The Truck Loggers Association says they’re seeing evidence of a big problem in the coastal forest industry.
The TLA says they’ve noticed a lot of logging contractors are selling off their equipment, and getting into other lines of work.
One of the companies selling heavy equipment at a recent auction in Nanaimo claims it lost nearly half a million dollars over the last 6 months.
Alternative Forest Operations says it took a hard look at its balance sheet.
“We have five revenue streams. The most capital intensive is stump-to-dump logging and the money just isn’t there anymore,” according to one of the owners, Sig Kemmler. “US housing starts are up, but it’s not affecting rates and now we’re looking at a protracted fire season and a weak log market.”
David Elstone of Roberts Creek is the Executive Director of the TLA.
Elstone says the forest industry is broken when sales are up to China, and US housing starts are improving, but contractors feel they have to get out of the business.
