B.C.’s Interior lumber companies, led by West Fraser Timber, are now the largest in the world despite the devastating collapse of wood products markets, according to a survey on the global lumber sector.

Wood Markets International, a monthly Vancouver publication, says in its current issue that West Fraser alone at the top as the world’s largest lumber producer, a spot it captured for the first time by maintaining productivity in 2008 while other global giants faltered.

West Fraser replaced Tacoma-based Weyerhaeuser, now No. 2, as the world’s largest.

Wood Markets International lists B.C.’s Canfor Corp. No.3. Finnish company Stora-Enso No. 4, and B.C. company Tolko Industries No. 5.

Weyerhaeuser has shut down mills and sold off assets, particularly its Australian mills as it tries to reposition itself in the global market.

B.C.’s big three companies have focussed mainly on solid wood products.

“B.C. has three of the top five globally largest softwood lumber producers in the world, which is quite a coup,” Taylor said.

But with lumber prices below break-even, being big has become “a challenge all to itself,” he said.

Taylor said B.C. has emerged as a powerhouse because companies here have specialized in lumber. The best lumber companies tend to be either private or well-managed public companies, he said, because of the high degree of technical expertise it takes to become a top-flight producer.

“It’s not really that easy to efficiently create a square product like lumber or plywood out of a round log,” he said.

Despite obstacles at its Canadian mills like the softwood export tax of 15 per cent and the mountain pine beetle infestation, West Fraser kept its production levels almost as high in 2008 as 2007, when markets were stronger. It also began increasing production at mills in the U.S. South that it acquired in 2006.

Taylor said the advantage of size may not be evident today, with dozens of the province’s mills curtailed and thousands of workers laid off, but when lumber markets turn producers here will “really break loose.”

B.C.’s top three companies made 10.7 billion board feet of lumber in 2008, accounting for 60 per cent of the 17.7 billion board feet produced by the world’s top five sawmilling companies.

West Fraser senior vice-president Larry Hughes concurred that being big in this market has its challenges.

“To some extent, being the guy who produces the most lumber when lumber is losing money might not be the badge that you want.”

He said West Fraser doesn’t keep score, but North American lumber markets are the largest in the world. The largest company in Canada is always going to be close to being the largest in North America.

“We sometimes forget that this is the centre of the universe for the lumber industry. When it’s hurting, it’s not so much fun. But it will come back.”