Finnish Institute of Natural Resources LUKE to report at the conference co-hosted by LPI and WhatWood

LUKE will participate in the conference “Timber industry of Russia: searching of growth points”, co-organized by the LesPromInform business journal and WhatWood timber industry analytic agency with the support of Restec exhibition company. The event will be held on September 29 in St. Petersburg in the framework of St. Petersburg International Forestry Forum.

The analytical report of the Finnish Institute of Natural Resources LUKE “Existing opportunities to increase timber harvesting in the Russian regions” will cover the following topics:

– Available timber volume for the woodworking industry in Russia is 50 million m3 per year. Where is it located? In case of large-scale forest road construction, the volume of available raw wood will increase by 100 million m3 per year. In which regions can this happen? Under what conditions does it make sense to invest in the construction of new roads now?

– In some regions there is no available raw wood, and timber harvesting costs are increasing rapidly. How can the harvesting costs be reduced, when it is impossible to build new roads?

– Russia has taken the path to intensive forest management. What does this practically mean for existing mills? What timber quality and volume can be obtained with this forestry model (following the example of existing businesses)? Will the intensive forestry management become the solution to the problem of increasing raw wood costs? How much can be earned on intensive forestry model now and what steps should be done to enter into this?

The conference will include two panels. In the first one, the reports will focus on market analysis and current state of the Russian timber industry. The second panel will be dedicated to practical issues, including raw material sourcing, ways to boost logging levels in Russian regions, and cost optimization methods, as well as to company cases.

Among the companies presenting their reports will be Ilim Timber, MM-Efimovsky, Novoyenisseysky LHK, Red October sawmill, Perm regional timber association, HolzProjekt Buro, Russian Timber Group, Finnish natural resources institute LUKE, SENNEBOGEN, and WhatWood.

The conference will be held on September 29 in PetroCongress centre, St. Petersburg, from 10.30 till 16.00.

Conference participation for the audience is free of charge, with preliminary registration.

All details about the event are available at the official conference page.

LesPromInform and WhatWood editorial offices have been cooperating for some time. Agency experts were preparing articles for the LesPromInform journal as well as the English-language Russian Forestry Review. WhatWood editor Kirill Baranov presented a report on the lumber export markets at the journal’s workshop on lumber business cost optimization in the autumn of 2014. In 2015, the journal and the agency decided to combine their efforts and expertise in arranging forest industry events. The conference in St. Petersburg will be the first event of this kind.