Booming demand from China for Northwest logs & lumber

Tom Banse and KPLU News Staff — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:01:43 +0000

There’s good news and bad news for logging and saw-milling jobs in the Northwest. The bad news is new figures out show construction spending dropped in February to the lowest level in more than a decade. The good news is that timber demand from China is soaring.

Russia has traditionally been China’s main wood supplier. An export tax by the Russians combined with the expanding Chinese economy has created an opening for exporters on the West Coast.