Page 54 - Журнал Sozvezdye Review - «СОЗВЕЗДИЕ» #40

щим, расходным материалам для ЛПК, содействие the European markets towards those in Asia, Middle
продвижению продукции ЛПК на новые рынки, Eastern and Latin America, that isn’t an unsolvable
в том числе создание отечественной системы лес- problem. The Russian-made pulp and paper prod-
ной сертификации, развитие Северного морско- ucts are known for their high quality and are still in
го пути с прицелом на доставку лесных грузов в high demand globally. At the same time, as we turn
страны Азиатско-Тихоокеанского региона. our eyes to the East, the China-bound cargo traffic
is peaking in intensity, threatening a logistical col-
– Alexander Yurievich, how would you define lapse. Logistics seems to be the biggest issue in the
the state of things in timber sector and pulp and situation that the industry is faced by. For many pulp
paper industry? and paper mills, especially those in the European part
– For the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the timber sector of Russia, the changes in their supply schemes have
is, indeed, of crucial importance. Together with de- led to longer delivery time and higher cost of prod-
fense complex, it is the pillar of the area’s well-being. uct transportation from mill to customer. In March
I must say that the year 2021 proved successful for the 2022, these factors caused an avalanche-like increase
Russian forest sector, its performance had increased in sea freight rates and cost of container multimodal
in nearly all aspects. Timber sector’s overall turnover transport. The situation is aggravated further by the
had increased by 33% last year to RUB 2.4 trillion. EU sanctions against the Russian shipowners and the
Notably, the period from January to April 2022 saw a European container carriers’ refusal to handle cargo
further increase of 128.5%. The turnover of the pulp flows from Russia. Compared to Q4 2021, the cost of
and paper industry has increased over this period by containerized cargo transportation from Arkhangelsk
132.5%. It should be noted that the pulp and paper in- to China increased more than two-fold. Transporta-
dustry is undoubtedly the driver of the development tion to North Africa is now 1.5 times more expensive.
of the Russian timber industry. Pulp and paper indus-
try remains key driver of the Russian timber sector. – Where do the pulp and paper mills source con-
The share of paper and paper-based products in tim- sumables?
ber sector’s total output has increased in 2022 from – Consumables are another major problem. The
47.5% to 48.8% – by nearly one half! Arkhangelsk question where to source them arose back in March,
Oblast is fortunate – and it owes its fortune to the for- when the European suppliers terminated contracts
ward-looking policy of grand designers of the USSR –
to have two pulp and paper mills. Both are operating
SOZVEZDYE #40 successfully at same fast face against all odds! «Драйвером развития
лесопромышленного комплекса
– Now that sanctions pressure is on the increase,
тренды how would you describe the performance of the России, без сомнения, является
trends Russian pulp and paper industry? целлюлозно-бумажная
– Its export-bound shipments are declining. There
has been a significant drop in demand in the domes- промышленность»
tic market, primarily for corrugated packaging, al- “Pulp and paper industry
though production levels experience no constraints remains key driver of the Russian
other than warehouses capacity. Unfortunately, we timber sector”
52 can’t expect the corrugated packaging market to
pick up anytime soon. As to having to reorient from