has a positive effect on local timber supply areas.
"[They are] able to recover additional economic value from mountain pine beetle attacked stands," she added.
To gain a B.C. Timber Sales License, foreign companies are required to go through the same process as any other registered party interested in a license.
"The company submits a tender package once the license has been advertised. Tenders are then reviewed and the licence is awarded to the best bid that meets all the requirements," Ho said. The successful applicant must also meet the Environmental Management System standard to be recognized as a certified forestry operator and have a forest management certification system standard and a SAFE Company certification.
Jun Ma from Yaorun Wood Co. Ltd. said to Lakes District News that the company is only interested in logging mountain pine beetle killed timber.
"From the timber sales we have right now, over 95 per cent of them are pine beetle killed. For these woods, we are planning to export part of them to China and part of them, with better quality, the local mill might want them." Ma said.
Ma went on to say, "We can sell them to the local mill and probably some part of the timber. If it costs too much to export as raw logs and the local mills are not interested in them, then we probably will ask some small sawmills to mill them for us and then export to China."
According to Ma, Yaorun decided to buy their own Timber Sales License due to their need for a stable supply of timber.
"Yaorun used to buy logs from local brokers, but when the price of logs go up, the brokers refused to sell any logs to Yaorun, even though we have a contract with them. That is why Yaorun wants our own stable log supplies," Ma said.
Yaorun has hired a local logging contractor and are also planning to hire more contractors in the area.
"Even the interpreters that Yaorun hired are landed immigrants in Canada. The only person who holds a working visa in Yaorun is our boss, Mr. Liu," Ma added.