Major Primary Timber Processing Facilities In British Columbia 2003 Ministry of Forests Economics and Trade Major Primary Timber Processing Facilities in British Columbia 2003 Economics and Trade Branch Ministry of Forests Victoria, B.C. July 2004 Foreword This is the 2003 edition of the Ministry of Forests' Major Primary Timber Processing Facilities in British Columbia and refers to timber processing mills that have primary log processing capability and which operated during 2003. Coverage does not include re-manufacturing plants. Pulp and paper mills and panel plants are included in this report even though some do not have primary log processing capabilities. Where a mill produces more than one product (e.g. lumber and plywood; lumber and paper), each operation is listed in the respective sections of the report. Reported information was gathered by surveying individual processing mills. If a mill did not submit a response, mill specific information reported in trade publications, directories and corporate annual reports may have been used. In some cases Ministry of Forest staff provided estimates based on their knowledge of the operation and information reported in previous years. This year’s report includes a section analyzing the aggregate data gathered through this survey. The Forest Regions and Forest Districts identified for each mill reflect the new Ministry of Forests organizational structure, effective April 1, 2003, consisting of headquarters in Victoria, three regions and 29 districts. This report is available free of charge on the Ministry of Forests’ Internet site at: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/het/ Request for hard copies of this report can be made to: Economics and Trade Branch Ministry of Forests P.O. Box 9514, Station Prov Gov, Victoria, B.C. V8W 9C2 FAX (250) 387-5050 Phone (250) 387-8610 [email protected] The report is updated annually. Please report any errors or omissions to one of the above locations. 1 Acknowledgements The cooperation of mill personnel who responded to the Ministry of Forests’ survey is gratefully acknowledged. The important role played by Ministry of Forest regional and district staff in securing mill responses is also gratefully acknowledged. 2 Table of Contents PAGE Map of Forest Regions and Districts effective April 1, 2003......................... 4 Analysis ....................................................................................................... 5 Chip Mills ..................................................................................................... 15 Log Home Mills ............................................................................................ 17 Lumber Mills ................................................................................................ 21 Pole and Post Mills ...................................................................................... 31 Pulp and Paper Mills .................................................................................... 35 Shake and Shingle Mills............................................................................... 39 Veneer, Plywood, and Other Panel Mills...................................................... 43 Other Primary Processing Mills.................................................................... 47 Abbreviations for Products CHP - Chips PNL - Panel CPST - Chopsticks PLP - Pulp GTR - Guitar PLY - Plywood LBR - Lumber SS - Shake and Shingle LVL - Laminated Veneer Lumber PPR - Paper MDF - Medium Density Fibreboard VNR - Veneer OSB - Oriented Strand Board UTI - Utility Pole PLE - Other Pole PST - Fence Post 3 4 ANALYSIS Introduction This new section of the report presents summary statistics derived from the 2003 mill survey as well as some time series data for British Columbia lumber mills and some interregional comparisons. First, fibre supply and use in the province in 2003 is examined through a series of pie charts. Then, selected statistics for medium and large lumber mills for 1990 to 2003 are presented in a table and two charts. Finally, some interregional comparisons of lumber mill size are presented. Wood Fibre Supply and Use in British Columbia, 2003 Figure 1 shows estimated log use in British Columbia by mill type. Lumber mills are estimated to use 77% of the log harvest and imports in 2003. Veneer and OSB mills were the next largest user of logs at 10%. Figure 2 estimates product recovery from lumber mills. It shows that 46% of the volume of wood entering lumber mills is converted to lumber, with the remaining 54% being converted to chips, sawdust and shavings. Figure 3 combines figures 1 and 2 with a chart showing fibre used by pulp mills. In 2003, 95% of the fibre used by pulp mills is in the form of chips and sawdust obtained from other mills, while 5% is from logs chipped in the pulpmill. 5 Figure 1: Estimated British Columbia Primary Log Use - 2003 Number of Estimated Log Use By: Mills Volume Used Per Cent (000 m³) Lumber Mills 196 55,665 76.5% Log Exports 4,102 5.6% Other Mills 84 830 1.1% Shake & Shingle Mills 44 752 1.0% Veneer/OSB Mills 23 7,177 9.9% Pulp Mill Wood Rooms 22 1,493 2.1% Chip Mills 16 2,748 3.8% Total Use 72,767 100.0% 2003 Harvest (estimate) 75,500 Less Waste and Rejects (estimate) 1,533 Plus Log Imports 399 Total Available 74,366 Difference 1,599 2.1% Estimated Log Primary Use - 72.8 million m³ Log Exports 5.6% Other Mills 1.1% Shake & Shingle Mills 1.0% Veneer/OSB Mills 9.9% Pulp Mill Wood Lumber Mills Rooms 76.5% 2.1% Chip Mills 3.8% Sources: Survey data and Statistics Canada, on line trade data 6 Figure 2: Estimates of Product Recovery from Lumber Mills - 2003 Units Number of Mills 196 Log Input ('000 m3) 55,665 Lumber Output Lumber Output (nominal measure) (mfbm) 14,686 Lumber Recovery Factor (mfbm/m3) 0.264 Conversion Factor * (m3/mfbm) 1.737 = Actual Volume of Lumber Produced ('000 m3) 25,509 As Per Cent of Log Input (%) 46% By Product Chip Output (from Lumber Mills) By Product Chip Ouptut (000 bdu) 7,783 By Product Chip Recovery Factor (bdu/'000 m3) 140 Conversion Factor (m3/bdu) 2.78 = Volume of Chips Produced ('000 m3) 21,636 As Per Cent of Log Input (%) 39% Sawdust and Shavings - Estimated Volume ('000 m3) 8,520 As Per Cent of Log Input (%) 15% Estimated Product Recovery from Lumber Mills By-product chips 39% Sawdust & Shavings 15% Lumber 46% Sources: Survey data and Forintek Canada Corp., "Conversion Factors for the Forest Products Industry in Western Canada", Special Publication No. SP-24R, 1985, Table 21. Notes: 7 * This conversion factor is to convert lumber output in nominal board feet to cubic metres solid wood equivalent. mfbm = thousand board feet; m3 = cubic metres; bdu = bone dry unit = 2400 pounds. Figure 3: Estimated British Columbia Log and Fibre Use - 2003 Estimated Log Use - 72.8 million m³ Log Exports 6% Other Mills 1% Shake & Shingle Mills 1% Lumber Mills Veneer/OSB Mills 76% 10% Pulp Mill Wood Rooms 2% Chip Mills 4% sawdust By-product 8% chips pulp mill 39% wood rooms 5% Sawdust & Shavings 15% chips 87% Lumber 46% Fibre Used in Pulp Mills 11.8 million BDUs or 31.8 million m³ (solid weight equivalent) Logs Used in Lumber Mills - 55.7 million m³ 8 Time Series Data for Medium and Large Lumber Mills Table 1 shows number of mills, lumber capacity, production, input, and estimated lumber recovery factors for medium and large sized (over 40 million board feet per year) sawmills in British Columbia from 1990 to 20031. There were 98 of these sized mills operating in 2003, accounting for about 97% of lumber production2. Figure 4 shows the distribution of lumber mills in BC by mill size3. Figure 4: Distribution of British Columbia Lumber Mill Size - 2003 120 98 100 80 60 50 Number of Mills 40 23 18 20 3 0 0-40 40-100 100-200 200-300 over 300 Capacity (million board feet per year) 1 The times series data was developed from historical databases from the Ministry of Forests’ annual mill survey and only covers those mills with annual capacity of 40 million board feet or more. 2 This publication also includes a large number of small mills: 98 mills with capacity under 40 million board feet operating in 2003, of which half were under 5 million board foot per year capacity. 3 Tolko’s Louis Creek sawmill (estimated capacity 98 million board feet per year) burned down partway through 2003 and will not be rebuilt. It is included in the 2003 statistics, but will not be in later years. 9 Although total sawmill capacity for these mills has remained relatively constant over the time period at about 15 billion board feet per year, Figure 5 show that as the number of mills has fallen over the last decade, the average capacity per mill has increased markedly. Figure 6 shows that the lumber recovery factor (the volume of lumber mills get from a cubic metre of log input) is increasing over time, and that capacity utilization fluctuates year to year and does not show a clear trend. 10 Table 1: British Columbia Lumber Mill Summary Statistics for Medium and Large Sized Mills % change 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1990-2003 Number of Mills 131 126 128 131 126 121 120 120 122 113 113 114 107 98 -25% Total Capacity (billion board feet per year) 14.9 14.7 14.6 14.9 14.4 14.2 14.2 14.7 15.2 14.8 14.7 15.3 15.6 15.1 1% Total Output (billion board feet per year) 13.7 12.8 13.7 13.4 13.5 13.3 13.5 12.9 12.8 13.5 13.6 12.8 14.3 14.2 3% Total Input (million cubic metres per year) 59.2 55.7 59.2 56.8 57.2 55.8 55.9 53.0 50.9 53.0 53.8 49.7 54.0 53.1 -10% Average Capacity (million board feet per mill per year) 114 117 114 114 114 117 118 123 124 131 130 134 145 154 36% Capacity Utilization (output divided by capacity) 92% 87% 94% 90% 94% 94% 95% 88% 84% 91% 92% 84% 92% 94% 2% Lumber Recovery Factor ('000 board feet per cubic metre) 0.232 0.229 0.232 0.235 0.236 0.239 0.241 0.244 0.251 0.254 0.253 0.258 0.264 0.267 15% Medium and large sized mills defined as having capacity of 40 million board feet per year or greater.