HOW PINES GET KILLED?
Mountain pine beetle eats its way through bark and lays eggs. Hitching a ride is blue-staining fungi that will start to feast on the host tree. After hatching, larvae also start munching away and both stages damage the host tree (warning – some ill-written text ahead). In a year, tree is dead or standing zombie and turning indigo in colour.
WHAT HAPPENS TO PINES?
Silently standing pine zombies start to rot slowly. Two years after fungi infestation the process is well on way and trees slowly become worthless. Anyone wanting to benefit from these exotically coloured trees must work fast. Logging, proper treatment and drying can save the bulk of the tree as raw material for various lumber using industries.
WHAT BECOMES OF PINES?
You name it and they make it. Because of its distinctive coloring, beetle-killed wood has the potential of becoming a trend. Lynn and Shane Pont of Quesnel hold trademark for the term – denim pine. They have been promoting the brand and products that are made of it. Floorings have been quite successful and several handcrafted denim pine items, but are these enough to consume massive denim pine supply?
MARKET RESULT OF DENIM PINES
Despite trade dispute, these two parties have every possibility of turning the case into win-win situation. While denim pine is trying to flood lumber markets and lower the prices across market segments, still it is possible that completely new markets will develop for denim pine. If denim pine is able to launch whole new product categories, then it could exist peacefully with other lumber market segments and maybe even create some extra buzz around various wood items. Still two problems remain – firstly, is the denim pine supply too high and unstable, and secondly, how long does it take to develop new denim pine products for buying customers?