David Hopkins TTF Managing Director
The financial sanctions from multiple Governments to exclude many Russian banks from the international SWIFT payment system has effectively shut a lot of firms out of international trade as payments cannot be made or received; the UK Government has requested British ports to refuse entry for Russian owned or registered vessels; the EU has imposed trade sanctions on Belarus covering multiple commodities including timber; and the US Govt is considering a trade embargo on Russian oil exports. Source: Timberbiz
All of these sanctions are already affecting the trade in timber and timber products. The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) of the UK has said that many members have already released statements that they are ceasing trade with Belarus and Russia.
In line with sanctions, and in support of the positions taken by TTF members already, TTF is advising all members of Timber Development UK to cease trading with Russia and Belarus if they have not done so already.
TTF has stated that for some this will not be easy but the risks, financially and reputationally, are extremely high. NGOs are already calling for a total ban on timber trade with the two countries and many firms will not want ‘conflict’ timber in their inventories or buildings.
Members of the European Sawmilling Organisation (EOS) and CEI Bois, the main European organizations for the timber and woodworking industries were unanimous in support for the trade sanctions against Belarus and an expectation that these would soon be matched by equal measures against Russia.
This will of course cause huge disruption to timber supplies into Europe and to the UK market. While direct imports into the UK are relatively small, Russia and Belarus account for about 10% of the softwood market in Europe. Removing this will make the available supply even tighter, causing potential shortages in some product areas.
