South Korea is a key market for BC wood products, diversifying export risk for the provincial forest sector. The nation’s reliance on imported softwood, combined with government support for green building and the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, creates ongoing opportunities for B.C. wood products. Additionally, value-added wood products present niche market potential.
Supported by FII, the Canada Wood Group leads market development programming in South Korea and continues work to expand opportunities for Canadian forest products, particularly in the construction sector. Efforts are focused on removing barriers to wood use, identifying and supporting market opportunities for Canadian wood products and developing and maintaining industry relationships.
Modular homes in South Korea have historically been targeted to the premium end of the marketplace, making the homes a niche market. Namuro Homes sees a much larger mainstream opportunity and is appealing to it with a new home—TORY (meaning small, yet robust)—that offers greater value without sacrificing looks or features.
Developed with input from Canada Wood, the TORY home cuts costs by using a 2×6 framework rather than the heavy timber typically used for modular homes. Cladding is premium BC cedar, with high-quality doors, windows and interior finishing rounding out the homes. The result is a product that cuts costs, but not quality.
Ongoing work to support building code changes is an important part of the market development program, as it opens up new markets to wood use. For example, a recent building code change in South Korea, facilitated by Canada Wood, will open up the low-rise multi-family (apartment) residential market to wood construction. Previously, due to concerns about sound passing between units, regulations required thick concrete floors in multi-family residential buildings of three to four stories (the Dagagu and Dasaedae markets). This made wood-frame construction less competitive to other building systems.
Industry professionals thought the regulation went too far, but lacked a coordinated response. Canada Wood helped the industry build a case for change, including technical input from the National Institute of Forest Science, and industry support from the Korean Wood Construction Association.
Regulators accepted the new research and changed the code. Since the multi-family sector makes up 80 percent of all new home construction, this change is a significant win for Canada Wood.
Mass timber construction is quickly gaining interest in South Korea, with an increasing number of architects and developers interested in the technology. Capacity, however, has been an issue as there are limited facilities and skilled workers. This, in turn, impacts sales of wood products. Canada Wood closed this gap by introducing builders to nail laminated timber (NLT) using BC softwood, a construction approach that can be ramped up much faster than other systems. This gave BC an edge over foreign competitors in supplying mass timber.
With supply established, Canada Wood then worked with local officials on several high-profile NLT buildings at Jinju City, one of the first uses of mass timber in South Korea. The comprehensive urban redevelopment has won a number of national awards for building design and is a showcase for wood’s potential as a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to concrete and steel.
This partnership firmly established BC as a leader in mass timber technology and the sustainably sourced softwood needed to prefabricate mass timber building components.
Led by BC Wood, efforts to boost sales of BC value-added wood products in South Korea are succeeding through targeting niche markets within larger market segments (such as secondary homes within the larger home construction sector). This approach maximizes the value of the marketing effort by reaching out to targeted individual buyers and developers.
Niche sectors now being developed in South Korea include:
