Russian Timber Journal 01-2020: Russia: the strongest decline in exports of logs since 2008 continues; In 2019, exports of sawn timber from Russia to China exceeded 20 million m3; Uranium One Expands Geography of Wood Pellets Sales; Vietnam bans import of Chinese plywood

Russian Timber Journal 01-2020: Primary data on forest products production in 2019 shows a growth in the production of mechanically processed wood products amidst a decline in the pulp and paper industry by almost any measure. Russia continues to increase its export of sawn timber and log export has been declining rapidly since 2008 – customs tariff regulation adopted by the Russian Government are affecting.

Featured Article:

– Russia: the strongest decline in exports of logs since 2008 continues
– In 2019, exports of sawn timber from Russia to China exceeded 20 million m3
– Uranium One Expands Geography of Wood Pellets Sales
– Vietnam bans import of Chinese plywood

Global Timber Markets News:

– Sweden: Rising roundwood prices in 2019
– In 2019, the number of new housing starts in Japan decreased by 5% to 905 000 units
– Strike at sawmills and plywood factories highly probable, negotiations with the Finnish paper workers’ union ongoing
– China: Enterprises call for zero consumption tax on solid wood flooring
– Residential construction starts in China reach new record level in 2019
– EPLF: European laminate flooring sales drop slightly in 2019
– Mayr-Melnhof to invest € 130 million in a new CLT plant
– Heinzel invests EUR 42 million in Pöls mill in Austria
– Södra to increase NBSK price in Europe
– Brexit “awful for the UK plywood market”
– India launches anti-dumping probe into newsprint imports
– Germany increased wood pellet production by 16.8% in 2019
– New wood pellet production plant to be build in Alabama
– Interview with the Minister of Forest, B.C. Canada Honorable Doug Donaldson, the Minister of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource operations and Rural Development of British Columbia

Russian News:

– Victoria Abramchenko to become in charge of the forest industry on behalf of the Russian Government
– Russian Academy of Sciences submitted a draft concept of the new Forest Code of the Russian Federation
– Accounts Chamber published the results of a comprehensive audit of the Russian timber industry development
– Ministry of Natural Resources prepared a bill on forcing certain entities to sell timber through exchange trading
– Rosleskhoz proposed to create Russian Forest Operator
– Titan Group harvested 4.014 million m³ of wood in 2019
– In 2020, within an investment project, Sveza Kostroma to purchase 50 railway flatcars to perform deliveries of raw materials worth 150 million rubles
– RFP Group harvested over 1.7 million m³ of wood in 2019
– Plitwood is included in the list of priority investment projects in the forest sector
– The auction to sell Ugra Timber Holding is scheduled for March 20, 2020, the initial price is 3.1 billion rubles
– Segezha Group is interested in the project of LPK Almas (a timber enterprise controlled by the government of Yakutia) to expand the sawn timber production
– Russian Railways launched a container train loaded with sawn timber from the Vologda region to Saint-Petersburg
– Segezha Group implemented a logistics investment project to expand its terminal in the Vologda region
– BCTMP production may appear in the Perm region
-Alexander Uss, Governor of Krasnoyarsk region, and Ivan Valentik, CEO of Rockwell Capital (Head of Rosleskhoz in 2014-2019), discussed the construction of two value-added processing plants
– JSC Volga produced over 262,000 tons of paper
– ULK Group installed the third wood pellet line equipment at Velsky LPK in 2019
– The Government of the Russian Federation did not prolong Decree No. 1072 prohibiting purchases of foreign furniture

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