Russian timber industry production value exceeds 3.1 trillion rubles in 2023, reaching pre-sanction levels - Manturov

MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - The production situation at Russian timber industry enterprises has stabilized, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said. Production volumes reached pre-sanction levels last year, exceeding 3.1 trillion rubles in value, he said.

The press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the current situation in the timber industry, the creation of conditions for investment in the industry, as well as the "technological sovereignty of the pulp and paper industry" were discussed with the deputy prime minister at a meeting of the Russian Union of Timber Industrialists and Timber Exporters.

"In terms of production volumes last year, the industry almost reached the pre-sanction level of over 3.1 trillion rubles. This is mainly due to the growth in demand within the country. The fastest recovering segments were production of wooden houses, furniture, and various slab products. A major role was played by import substitution in those niches where previously there had been a significant share of foreign products. After the departure of foreign milk and liquid food product packaging suppliers, domestic enterprises quickly launched production. This made it possible to cover almost 70% of the needs of the segment. Moreover, for sanitary and hygienic products, we now almost completely satisfy the needs of consumers," Manturov said.

The state continues to support projects to expand capacities, the ministry said. "We have increased the number of priority investment projects [PIP]. Over the past two years, 26 PIPs have been initiated worth a total of 125 billion rubles. Thus, despite external restrictions, the timber industry complex remains attractive for investment," the ministry said. The Ministry of Industry and Trade included the tasks of import substitution for forestry engineering, machinery, chemical and other components in its national machine tool building and chemistry projects, Manturov said.

Previously, Roslesinforg, the state's forest accounting organization, estimated the volume of investment in forestry in 2023 at 188.8 billion rubles, noting it was comparable to the level of 2021. Of this amount, over 125.4 billion rubles, or 66.5%, were invested in the production of paper and paper products, 36.1 billion rubles, or 19.1% went to wood processing, 17.8 billion rubles, or 9.4 %, to logging, and 9.4 billion rubles, or 5% was invested in furniture production.

Rosstat data show that lumber production decreased 4.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, totaling 28.5 million cu. m. Plywood production decreased 1.1% to 3.27 million cu. m., paper and cardboard decreased 1% to 10.0 million tonnes, cellulose fell 2.4% to 8.55 million tonnes, and pellets decreased 31.4% to 1.46 million tonnes. Production of particleboards (chipboards) increased 11.3% to 11.6 million cu. m., and wood-fiberboard production rose 6.7% to 703 million sq. m.