Forestry in Russia

[2] A significant proportion of revenue from the industry is generated by the export of raw materials from sawing logs.

As a result of numerous economic changes throughout the past decade, Russia has moved between 6th and 7th place worldwide in this index.

In reserve areas, workers can only participate in sanitary felling of trees to improve the overall condition of the forest.

Generally speaking, Russian forests are composed mostly of coniferous tree from the following species: pine, spruce, larch, and cedar.

However, conventionally, all branches of forest complex can be divided into four groups: The bulk of Russian lumber is shipped to China, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Japan and Iran.

In the 1st quarter of 2010, there was an increase in the volume of lumber shipments to Europe, China, Middle East and North Africa.

Following the results of 2008, the average profitability ratio of Top 50 companies decreased to 0.7%, compared to 9.0% in the previous year.

The fastest-growing forest industry company in Russia was United Panel Group, whose revenue was 3.04 billion roubles ($41.3 million USD), up 89.5%.

According to these documents, by 2020, 4.5% of electricity in Russia must be made with the use of alternative sources, those being not consisting of lumber related products.

Biofuel consumption grows in Central Europe as Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom increase the import of pellets.

Brazil, Canada and the United States also have large reserves of biofuel feedstocks, making them direct competitors with Russia in the market of exporting wood pellets to Europe.

Many members of the industry do not use the needles, bark, or twigs, as using these components would be considered an irrational use of extracted raw materials.

In addition, according to the opinions the Forest Club participants at St. Petersburg International Forestry Forum in autumn of 2011, the Russian timber industry faces the following problems: