Pilot Program for Pine Log Exports to China Resume from Charleston
Shipments of southern yellow pine logs to China resumed for the first time since a Chinese government ban was lifted (see ITT's Online Archives 12052423). The first shipment from either South Carolina or Virginia in over a year left the Port of Charleston's Wando Welch Terminal this week, port officials said. The 20 containers containing about 800 logs are part of a pilot program with the Chinese government to restore limited log trade, they said.
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The pilot program followed negotiations between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Chinese government about pest control. The pilot program requires more stringent sampling and fumigation. The logs were exported by Garley Forest Products, a Mississippi-based company that was recently established in the Charleston area to take advantage of the Chinese pilot program. Leigh Allen, president of Garley, said the pilot program means additional steps to prepare the logs for export, but it's worth it to reopen the log trade with China. Allen said his company is also shipping to India and Vietnam.