Russia is home to some 815 million hectares of forests. After Russia, only Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have more than 100 million hectares each (Table 1). On a per capita basis, Australia has the third most forests per person in the world. Table 2 shows the per capita forest availability for a selection of countries.
Gerald Taziwa recently successfully defended his MSc thesis in Forestry at the University of Stellenbosch, which was supervised by Margules Groome’s consultants Cori Ham and Dr Jonathan Dash. Gerald’s thesis explored the topic of calibrating rotation age for Eucalyptus pellita (E. pellita) and Eucalyptus grandis x urophylla (E. GU) to optimise economic returns for transmission pole and plywood production from greenfield plantations in Ghana.
Anyone who recently bought sawn lumber will know that prices are high this year. This is felt globally, but nowhere more than in North America where average prices for 2021 are more than twice their long-run average levels (Figure 1), although US prices have come back down in June and July. Prices are also high in New Zealand, due to elevated sawlog export prices, and strong demand for lumber for everything from fruit pallets to house framing. While this is welcomed by forest owners and sawmills, it is driving costs in construction and packaging, leaving many producers and buyers globally to wonder when lumber prices will return to normal.
Russia exported 15 million m3 of logs in 2020, accounting for almost 12% of globally traded roundwood. Much of this trade may come to a halt in 2022 when a new law proposed by Russia’s president will ban the export of softwood logs and high-value hardwood logs in January 2022. The Russian government is also considering measures to reduce illegal logging and restrict the export of green lumber.
Japan has long been recognised as a global leader in industrial efficiency and competitiveness, with examples extending to electronics, automation and car manufacturing.