According to statistics from the Russian forest department, in the first two months of 2023, Russia's exports of sawn timber to China increased by 7.2% to 1.6 million cubic meters. China has once again become a major importer of Russian sawn timber. During the special period, exports to China accounted for 63% of Russia's total exports of softwood and hardwood sawn timber.

On the contrary, the quantity of board and timber exported to Kazakhstan decreased by 19.5% to 61400 cubic meters. According to relevant timber companies, although the authorities have issued policy guidance, it is still difficult to export timber through Kazakhstan.

As of February 2023, Kazakhstan has not suspended the implementation of the second part of paragraphs 48 and 51 of the previously approved Rules for the Road Transport Licensing System. Therefore, the goods cannot be transported to Kazakhstan after being transshipped/reloaded in temporary storage warehouses in Russia or Belarus.

The Russian Timber Industry Corporation pointed out that the transfer of timber through Kazakhstan is very important for the industry. Due to this line issue, in January 2023, the export of sawn timber from Russia to Uzbekistan again fell by 16% year-on-year to 102000 cubic meters.

At the same time, due to the high level of congestion in the southern direction of the Kazakh railway, even if it passes the review, not all requests for transporting timber through Kazakhstan can be satisfied.

For example, in January, only 60% of the OSB and particle board transportation requests submitted in the Tomsk region were met. In February, the situation remained unchanged.

The news service of Tass News Agency reported that, compared with the same period in 2022, from January to February 2023, the export of such products to Türkiye increased by 3.5 times, to Hong Kong by 1.8 times, and to Iran and the United Arab Emirates by 1.5 times.