User:MajorZombie
Value-Added Wood Products in Ontario
[edit]Value-addedwoodproducts in Ontario are the result of combining commodity level products and innovation. Essentially, producing value-added wood products means taking raw materials and turning it into something useful. For example: engineered wood, millwork, cabinets, furniture, tongue depressors or popsicle sticks, just to name a few. Additional processing of a commodity wood product by manufacturers creates a specialty product whose value is more than the original product. These value-added products become part of the secondary sector of our economy.
Forest Industry
[edit]The province’s forest industry is supported mainly by the Northern Ontario boreal forest. These are the expansive and renewable resources that are drawn upon for the creation of value-added products. The geographical area covers 690,000 square kilometers which is roughly 17% of all Canadian forests as well as 2% of the world’s forests. It is estimated that the Ontario landscape is covered by roughly 85 billion trees. The forest industry in Ontario brings in about $10.8 billion dollars in revenue per year. Sixty percent of Ontario’s forest industry is recognized as value-added wood products. In 2005, Ontario’s manufacturing of cabinets and furniture represented $2.2 billion dollars.
Value Added Products
[edit]Value-added products are fabricated for the consumer. With the supply based on primary products, the production of value-added products generate jobs and revenue for many towns. There are numerous populated areas in Ontario supported primarily by value-added saw mills.
Sustainability
[edit]Most companies are doing their own part to help ensure that there is enough lumber within Ontario to support numerous generations to come. Tembec Industries has invested a large amount of time and money into planting trees. Tembec recently celebrated their 250 millionth tree planted in Ontario. In 2001, over 61,000 people were employed in Ontario as a direct result of the value-added wood sector. 94% of these workers reside in Southern Ontario.
There are over 2,000 manufacturers in Ontario producing value-added wood products. Furthermore, there are more than 1000 businesses associated with the value-added wood products. Out of all the Canadian provinces which produce value-added wood products, Ontario ranks first in terms of revenue. The majority of the Ontario’s manufactured wood-related merchandise is exported to the United States. The Northernmost states account for the greatest amount of revenue from Ontario wood exports.
Flakeboard Company Limited recently purchased a value added wood producing company located in Sault Ste. Marie. Formally G-P Flakeboard, a joint partnership of Georgia Pacific, the company has been operating since 1996 and owns the world’s largest continuous medium density fibreboard press.
Tembec Industries is a major company in Ontario and has offices all over North America and France and exports goods all over the world. Tembec manufactures a large amount of pulp & paper and SPF lumber in Ontario. The goods include hardwood flooring, newsprint, and a variety of pulp. Tembec employees over 7,000 people worldwide. Tembec reaches approximately $2.4 billion in sales per year.
Trus Joint Kenora, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser, recently opened a TimberStrand mill in Kenora. The 400,000 square foot plant is the largest of its kind in the world. The $260 million plant manufactures state-of-the-art TimberStrand which is used for many different types of construction, including headers, flange stock, and long-length 2x4s and 2x6s. This plant employs about 200 people. Analysis of employment trends from 1993 to 2002 show an annual growth rate of 5%. The exception being 2002 in which a decline of 3.6% was shown. Overall, an increase of 54% employment in the value-added wood processing is documented.
In the same time period, shipments of value-added wood products increased. In 1993 the revenue made by value-added wood-exports was close to $4.7 billion. In 2002 the market price reached $11.4 billion. This trend surpassed the employment rate by three fold. Comparison of this relation indicates that labour productivity improved due to an increase in capital investment.