In June, European Union decreased lumber imports by 67% year-on-year to 638 thousand m3, while the average price for lumber jumped 130% to $528 per m3. Russia remained Europe's largest supplier of lumber, with exports down 43% to 250 thousand m3. Lumber exports from Ukraine fell 41% to 109 thousand m3, and those from Norway increased 6% to 64 thousand m3.
Until July 10, 2022, Russian and Belarusian companies could supply lumber to Europe under contracts signed before the introduction of the fifth EU sanctions package in April 2022. In July, sawmills in the North-West of Russia begain to curtail production.
In 1H 2021 the value of lumber exports from Russia to the EU amounted to $616 million, but in 1H 2022, the value was $596 million with a 26% decrease in volume. The average price of Russian lumber in the EU in the first half of 2022 increased 30% to $371 per m3. Rising prices for lumber helped Russia to offset the decline in volume of exports to Europe.
Lumber exports from Russia to the UK in the first quarter of 2022 fell by 83% year on year, to 30 thousand m3, and in the second quarter, supplies almost completely stopped due to sanctions imposed by the kingdom and came into effect on March 25. Since April, UK builders' merchant Travis Perkins stopped buying 'conflict timber' from Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine.
In January-June 2022, the value of lumber exports from Russia to the UK decreased by 85% to $12 million ($81 million in the first half of 2021), while the average price increased by 71%, to $377 per m3. At the same time, the volume of exports fell by 91% to 32 thousand m3.
In June, Sweden became the largest supplier of lumber to the UK with a volume of 244 thousand m3. The lumber exports from Latvia, the second largest supplier, decreased by 19% to 111 thousand m3, and those from Finland declined by 26% to 86 thousand m3. In June, UK lumber imports fell 18% year-on-year to 630,000 m3. The value of imports fell 11% to $317 million, while the average price, according to Lesprom Analytics, rose 8% to $503 per m3.
