In 2018, Russia continued to reduce the exports of logs and increase the exports of lumber. The export volume of these products became almost equal — 19.03 million m3 (minus 2.1 percent) and 18.7 million m3 (plus 14.9 percent) respectively, according to the report Russian forest based industry in 2018.
In 2018, the Russian government continued to implement policy to reduce the exports of raw wood and stimulate internal consumption of timber industry products. According to the report, the main events of 2018 in the Russian forest based industry were: adoption of Strategy of forestry development of the Russian Federation until 2030; establishment of new Department of forest and consumer goods industry in the Ministry of industry and trade of the Russian Federation; appointment of new Head of the Ministry of natural resources of the Russian Federation; raising the entry barrier to priority investment projects; new initiatives of the State to strengthening of control over the exporters.
Production of pellets in Russia in 2018 increased by 4.9 percent to 1,410 thousand tons — this is a new historical record. 2018 is the sixth year when production is growing. At the same time, Russia increased its market share in the Eu, the largest consumer of pellets, by only 0.9 p.p. The supplies of pellets to the European Union in 2018 increased by 19.1 percent. The United States and Canada have increased their shares here for 9 p.p. and 2.7 p.p. respectively.
At the end of 2018, the total production capacity for the Osb panels in Russia reached about 2 million m3. Last year, 1.2 million m3 of Osb panels were produced and 1.3 million cubic meters consumed.
According to report, in 2018 in Russia the production of newsprint increased by 6.2 percent to 1.53 million tons. Production growth occurred for the first time in the last 4 years.
***
Russian forest based industry in 2018 market report contains 140 pages, 84 tables and 78 charts. The report annually released by the analytical service of Lesprom Network since 2005. The full research is available on the Lesprom Network website.
