Timber, sawn wood market issues in focus of Moscow two-day international conference

The annual international conference «Russia’s timber and sawn wood market» was held in Moscow on April 22-23, bringing together more than 150 industry representatives from Russia and abroad. The event was held in a hybrid mode, allowing international experts to participate and make presentations in the online broadcast.

The global analysis of the industry was made by the leading forest and sawn wood companies in Russia, as well as experts from Europe and Asia. Taking into account the difficulties associated with the pandemic, as well as the role of Russia in timber and lumber exports in the world, the market analysts focused on current trends in international supply and demand.

A representative of Step Change Consulting gave a detailed economic overview of Russia’s role in global forest and timber markets. The topic was continued by the founder of the company O'Kelly Acumen with an assessment of the ban on the export of round wood from Russia and its consequences for the world market. Special attention was paid to one of the leading importers of Russia’s forest products and raw materials — China. An expert of the Chinese Wood Turnover Association highlighted the needs of the country's market and the role of the main importers, among which the share of Russia, in her opinion, is declining amid the growing competition from Germany, the US, and Japan.

Russia’s Segezha Group presented a detailed report on the European softwood market. Its co-patriot company- Ilim Timber -spoke about American lumber, and a representative of Centersource Technologies dedicated his presentation to the MENA market and new trading technologies. Holz Efimovsky, a representative of Mayer-Melnhof, revealed the possibilities of selling lumber taking into account the specifics of the consumer markets. The mechanisms of state support for exports were presented in the report of the representative of the Russian Exports Center.

Exports of products and raw materials became a key topic on the first day of the event. Experts gave a different assessment of impact of recently imposed exports ban on the domestic market. Some believed that this would encourage processing within the country, while others warned of the loss of sales markets and the threat of growing competition from the world's timber-producing countries.

The affiliated forest markets also enjoyed the attention of the audience: the market of sawn timber, wood boards, pellets. Presentations on the segments were made by representatives of EY, Lesprom Network, Segezha Group, Leroy Merlin, UPM, EGGER Drevprodukt Gagarin and the Union of Pellet Market Participants. The most controversial and sensitive topic of the forest resource balance was voiced at the end of the day, becoming a kind of a «dessert» for the participants of the event. Everybody was looking forward to the assessment of the export ban by Russia’s main players of the timber market and officials responsible for the introduction of protective measures, in particular, representatives of the Industry and Trade ministry. The participants of the discussion also focused on the pricing issues and trade transparency. A detailed report and analysis was made by the SPIMEX.

The second day of the conference included all the most relevant issues for the development of the domestic timber and lumber market: first of all, acute issues of legislative initiatives of the government, innovative technologies and transport and infrastructure problems.

The discussion was orchestrated by the head of the Federal Forestry Agency –Rosleshoz-Ivan Sovetnikov, who explained the innovations in the forest legislation and the advantages for those forestry enterprises that are set up for transparent and honest activities. According to him, the changes will affect both production and storage and sales, making the process transparent for the state and «will simplify the life of legal forest users.» To implement this program, Rosleskhoz intends to use the latest technologies of digitalization of the process, creating a unified system of accounting and control of the entire chain from production to sales and exports.

Russia’s company Roslesinforg took an active part in the development of the new approach, and its representative made a detailed report about all the disputed points. The topic was picked up by the expert of VIPKLH, telling about the state supervision in the field of acceptance, processing, transportation and storage of wood. At the same time, a representative of a large timber producer — Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill-spoke about the risks of changes in the legislation. Sveza also revealed its view on innovations in the legislation on forest development and their impact on the development of the country's agricultural sector.

A separate topic of the program was dedicated to innovative technologies in measurement of forest and forest raw materials. The representative of the company Schmidt & Olofson, partner of the conference, spoke about the company's experience and modern solutions.

The final session was entirely focused on transportation issues and the balance of the car fleet. The discussion included reports from active participants of the rolling stock market and analysts. IPEM has traditionally presented a professional report on the dynamics of forest cargo transportation and rental rates of operators. FESCO presented the current state and development forecast of the market for container transportation of forest cargo. A representative of the First Freight Company revealed win-win solutions for the transportation of forest cargo. AKUTU has made a review about importance and peculiarities of pellets’ deliveries by sea. The discussion was attended by experts from Transcontainer and Modul, who demonstrated their vision of the future transportation market and current trends.

Despite the busy program, there are still issues beyond the discussion that we plan to include in the next year's program.