At the 5th Siva International Wood Industry Exhibition, Mr. Shamolin, the Chairman of the Segezha Group in Russia, remarked that following the sanctions on Russian forestry, Russia has redirected its exports from the West to Asia, with China as the primary destination.

Shamolin stated, "The majority of our export destinations have been reoriented." He explained that this adjustment primarily concerns pulp, paper products, and plywood, whereas sawn timber has been consistently supplied to China. Mr. Shamolin continued, "Despite Europe closing its market to us, our production line operates at 100% capacity, and we have already started supplying most of our products to China."

He added, "We plan to showcase all of the group's product catalogs in China and develop sales channels." Shamolin said that Segza Group has its own forest resources and is developing a service direction. It has warehouses in China to ensure the supply of services to customers and settles with Russian and Chinese goods. He pointed out that recently, Segza Group has opened a representative office in Shanghai, which will enable the company to provide higher quality services.

In December 2023, Pavel Chasin, head of the Russian forestry statistics agency Roslesinforg, stated that China has become a major importer of Russian sawn timber and logs (importing 14 million cubic meters out of 25 million cubic meters). In 2023, Russia's exports of sawn timber to China increased by 3%, while the supply of unprocessed timber decreased by a quarter.

Reprinted from www.chinaru.info