Timber industry research & analytics 
Russian Timber Journal 07-2024: Interview with Timur Irtuganov, Director General, AFWIER; Slow economic revival in the Russian timber industry is beginning to fade; Russian plywood production grew by 3.9% over 8 months of 2024; Legal liquidation of Baykalsky PPM is completed; Retail furniture sales in Russia grew by 10% in H1 2024; Timber trading volume at SPIMEX exceeded 4 million m³; More than 3 million m³ of sawn timber has been exported from the Krasnoyarsk Region since the beginning of 2024; Birch plywood export from the Kirov Region to China increased by 5 times
October 24, 2024 ` 20:38
Russian Timber Journal 07-2024: Interview with Timur Irtuganov, Director General, AFWIER; Slow economic revival in the Russian timber industry is beginning to fade; Russian plywood production grew by 3.9% over 8 months of 2024; Legal liquidation of Baykalsky PPM is completed; Retail...
Russian Timber Journal 06-2024: Interview with Chongqing Chensen Timber, a Chinese sawn timber trader; Rosleskhoz published final harvesting volumes performance by Russian regions; U.S. nearly doubles duty on Canadian softwood lumber; Sveza purchased Kama PPM; Segezha Group will issue new shares; Ministry of Industry and Trade included a wood processing project by Forest Travel LLC in the list of priority projects; new plywood production facilities were commissioned in the Khabarovsk Region; a Chinese investor will start producing veneer and plywood in the Perm Region by the end of 2024; furniture production in the Northwestern Federal District grew by over 20% in H1 2024
September 23, 2024 ` 15:58
Russian Timber Journal 06-2024: Interview with Chongqing Chensen Timber, a Chinese sawn timber trader: “The supply of sawn timber currently exceeds the demand”; Rosleskhoz published final harvesting volumes performance by Russian regions: the Russian timber harvest has been reducing for...
US housing starts unexpectedly decline to 2020 lows
June 26, 2024 ` 18:24
Housing starts in the US fell 5.5% to an annualized rate of 1.277 million in May 2024, the lowest since July 2020, from April’s downwardly revised 1.352 million and well below the forecast of 1.37 million. This unexpected...
Russian Timber Journal 04-2024: Interview with Nadezhda Ryazantseva, Analytics Director, Segezha Group; European Union imposes anti-dumping duties on birch plywood from Kazakhstan and Turkey; VLP Group purchased all assets of Metsä Group in the Leningrad Region; Sheksna Wood-Based Panels Plant launched a new MDF production line; after a two-month growth, the plywood production in Russia dropped by 6.2% MoM in April; Ilim Group is planning to implement two investment projects in the Irkutsk Region; in Q1 2024, furniture production grew considerably; in Q1 2024, the roundwood export from Russia grew by 14.6%; birch veneer export from the Vologda Region surged by almost one third
June 17, 2024 ` 16:40
Russian Timber Journal 04-2024: Nadezhda Ryazantseva, Analytics Director, Segezha Group: “In Q1 2024, we saw an increase of demand and prices in some locations”; the European Union announced the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Kazakhstan and Turkey of...
Russian Timber Journal 03-2024: Interview with Evgeny Peshin, Head of Neoparma LLC; a shortage of high-quality raw material for plywood may emerge in the Russian market; Segezha Group published its financial and operational performance results for Q4 2023; International Paper acquires DS Smith for $7.2 billion; Russian timber harvest reached 188 million m³ in 2023; built-in furniture may be included in the mortgage amount; in 2024, Ilim Group is planning to increase its product shipments to China to 2.4 million t; in 2023, investment in the Russian timber industry dropped by 4.8%, down to 188.8 billion rubles
May 2, 2024 ` 15:49
Russian Timber Journal 03-2024: Evgeny Peshin, Head of Neoparma LLC: “Our line is designed for small and medium companies, and this category of entrepreneurs has no access to investment funds”; a shortage of high-quality raw material for plywood may emerge...
Russian Timber Journal 01-2024: Interview with Russ Taylor, President of the international consulting company Russ Taylor Global; Sawmilling market in Russia in 2023: reducing production volumes for the second consecutive year; Suez Canal traffic down 60%; The volume of transported timber grew by 12.9% in 2023; VLP Group may purchase Metsä’s timber assets in Russia; Ufa Plywood Mill is listed for sale for 1 billion rubles; In 2023, timber transportation by the Russian Railways network reduced by 9.1%, down to 37.1 million t; As of January 1, 2024, the VAT rate for children’s furniture is reduced from 20% to 10%; Saint Petersburg R&D Institute levied 1.3 billion rubles from IKEA after it refused to build the Mega Shopping Mall
February 20, 2024 ` 19:12
Russian Timber Journal 01-2024: Interview with Russ Taylor, President of the international consulting company Russ Taylor Global; Sawmilling market in Russia in 2023: reducing production volumes for the second consecutive year; Suez Canal traffic down 60%; The volume of transported...
Russian Timber Journal 10-2023: Interview with Andrey Krivoshein, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Komi; Russia’s wood pellet industry: from a rapid growth to challenging times; US housing starts unexpectedly rise to a six-month high; Russian roundwood price growth accelerated in November; A large particleboard production site is planned in the Penza Region; Russian plywood output increased in October 2023; Komi is planning to double its wood pellet consumption due to boiler houses upgrading
December 27, 2023 ` 15:59
Russian Timber Journal 10-2023: Andrey Krivoshein, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Komi: “Conversion from fuel oil and coal to biofuel will have a huge synergy effect”; Russia’s wood pellet industry: from a rapid growth to...
Russian Timber Journal 09-2023: Interview with Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol; Demand for furniture boards exceeded the supply in October; Global pulp prices have fallen steadily since late 2022, when they reached record highs; Timber products export by trucks to Mongolia and China was allowed for two more years; Segezha Group announces financial and operating results for Q3/2023; Ministry of Industry and Trade suggested cancelling the export duty on pulp and paper products; Russian furniture output surged; Over 9 months of 2023, the Russian roundwood export to EEU countries grew by almost 15%
December 5, 2023 ` 16:51
Russian Timber Journal 09-2023: Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol: “Now is a good time to invest in the woodworking industry”; Demand for furniture boards exceeded the supply in October; Global pulp prices have fallen steadily since late...
Russian Timber Journal 06-2023: interview with Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza; in 2022, Russian timber harvesting volumes dropped to the lowest level in the last 9 years; Russian timber exporters were able to reimburse up to 80% of their costs of product transportation via sea ports in the Northwestern Federal District; Federation Council suggested introducing prohibitive duties on furniture and paper from unfriendly countries; Essity has exited the Russian market; Luzales plans to open new plywood plant in the Omsk region; Russian plywood output increased in June 2023
August 16, 2023 ` 15:53
Russian Timber Journal 06-2023: Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza: “The period when the demand for birch plywood surpassed the supply in the available markets is over. The approach to sales changed too.”; According to the Rosleskhoz, in 2022, the...
Russian Timber Journal 05-2023: interview with Andrey Yudin, Logistics Director of Segezha Group; regional authorities ask to support the Russian timber enterprises due to the persisting tense situation in the industry; the Government of the Russian Federation extended the list of checkpoints along the land border with Kazakhstan authorised to process exports of timber products; Ilim Group became the largest timber harvesting enterprise in Russia in 2022; VLP Group to invest 2.6 billion rubles in Hasslacherles’ former enterprise; Segezha Group sold its European paper packaging enterprises for €100 million; L-PACK to invest over 10 billion rubles to build a corrugated cardboard plant in the Moscow region
July 7, 2023 ` 12:59
Russian Timber Journal 05-2023: Andrey Yudin, Logistics Director of Segezha Group: “We are witnessing a serious imbalance between the freight traffic flows and the availability of transport means”; the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies (AOSD) held an expanded meeting of...
Russian Timber Journal 03-2023: interview with Pavel Kunin, Commercial Director at Doza-Gran; Russia exports almost no unprocessed timber; list of assignments given by the President of the Russian Federation as a follow-up to a meeting on the development of the Russian timber industry; China plans to increase plywood production capacity in 2023; Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia suggests increasing the import duty on European furniture to 50%; owner of Leroy Merlin will hand over its Russian business to the management team; Governmental commission approved the sale of a share in Ilim by International Paper; large timber enterprises of the Tomsk Region are suspending production; Russian plywood output rose in February; Segezha Group sold its European assets that produce paper packaging; in 2022, the Russian export of wood and articles of wood dropped by almost one-fourth
April 10, 2023 ` 10:32
Russian Timber Journal 03-2023: Pavel Kunin, Commercial Director at Doza-Gran: “From the financial and time perspective, a wood pellet line is the most lucrative kind of investment associated with recycling sawmilling waste”; in 2022, the volume of roundwood export...
Problems of big data analytics in the timber trade industry
March 20, 2023 ` 17:49
As the timber trading industry continues to evolve, the importance of data analytics is becoming increasingly clear. Big data analytics has become a valuable tool for companies to optimise their operations, make informed decisions, and stay competitive in...
