| 19
Above: Landed volumes are backing up at some UK ports due to a shortage of road haulage PHOTO: ABP Below: There is talk the US could double the duty on Canadian imports
driver is intended to support Russian mills and increase revenue on unprocessed fibre, but the move will limit future supplies to Baltic producers.
For many years, Baltic sawmills and processors have also relied on supplies from neighbouring Belarus, but with the current political situation cross-border exports have been restricted.
of sawn softwood, and until recently was exporting over 4 million m3
m3
Belarus produces approximately 5.2 million to all markets, of
which a substantial amount of that volume supported re-processors in the Baltic states. The production of dimensioned softwood from the three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia is usually just below 6 million m3 of which around 4.5 million m3
is exported, with Latvia being the largest producer
and exporting around 2.9 million m3
.
Latvian production lies between 2.6 and 2.7 million m3
and around 850,000m3 is
consumed by the domestic market. Its imports of sawn softwood normally amount to just over 1 million m3
, which are generally ,
but that figure includes products such as landscaping timber and rounded poles and posts as well as construction grades. While initial price surges in the UK related to the most common imported construction grade of C24, higher qualities of unsorted and 4th/5th redwood got left behind. In July, a substantial rise is planned by shippers and importers to rectify the market and re-set
processed further for re-export. Latvia is now clearly the second most important supplier of imported softwood into the UK after Sweden with an estimated 1.3 million m3
the normal and historical price differential. Within this round of price increases there will also be a re-valuation of packaging specifications with 6th grade and schaal boards set to reach double the price against this time last year.
according to several sources, while the levels for C24 are facing a further jump of €116/m3
Price increases on the UK market for joinery grades could exceed an equivalent of €200/m3
during July.
After what has seemed a never-ending roller coaster ride of price increases and crashes for many years, there is a consensus that softwood might have at last reached a position where its value is reflective of the years of high investment, from forestry right through to the consumer, as it approaches a long overdue catch-up. ■
www.ttjonline.com | July/August 2021 | TTJ
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89
