China remains the primary market for Russian enterprises. In January-March 2024, the volume of lumber exports from Russia to China decreased to the level of 2021-2022 (-11.1% compared to 2023) and amounted to 2.6 million cubic meters or 60% of the total exports of this type of product from the country. Uzbekistan also traditionally ranks second. Exports there decreased by 23.9% to 375.6 thousand cubic meters. This is due to a decrease in domestic demand and a redistribution of lumber purchases to other wood processing products, primarily wood panels. Also, a global trend of decreasing timber harvesting volumes played a role.

Turkey has surged to the third position in the ranking of buyers of Russian timber and lumber for the first time. For the second consecutive year, the country has shown a multiple growth in purchases: in January-March 2024, 292.2 thousand cubic meters were shipped there, which is 3.2 times higher than the figures for January-March 2023. It’s worth noting that at the end of last year’s first quarter, the growth in shipments there was fivefold: in the first quarter of 2020-2022, lumber exports to Turkey did not exceed 18 thousand m3, approximately 0.3% of the total exports, but now its share has risen to 6.8%. Deliveries to Turkey are increasing after last year’s February earthquakes and against the backdrop of the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects. New logistics routes are currently being developed to expedite the delivery of timber cargoes from Russia to Turkey.

Iran also increased the sale of domestic lumber – 165.7 thousand m3. The growth compared to the first quarter of the previous year was 1.7 times. Whereas in the first quarters of 2021 and 2022, the volumes of shipments in this direction did not exceed 18 thousand cubic meters.

Hong Kong closes the top five main markets for the sale of lumber from Russia. Deliveries there for the three months of 2024 amounted to 133.1 thousand m3, significantly exceeding last year’s figure. However, this is due to seasonal factors and adjustments in logistics chains. Also, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Japan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan entered the top ten largest destinations for shipments of Russian lumber. However, all these countries, except Japan, reduced their import volumes. The trend in the first quarter of reducing the volumes of purchases of Russian lumber by CIS countries can be explained by fluctuations in domestic demand and currency conversion difficulties, as well as caution in the face of the threat of secondary sanctions. Last year, in the first three months, the number of countries to which domestic lumber was exported amounted to 36.

In addition to Turkey, Iran, and Hong Kong, deliveries to Japan increased by 4.2% to 89.7 thousand cubic meters, to the UAE by 3.8 times to 52.8 thousand cubic meters, and to Lebanon by 4.8 times to 16.8 thousand cubic meters. There is also an increase in shipments of timber and lumber to Singapore, Afghanistan, Jordan, Taiwan, Abkhazia, India, Georgia, Palestine, the Republic of Belarus, Serbia, and Malaysia.

Reference:

Top 10 importers (January-March 2023):

China – 2.884 million m3

Uzbekistan – 493.5 thousand m3

Kazakhstan – 142.5 thousand m3

Azerbaijan – 123.6 thousand m3

Tajikistan – 117.6 thousand m3

Iran – 96.4 thousand m3

Turkey – 89.8 thousand m3

Japan – 86.1 thousand m3

Kyrgyzstan – 69.6 thousand m3

South Korea – 60.4 thousand m3

Top 10 importers (January-March 2024):

China – 2.564 million m3

Uzbekistan – 375.6 thousand m3

Turkey – 292.2 thousand m3

Iran – 165.7 thousand m3

Hong Kong – 133.1 thousand m3

Kazakhstan – 123.3 thousand m3

Tajikistan – 105.4 thousand m3

Japan – 89.7 thousand m3

Azerbaijan – 66.6 thousand m3

Kyrgyzstan – 59.7 thousand m3