In July, wood products manufacturing in Russia fell 20.4% y-o-y according to data published by the Russian government statistic agency Rosstat.
Since July 10, exports of wood products from Russia and Belarus to the European Union has completely stopped due to sanctions. Prior to this, the U.S. and UK stopped importing wood from these countries. The sanctions led to a dramatic drop in production in Russian industries that were heavely dependent on exports.
In July, plywood production in Russia fell by 42.4% y-o-y to 2.12 million m3. Wood pellet production declined by 34.8% to 1.30 million tonnes. The production of chipboard, including OSB, decreased 26.3% to 6 million m3, and that of fiberboard fell by 25% to 416 million m2. Lumber production decreased by 13.3% to 17.8 million m3.
Since March 25, 2022, UK sanctions restrict the import of wood products from Russia and Belarus. If in January the supply of wood pellets from Russia to the UK amounted to 48.5 thousand tons, then in February it fell to 18.3 thousand tons, and in March and April to 7.4 and 7.0 thousand tons, respectively. In May, the supply of wood pellets from Russia to the UK completely stopped. The ban on the export of Russian pellets to Europe leads to difficulties with waste disposal at Russian sawmills
In 1H 2022, the volume of plywood exports from Russia to the European Union fell 31% year-on-year. The reduction in plywood exports to Europe and the U.S. led to a drop in the capacity utilization of Russian plywood mills to 20-40%.
