Last year, Russia had about 65 enterprises for the production of plywood, which amounted to 3.6 million m³ (+1.9% compared to 2014); of which 2.1 million m³ were sold to export markets, as reported in a recent study “White and laminated plywood market in Russia in 2015-2016” made by WhatWood analytic agency. The sales on domestic Russian market amounted to 1.5 million m³, with the white plywood segment reaching 1.2 million m³. The volume of the market of softwood plywood by the end of 2015 made up 278,000 m³.
The Russian plywood industry shows strong growth dynamics in terms of production volumes in the last six years, being one of the most reliable and profitable sectors of the forest complex for investors. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of production in the period from 2009 to 2015 reached 8%.
The existing installed capacities for the production of plywood at the beginning of 2015 were estimated at 4 million m³ per year, and capacity utilization is 85-90%.
The location of plywood production facilities and consumption locations in Russia is not homogeneous: about 90% of mills are concentrated in the European part of the country. Despite a very broad application scope of white plywood, the construction sector and furniture industry are the main consumers.
White FK plywood market in the Moscow region
Market capacity of white plywood in the Moscow region in 2015 amounted to 500 thousand m³, the second place was held by the St. Petersburg region with the capacity of 200 thousand m³. High rates of white plywood consumption for the past seven years were shown by the Krasnodar region, among other things due to the construction of the winter Olympic facilities in Sochi. With the completion of major construction projects, the demand for white plywood in the region began to decline at a moderate pace.
It is expected that in the medium term, the Russian plywood industry will mainly be influenced by export markets that generate stable demand for the product.
