Russian
Far East Forestry
A WFI Market Brief Series Excerpt
Written by Runar Gareyev for World Forest Institute
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| CONTENT | TABLES |
| Forest Resources | Coniferous Wood Reserve, Russia vs. World |
| RFE Timber Species | Coniferous Wood Reserve by Region |
| Forest Harvesting | RFE Distribution of Pine and Fir |
| RFE Wood Industry | RFE Volume per hectare |
| RFE Wood Exports | Annual Allowable Cut |
| RFE Forest Sector Outlook | Roundwood, Panel & Pulp Production |
| Primorski Krai Timber Exports | |
| Primorski Krai Unprocessed Timber Exports |
RUSSIA MARKET BRIEF EXCERPT
Russian forests comprise over one fifth of the world’s timber resources, yet wood production has plummeted since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poor infrastructure and political uncertainty have made access to these resources difficult; but there are small signs that the Russian forestry sector is starting to stabilize after years of decline.
Since 1993, Russian exports of unprocessed timber have grown by 4 million cum to nearly 18 million cum in 1997--an increase of 28%. The Russian federal government is moving to privatize forestland ownership, and new tax legislation is slated to provide tax breaks for forestry investments. The pulp and paper industry has already been largely privatized, with several European firms buying up northwestern Russian pulp mills.
Despite these developments, the need for significant structural changes within Russia’s forest industry remain; but with vast quantities of mature wood—especially the Russian Far East (RFE), where harvests are 50-60% below the annual allowable cut—Russia will continue to draw interest.
The Russian Far East region consists of seven administrative units known as "oblast" or "krai":
Primorsky Krai
Khabarovsky Krai
Amurskaya Oblast
Magadanskaya Oblast
Kamchatskaya Oblast
Sakhalinskaya Oblast
Sakha
Coniferous Wood Reserve Russian Far East (million cum)
Country |
Total Forest Area (million hectares) |
Share of global forested area % |
Total wood volume (million m3) |
Share of global wood volume % |
Wood production 1989-1991 (million m3) |
Share of global production % |
| Russia | 764 |
22 |
82,110 |
21 |
375 |
11 |
| Brazil | 566 |
16 |
65,088 |
17 |
262 |
8 |
| Canada | 247 |
7 |
28,671 |
7 |
179 |
5 |
| U.S. | 210 |
6 |
24,730 |
6 |
508 |
15 |
| China | 134 |
4 |
9,789 |
3 |
281 |
8 |
| Indonesia | 116 |
3 |
19,609 |
5 |
167 |
5 |
| Nordic Countries |
53 |
2 |
4,942 |
1 |
109 |
3 |
| All other | 1,239 |
36 |
125,979 |
33 |
1,542 |
47 |
| World | 3,442 |
100 |
383,726 |
100 |
3,462 |
100 |
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); World Resources Institute
