Russian Logging Volumes Declined 13.5% Year-Over-Year in 2022

TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, citing data sourced from Roslesinforge, the forest accounting department of Federal Forestry Agency, has reported the following:

“Last year, a total of 194.6 million cubic meters were harvested in Russia, which is 13.5% less than in 2021. One of the factors was the restriction of raw wood exports from the country from the beginning of 2022. In the second half of the year, the domestic timber industry complex also faced problems with the sale of finished products due to sanctions. The situation was saved from a more significant slowdown by the fact that harvesters and processors were actively exporting products in the first half of 2022 before the sanctions came into force, and at the end of the year they set up logistics and began to send timber for export thoroughly friendly countries, primarily Kazakhstan, China, and Turkey.”

TASS also stated that Russia’s veneer, plywood, pulp and paper, and lumber industries also saw reduced production in 2022 when compared to 2021. Hardwood lumber production remained flat.