Timber industry research & analytics Interview 
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...
Russ Taylor: In 2024, it will definitely be a buyer’s market in China
February 21, 2024 ` 19:47
Although Russia’s share of international sawn timber trade does not exceed 16%, Russian products remain an important part of the global market, despite isolated European markets. For Russian sawmills, the focus of international trade is now on the...
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...
Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol: “Now is a good time to invest in the woodworking industry”
December 7, 2023 ` 17:31
Technonicol is an example of how large Russian companies are trying to diversify their businesses by investing in timber industry assets. In January 2023, the group purchased four woodworking enterprises in different Russian regions for a total of...
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...
Dmitry Zachko, CEO at Plitwood: “The domestic demand needs to be incentivized. This will increase the sales of high-quality products within the country.”
December 4, 2023 ` 17:23
On September 22, 2023, Plitwood officially launched a plant producing large-sized plywood with a capacity of 180,000 m³ per year in Vokhtoga, a settlement in the Vologda Region. The investment value reached 12.5 billion rubles. The project was...
Russian Timber Journal 07-2023: interview with Segezha Group President Mikhail Shamolin after the announcement of the company’s financial and operating results for Q2 2023; Russian timber industry in 1H 2023: cautious signs of recovery; Mondi announces agreement to sell Mondi Syktyvkar; transaction on International Paper stake buyout by Russian shareholders is closed; Cherepovets Plywood and Furniture Plant and VLP Group have completed a major investment project on building a plywood mill in the Vologda region; Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia: in H1 2023, the Russian furniture output increased; President of the Russian Federation instructed to accelerate the issuance of documents for building multi-story wooden houses
September 28, 2023 ` 18:39
Russian Timber Journal 07-2023: Mikhail Shamolin, President at Segezha Group: “The price levels we have now reached reflect the current global situation”; Russian timber industry in 1H 2023: cautious signs of recovery; Mondi announces that it has entered into an...
Mikhail Shamolin, President at Segezha Group: “The price levels we have now reached reflect the current global situation”
September 28, 2023 ` 18:46
At present, Segezha Group is the only Russian timber enterprise publicly traded in the stock market. On August 29, the Group submitted the Q2 2023 report and held a conference call with the management team to discuss its...
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.”
August 17, 2023 ` 16:20
WhatWood agency talked to Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza, to learn how the world’s largest birch plywood producer has rebuilt its product sales processes almost a year after the European market became virtually unavailable. The group includes...
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...
Anton Zebants, CEO of VLP Group: “Timber enterprises need more prompt measures of government support”
July 5, 2023 ` 16:10
Anton Zebants, a person with extensive management experience in the forest sector, was appointed the new CEO of VLP Group (Group Vologodskiye Lesopromyshlenniki) at the end of January 2023. He had been the manager of the EGGER Drevprodukt...
