British Columbia Lumber and Energy Exports Decline in February

According to a new report from BC Statistics, the impact of COVID-19 has caused exports from British Columbia to decline ~16% in February 2020, when compared to February 2019. The decline was led by drops in lumber and energy. Exports of solid wood products declined 22.4% in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period in 2019. Almost all other wood products including softwood lumber also recorded large drops. For example, exports of pulp and paper slumped 31.3%. Energy exports also experienced a “substantial decrease,” falling 28%. The largest export declines were with Taiwan, 28.2%, South Korea, 41.1%, India 44.6% and 50.2% to the European Union. Exports to the U.S. only declined by 7.7%.