British Columbia’s (BC) timber industry has achieved another milestone as it seeks to expand sales of its products to the massive Chinese market.
BC timber truss roofing systems have been used to replace eight ageing roofs in an apartment complex in Nanjing City, according to provincial forests minister Pat Bell.
Nanjing is the third city, following Shanghai and Qingdao, to introduce the wood truss roofing system.
“We are excited to extend the use of this cost-effective, energy efficient technology into the Yangtze Delta, home to more than 200 million Chinese people,” he said.
“This opens up a huge market for BC forest products and helps us diversify our exports beyond the US market.”
Most Chinese live in low-rise concrete apartment blocks dating from the 1950s and 60s and an estimated tens of thousands of buildings now need upgrades, including new roofs. The market potential is estimated at up to 2.8 million m³ per year for spruce-pine-fir lumber in roof systems.
