yesterday at 10:29
,France
The Russian timber industry is facing another blow: after losing the European market, it has encountered a sharp drop in demand from China — its main trading partner. According to analysts, in January–April 2026, exports of Russian timber to China decreased by 30% year-on-year — to 2.6 million cubic meters.
Back in 2025, China absorbed nearly half of all Russian timber exports — around 11.2 million cubic meters. However, the deep crisis in China’s construction sector has slashed demand for lumber: real estate sales in China fell by 9.5% last year, reaching their lowest level since 2009.
The reduction in supplies has also affected other Asian buyers. Exports of Russian lumber to Japan dropped by 19%, and to South Korea by 18%. Strategy Partners analysts forecast that by the end of this year, the total volume of Russian timber exports will shrink by an additional 7–10%.
The timber industry has historically been one of the largest export-oriented sectors of the Russian economy. Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia was one of the world’s leading suppliers of timber: more than half of the lumber produced was shipped to foreign markets.
The sector was among the first victims of Western sanctions. After the European Union banned imports of Russian timber in April 2022, companies began rapidly losing revenue. While the sector’s net profit stood at 24.3 billion rubles in 2021, accumulated losses reached 11.1 billion rubles by 2024. Last year, every second company in the industry ended the year with a negative financial result.
The Institute of Economics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences assesses the state of the timber industry as close to a systemic crisis, one that will take more than a year to overcome.
Despite official statements from Russian authorities about the industry’s resilience to sanctions pressure, civilian sectors of the economy continue to deteriorate. In an attempt to maintain access to European markets, Russia is resorting to roundabout schemes: according to available data, Russian timber is entering the UK under the guise of construction materials from Estonia and other Baltic states.
