The conflict in Ukraine, primarily due to financial sanctions and restrictions, could see these increases begin to slow significantly.
WASHINGTON — In 2019, the United States sourced at least 10% of its hardwood plywood from Russia, according to wood flow resource blog TimberCheck. And that number has grown over the past three years.
“In 2019, the U.S. imported 426,871 cubic meters of hardwood plywood from Russia (9.48% of its total import number),” wrote Marc Barany of TimberCheck. “In 2021, the U.S. imported 558,526 cubic meters from Russia, a 30% increase.”
About 97% of those imports were of birch plywood products, says TimberCheck. The conflict in Ukraine, primarily due to financial sanctions and restrictions, has the potential to impact the flow of these imports.
Hardwood lumber imports are critical for the U.S. market. In total for 2019, 54.4% of the hardwood plywood consumed by manufacturers in the United States was imported. The U.S. consumed an estimated 4.5 million cubic meters of hardwood plywood for the year but only produced 2.15 million. To make up for that deficit, importing was necessary.
TimberCheck notes that the U.S. probably imports much more than 10% of its hardwood plywood from Russia, as Vietnam and Indonesia ship large amounts of birch originating in Russia themselves. Also in 2019, Russia surpassed Canada to become the world’s largest exporter of softwood lumber, which is primarily used in home building.
ROBERT (BOBBY) DALHEIM // Senior Editor of Case Goods and Global Sourcing • March 9, 2022