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All harvested timber will be processed domestically starting 2015, deputy minister says

Belarus will phase out the export of rough logs by 2015, Leanid Dzyamyanik, deputy minister of forestry, told reporters in Minsk on Monday.

“Many woodworking plants are currently built by both Bellespaperapram [Belarusian State Timber, Woodworking, Pulp and Paper Industries Concern] and investors [foreign companies],” Mr. Dzyamyanik said. “A very large plant is being built by Kronospan in Smarhon, Hrodna region. The company has also announced that it plans to build a plant in the Mahilyow Free Economic Zone to manufacture wood-based panels, which would have a processing capacity of 500,000 cubic meters a year. This is a huge amount.”

According to Mr. Dzyamyanik, 80 percent of all harvested timber is currently supplied to the domestic market. The export of timber in the round has decreased by 116,000 cubic meters this year, he noted. “Meanwhile, 150,000 cubic meters more has been supplied to the domestic market because of an increased demand in the market,” he said.

There still exist problems with pulpwood processing in Belarus, but the country has “enough plants for processing raw timber into plywood,” he noted.

Mr. Dzyamyanik also said that exports by companies under the authority of the Ministry of Forestry totaled $135 million in 2011 and $70 million in the first half of 2012, with woodchips and briquettes being the main export items. //BelaPAN