Russian wood processors begin to increase production
According to information published on the eve of September in Regional Economy: A Review of the National Bank of Russia, in the North-West and Siberian regions the volume of wood-processed products has increased as a result of improved logistics and growing domestic demand.
This is partly due to subsidies that have lowered transport costs for timber shipments to Asia by rail and sea, thus enabling exporters to expand shipments to the east.
Meanwhile, the report notes that domestic demand for wood products was supported by the property market and furniture production. One of the trading companies' sales of cabinet furniture in 2023 significantly exceeded last year's level.
According to the portal Kirov Business News, a wood processing plant in the Kirov region has started recruiting employees in order to resume two shifts of work: the increase in production requires the involvement of more people.
Enterprises that previously belonged to foreign owners and were idle are resuming operations. In the Leningrad region, the first samples of furniture under the new brand of a popular European manufacturer were produced in the former factory of the company.
According to the survey, wood-processing companies in the North-West expect demand for their products to increase in the near future.
The report cites an increase in the production of particleboard, plywood and timber in Siberia in July 2023, from where a train with 62 40-foot-long timber containers left for Asia for the first time. Previously, the mill's products were exported in trains consisting of 6-10 containers. The manufacturer has modernised the loading terminal and plans to dispatch full trains on a regular basis.
This is Priangarsky LPK - one of the largest enterprises of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, which is now part of the Segezha Group. in August, the first container train on the Karabula-Zabaikalsk-Qingdao (China) route left the container terminal. The buyer received a total of 3,000 cubic metres of timber, which will take no more than seven days to transport. The company plans to transport about five container trains per month on this route.
