Russian export duties postponed
According to the media company Forbes, Russia plans to postpone the introduction of higher timber export duties by one year.
The intention behind the planned duty raise is to ensure a sound basis for expanding the domestic processing industry in Russia. However, due to the economic crisis, it has not been possible to build the necessary facilities as fast as expected. The delay is thus caused by the need to ensure buyers for Russian timber exporters in the short term.
A welcome respite for European companies
Originally, the Russian government had planned to raise the export duties on roundwood by as much as 80% by the 1st of January 2009.
Such a dramatic increase would have major consequences for processing companies in Europe and China which depend on supplies of pulpwood and sawn logs from Russia. In late 2008, the plans were postponed by one year, following negotiations with the EU Trade Commission.
The new plans to postpone the duty raise by one further year will almost certainly be welcomed by the affected importers - in particular Finnish and Swedish companies depend heavily on Russian forest products and need time to adjust to the situation. The duty raise naturally affects importers of certified and controlled wood from Russia in the same way as other importers.
The decision to delay the increase in timber export duties is expected to be finalized in October.
Source: Forbes
