Industry News News
Growing list of forestry products companies hit pause in Russia

Last week, Stora Enso, which has three corrugated packaging plants and two wood products sawmills in Russia, announced it would stop all production as well as export and import in the country.

Finnish forestry giant Metsä Group suspended operations at its production unit in Russia, the Svir sawmill. Russian wood procurement and imports to their Finnish and Swedish mills were also halted, the company said.

UPM said it will cease all deliveries to Russia and, on March 9, added that it has suspended operations at its Chudovo plywood mill.

Citing serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions, IKEA said its group of companies will temporarily pause operations in Russia and Belarus.

Both Danish power utility Ørsted and UK utility Drax Group said they would stop sourcing biomass from Russia for their power stations.

The Ukrainian government has asked the EU to ban all imports of Russian forestry products. Russia exported $12 billion worth of forest products in 2021, according to Wood Resource Quarterly.

Both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and PEFC International have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and taken measures to stop wood products sourcing from both Russia and Belarus.

PEFC has labeled timber originating from Russia and Belarus “conflict timber” and will not allow its use in PEFC-certified products.

FSC said it will suspend all trading certificates in Russia and Belarus and block all controlled wood sourcing there.

Several large forestry equipment manufacturers have stopped machinery deliveries to Russian and Belarus markets. According to Forestry.com, that list includes John Deere, Komatsu, Ponsse, Kelsa and Tigercat.