Coming next week, BC Wood will be participating for the second time at the Seoul Living Design Fair at COEX in the Korean Market. Last year, the small, but targeted exhibit showcased high-end designed furniture from British Columbia and was extremely well received. Members of Korea’s design community were very interested in the Design Canada theme and had a particular interest in the use of wood as a material. This year, we are taking a larger space and showcasing more companies and new products at Korea’s key design trade show of the year. Check back with the next issue of Wood Connections for the results of this event. For more information, contact David Pao at  dpao@bcwood.com.

BC Wood is organizing participation at 28th MBC Construction Expo at the SETEC convention centre in Seoul, Korea from January 27-30, 2012. This building and construction show will have over 350 exhibitors and an expected 150,000 attendees. These attendees will include builders, architects, home owners, distributors, and construction material importers. This trade event offers an excellent opportunity for BC Wood members to tap into the Korean market. Members that would benefit from this event include manufacturers and suppliers of remanufactured lumber products, prebuilt homes, kitchen cabinets, log home and timber frame homes, and engineered wood products.

With a deep rooted history and affinity for building with wood, South Korea remains an important export market for British Columbia’s value-added wood products. In 2010, South Korea represented British Columbia’s fifth largest offshore market with 278,000 m³ of wood product exports. South Korea has experienced strong economic growth and recovery, in light of the recent global downturns, with growing affluence and continuously improving living standards. Korea is far from the labour intensive economy it once was and is now a global leader in design and technological trends. Korean consumers are growing more sophisticated and are looking into higher quality imported products that are environmentally compliant.

For more information about the show, please contact David Pao at  dpao@bcwood.com

September 8th to 10th in Whistler – Exhibit space is sold-out and you can click here for a current listing of participating manufacturers and suppliers.

You can access the current list of registered buyers from Europe, Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Mexico, United States, Vietnam and Taiwan and although we are still waiting for a few more confirmations, I believe our buyer list is 90% complete.  Click here for the listings.

The overall GBM Schedule of Events can be accessed by clicking here.

You can also check out BC Wood’s website ( www.bcwood.com) for GBM info, lists of past buyers and exhibitors, and great event photos from 2009 and 2010.

As many of you know, we are also delivering the Living and Building with Wood Forum on Thursday, September 8th, as part of the GBM Program.  Participants include: architects & designers; municipal planners; engineers; developers and builders and will be attending to learn about how to use wood in both commercial and residential projects.  They will also have the opportunity to meet the manufacturers and suppliers during the program at the GBM, who supply the materials to help them successfully complete their contracts. To see the list of registered participants, click here.

We must thank our partners and sponsors, without whom this program could not be delivered: Platinum Partners: Natural Resources Canada Wood Export Program (CWEP); Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd. (FII); and Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC); our Silver Partners: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau (CSSB); and our Bronze Partners: the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and HSBC Canada. Our Corporate Sponsors this year include The Waldun Group, Howe Sound / Pallin Timber and BFL Canada Insurance Services Inc.

To those of you already registered, we look forward to seeing you on the Mountain!

For more information on what registration opportunities are still available, please contact me at rwalker@bcwood.com  or call me at 604-882-7100.

BC Wood recently completed its annual tradeshow in the South Korean market exhibiting at the 14^th Seoul International Housing Material and Decoration Fair. The show was well attended this year with 178 exhibitors and over 70,000 visitors. 34 of these exhibitors were from overseas including 6 booths representing Canadian manufacturers of wood products. This is an industry only event and focuses on building and construction professionals in the Korean market. In addition to Canada, other countries that had a significant presence at the show included Germany, Japan, New Zealand, China, Denmark, and the United States.

BC Wood and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) worked together to promote Canadian wood products at the show and through a series of seminars and presentations. Specific products that were effectively showcased in the Canada Wood booth to the Korean market included Western Red Cedar, specialty lumber, and building products. At the show, BC Wood staff and members gathered leads, made new contacts, and recruited potential Korean wood buyers for the upcoming Global Buyers Mission in Whistler.

Also at the show, CMHC coordinated and delivered several technical seminars and presentations focused on integrated building design and community planning. BC Wood and CMHC presented to various associations, architects, and organizations that are key influencers in the Korean building and construction industry including KRIEA, KWCA, KWBDA, and representatives from Gimpo City.

In addition to promoting products at the show, BC Wood and CMHC actively promoted products and services in three major industry newspapers prior to the show, including several ads featuring Canadian companies. After the show, BC Wood organized several business networking meetings for members with key players in the Korean wood industry including importers, distributors, and builders.

For more information on this market, you can email me at dpao@bcwood.com or call 604-882-7100.

15 Korean Buyers attended the 2010 Global Buyers Mission. They were comprised of importers, wholesalers and key purchasers of value added wood products for interior and exterior finishing materials, windows, doors, roofing, kitchen cabinets, decking materials, dimension, specialty lumber, etc.

Right before the GBM, the Korean buyers visited with BC Wood members over three days. They went on site visits, toured product facilities, learned about the different products used for buildings such as the Olympic Oval. They had a chance to visit Wishing Tree Model Homes, Pacific Rim, Sauder Moulding, Mitsui Homes, Teal Jones Group, Interfor, Acorn Mill, Fraserview Cedar Products, RONA shop, construction sites in Squamish, and took part in an Eco Forest tour in Whistler.

Mostly the Korean buyers are satisfied with the Global Buyers Mission and their meetings with a selection of diverse wooden products suppliers. BC Wood’s Korean market rep., JC, will follow up continuously with the buyers to connect with the members.