Business news

15 Sep 2023

Belarusian commodity exchange presents its export capabilities in Moscow

BUCE photo

MINSK, 15 September (BelTA) – In January-August 2023, 739,000 cubic meters of sawn timber were sold at BUCE export auctions, which was up by 21% than in January-August 2022, with residents of 15 countries acting as buyers, Maksim Ignatenko, Head of the BUCE Timber Section, said during the 8th international conference "Timber and Wood Products Market 2023" running in Moscow on 14-15 September, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE).

According to Maksim Ignatenko, the positive dynamics was achieved due to the rapid reorientation of export supplies from the European markets to the markets of China, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Russia and Uzbekistan. It was companies from these countries that became the main buyers of the products of the Belarusian timber industry.

"If we take the five largest countries-buyers of sawn timber at BUCE, each of them significantly increased the volume of transactions. For example, deliveries to Russia surged by 13 times in physical terms, to Uzbekistan - by 10 times, to Azerbaijan - by 4 times, to China - by 3.5 times. As for Singapore, in January-August of last year, companies from that country made only a few small transactions, so the comparison base is still insufficient. As another positive trend, I would like to note a noticeable improvement in the monthly sales of sawn timber abroad. In 2022 the maximum monthly sales to China did not exceed 55,000 cubic meters. Now it is already about 73,000 cubic meters," Maksim Ignatenko noted.

Speaking about the organization of exchange trade in sawn timber in Belarus, the head of the BUCE Timber Section highlighted the growing interest of Belarusian exporters in the mechanism of targeted transactions. In June-August 2023, the share of such transactions accounted for 29% of the total volume of sawn timber exports. It continues to increase. Moreover, the convenience of the new procurement scheme was also appreciated by foreign companies, first of all, residents of China, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Armenia and Turkey. Through targeted transactions, they purchased 137,000 cubic meters of sawn timber at BUCE.