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Since the Russian Ministry of industry and Trade issued a ban on the export of timber to EU countries and the United States at the beginning of the year, the chain reaction caused by the situation between Russia and Ukraine has made the trade of Russian timber more difficult.

Decline in Russian timber production

Under the direct impact of the Russia Ukraine incident, the export of forest products from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine "decreased sharply". According to the data, in the first quarter of 2022, the timber harvest in Russia decreased for the first time since 2019, from 70.7 million cubic meters to 68.9 million cubic meters, a decrease of about 2.4%.

Among them, Leningrad and Irkutsk, whose products were mainly exported to European countries, became the record holder for the decline of logging volume, with a decline rate of 34% and 11.5% respectively.

Timber export to China slows down

However, the situation in Russia and Ukraine is not only so important to the forest products market. With more and more countries imposing restrictions on Russia, timber transportation in some places outside Europe has also stopped, which has led to a slowdown in the export of forests and wood products in those countries that continue to trade with Russia.

In April this year, Russia's timber exports to China fell by 11% year-on-year to 1.04 million cubic meters. According to lespomanalytics, the export value increased by 6% to USD 250million. The average price of timber rose by 18% to US $239 per cubic meter.

The situation in Russia and Ukraine has had a significant overall impact on the global timber and forest products market. With the continuous tightening of Russian timber supply, the price, availability and supply chain of global timber and forest products may change.

Various measures to promote China Russia timber trade

Recently, the Russian Consulate General in Harbin announced that the government of Fuyuan, a border city between Russia and China, has approved to provide preferential conditions to enterprises engaged in the import of Russian timber, coal and agricultural products. The preferential policies cover part of the transportation costs, support measures for organizing the processing of imported raw materials, and tax relief. Without tariff barriers, the trade cost of importing Russian timber will be reduced.

In addition, according to the Russian satellite news agency, Oleg belozerov, President of the Russian Railway Co., Ltd., said that the Russian railway company plans to add two land border ports between Russia and China. At that time, the economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia will be more convenient and efficient.

On the whole, China's timber imports in April showed a downward trend, but prices rose slightly under the influence of many factors.