Timber sales growing

From January-August 2021, the volume of timber sold via the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) to the domestic market was 2.4 times higher than in the whole of 2020 

Trading sessions are organised weekly and, on average, about 2,000 cubic metres of timber are put up for sale. However, since the beginning of summer, this volume is higher – reaching 5,000 cubic metres. At the same time, competition has also increased: over the past 2 months, two dozen new sellers joined and there are almost 150 of them at the moment.

“To prevent price manipulation and misuse of the resource, only the buyers of timber for their own production and/or consumption are allowed to participate. Moreover, they need to provide a certificate of their own production issued in accordance with the established procedure, or another document confirming the intended use of timber,” Roman Yaniv, the BUCE press secretary, explains. “The number of buyers who have provided documents confirming further processing is also growing and has already exceeded 200.”

According to Mr. Yaniv, the demand for timber remains high and, unsurprisingly, up to 90 percent of the volume put up for auction is redeemed. In August, the most popular edged softwood became cheaper by 7 percent, and non-edged by 5 percent – as a result of the introduction of a pre-trading price corridor with a fixed upper price. The tool aimed to curb the growth of prices, prevent cases of their manipulation and reduce the variability of supply. Accordingly, at present, trading starts with a more affordable price level.

To influence the situation and increase the supply of timber, the exchange has accredited several sawmills from the Smolensk, Bryansk and Pskov regions of Russia this year. “Moreover, we are actively attracting private suppliers to our site. All these measures aim at meeting demand and, as a result, reducing prices for Belarusian consumers,” Mr. Yaniv adds.