World timber markets: state and prospects for Russia’s exports

Abstract

The article analyzes the current state of the world round and sawn timber markets, which are the key commodities of Russian wood exports. The author identifies the fundamental factors of the world timber market development, characterizes the leading countries’ timber markets, determines the position of Russia as a significant global exporter of timber, indicates prospects for Russia’s exports of logs and sawn timber. The conclusion is that the world timber market will not undergo major structural changes in the near future. However, the most important factor of the international trade development is to create products of improved quality.