British Columbia Exports Decline 15% in First Quarter of 2020 – Lumber Industry Hit Hard

British Columbia’s exports in the first quarter of 2020 fell by almost -15% when compared to the first quarter of 2019. The result of the rail blockade protests earlier in the year and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One of the hardest hit sectors was the lumber industry. Year to date logs exports have declined nearly -75%, while softwood lumber exports dropped -20.1% and softwood plywood/veneer shipments fell -15.7%. Gains were made, however, in value-added +7.1% and other solid-wood product exports +8.8%. The solid-wood declines, however, were not limited to exports to the U.S. Exports to China year-to date have declined -51.6% and to Japan -33.6%.