RBC: deliveries of plywood and veneer to China from Russia increased by 1.5-2 times in 2022

Plywood deliveries from Russia to China from January to September 2022 increased one and a half times, from 57.37 thousand to 82.81 thousand cubic meters. m, told RBC in the press service of Roslesinforga. In monetary terms, deliveries increased from $35 million to $56.2 million.

“The sharp positive dynamics is primarily associated with the actual loss of opportunities for direct deliveries to European and American markets,” said Pavel Chashchin, director of Roslesinforg. Since May, plywood shipments to China have exceeded 10,000 cubic meters. m per month, and already in July reached the maximum volume – 16.3 thousand cubic meters. m.

In addition, according to RBC, shipments of veneer used for plywood production increased by 1.9 times. The volume of deliveries increased from 132.2 thousand to 249.6 thousand tons, their price was $118.8 million.

The total value of plywood and veneer supplies to China doubled to $175 million.

According to Roslesinforg, about 9.9 million cubic meters were sent to China in nine months. m of Russian sawn timber by $2.3 billion. However, in physical terms, the supply of sawn timber decreased by 9.1%, to 9.87 million cubic meters. m.

The physical volumes of wood exported to China have been declining for the third year in a row. According to Roslesinforg experts, since 2019, the volume has fallen by 4.5 million cubic meters. m. Nevertheless, the rise in prices for materials allowed Russian companies to keep their income at the same level.

In 2019-2020, the average cost of timber was $177-178 per 1 cubic meter. m., in 2021 – $210. According to the results of nine months of 2022, a cubic meter of timber costs $234.

Mr. Chashchin noted that China’s interest in plywood and veneer from Russia is due to the fact that after the imposition of sanctions, Western markets were closed to Russia. “Russian plywood has no competitors in the world markets, the needs of the EU and the USA in it, despite the sanctions, are not decreasing. Accordingly, the Celestial Empire acts as a kind of corridor for Russian sawn products and Chinese products from domestic logs to the EU and the USA,” he explained.

In April, the European Union imposed a ban on the supply of Russian timber and wood products. The restrictions went into effect July 10. Russian companies in the first five months of 2022, according to Roslesinforg, reduced the export of raw wood by 44.1%, to 3.2 million cubic meters.

According to expert estimates, Russia has lost the opportunity to supply Europe with timber products worth $4-6 billion a year. The ban on supplies affected almost all groups of goods.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Export of round timber has gone downhill”.

Milena Kostereva