According to data released by the international media platform Lesprom, Russia's domestic apparent timber consumption increased by 16% year-on-year in July 2025. However, demand for construction timber declined by 14% during the same period due to sluggish construction activity. In terms of pricing, major timber species remained flat month-on-month but rose by 3% year-on-year.
In the export market, Russian exporters faced a mixed situation, primarily reflected in the two major Asian markets: China and Japan. Russia's timber export volume rebounded by 18% month-on-month in July but still decreased by 13% year-on-year.
China continued to hold its position as Russia's largest export market. Customs data showed that in July 2025, China's imports of Russian timber increased by 10.9% month-on-month to 1.118 million cubic meters. However, this figure represented a 9.7% decline compared to the same period last year. The average import price in July also dropped by 1.7%.
The month-on-month growth in Russia's timber exports to China was mainly driven by increased supplies of fir and spruce sawn timber, as well as Korean pine and Scotch pine sawn timber. Customs data indicated that China's imports of fir and spruce sawn timber from Russia reached 446,000 cubic meters in July, up 25.1% month-on-month but slightly down 1.3% year-on-year, accounting for approximately 40% of the total imports during the period. The unit price also increased by 1% month-on-month, showing a simultaneous rise in both volume and price.
During the same period, imports of Korean pine and Scotch pine sawn timber increased by 15.4% month-on-month but declined by 18.3% year-on-year. The unit price saw a slight month-on-month increase of 0.6% but decreased by 1.8% year-on-year. Notably, imports of birch sawn timber from Russia saw the most significant growth in July, reaching 80,900 cubic meters, with both month-on-month and year-on-year increases of 16.2% and 52.2%, respectively.
In contrast, Russia's timber exports to the Japanese market remained weak. Due to increased domestic timber production in Japan and a decline in construction activity, Russia's timber exports to Japan contracted by 19% year-on-year in July.
It is worth noting that as Russian timber prices experienced a slight decline in August, Lespredicts that market quotations may remain stable in September. However, with the off-season approaching, prices may undergo another downward correction early in the fourth quarter. Additionally, Lesprom highlighted that, amid ongoing price undercutting by Belarusian suppliers, Russian timber exporters risk losing market share in China, their core market.
