The Russian plywood business

Statistics show that EU consumption of birch plywood totaled around 1 million m³ in 2021, before the start of the war and the imposition of sanctions. Half of this volume used to be imported from Russia and Belarus. In recent years, there has been a substantial decrease in trade volumes. Nevertheless, around a fifth of the plywood consumed in the EU in 2024 was so-called “blood timber” from Russia. According to information obtained by British investigative NGO Earthsight, the value of these products amounts to over €1.5 billion, meaning that the European Union remains an important sales market for Russian producers.

Thus, the origin of the birch plywood consumed here has changed little – contrary to the exporting countries. Instead of Karelia and Siberia, products now originate in various regions of Turkey, China or Kazakhstan – at least according to official papers and documents. Even though Kazakhstan, for example, has no birch forests worth mentioning, deliveries from this country have increased by several hundred percent. According to Earthsight, it is interesting to see that not a single cubic meter of plywood was exported from Kazakhstan before 2022. Currently, however, an average of around 230 truckloads cross the border into the EU each month. According to information available to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, almost 900 of them are said to have arrived in Germany since the summer of 2022.

In undercover conversations conducted by journalists of the British NGO Earthsight, neither exporters nor importers attempted to hide the true origin of the wood. A trader said something to the effect of: “Kazakh products are of excellent quality, from this country where birch grows and people speak Russian.” 

The most important entry point into the EU is Poland. More than half of all the plywood traded in Europe arrives in the Eastern European country from where it is then redistributed. It is also striking that, according to official trade statistics, Poland’s plywood exports to the rest of the EU have more than doubled since 2022. Customers in Germany are among the most important buyers, the report states.

It can therefore be stated that despite the sanctions, large volumes of Russian wood-based products continue to be imported into the EU. In its report, Earthsight calls for significantly more initiative not only on the part of European institutions, but also of the companies involved and affected. The latter need to question the origin of their imports and provide precise documentation. The difficulty of intervening in the respective “middleman states” is shown by the example of Kazakh imports, which reached a new all-time high in the summer of last year – immediately after higher import duties had been announced. “This rather looks like legalization. They threw the 15% customs on top of it and let us work,” a Russian producer commented.

The whole issue is also becoming increasingly complex due to new players entering the trade in Russian birch plywood – in addition to the aforementioned trio of states such as Georgia, Egypt and Uzbekistan. How strictly the applicable origin certifications and documentation are enforced within Europe will therefore be decisive.