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Belarusian commodity exchange extends its reach in UAE, Switzerland

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MINSK, 31 March (BelTA) - Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange is tapping into new markets, BelTA learned from the BUCE press service.

In Q1 2022, companies from 26 countries bought timber, chips and stakes at the commodity exchange. Key markets were the Baltic states, Germany, Poland and China. They accounted for almost 90% of total export, or $149 million in value terms. The geography of exports has expanded. In particular, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland made their first transactions to purchase Belarusian sawn timber.

"In the first quarter, the physical volumes of timber export reached 544,000 cubic meters, which was up by 18% year-on-year. In monetary terms, sales increased by 43% to $138 million. High positive dynamics was due to a significant increase in the number of bidders in January - February. However, in March, due to the  sanctions imposed against Belarusian timber products, the volume of transactions decreased markedly. Therefore, now the main efforts are aimed at tapping into new markets and expanding the presence in the countries whose share in the import of wood products was previously insignificant. In addition to China to where lumber supplies have tripled, the West Asian region seems promising. First of all, these are Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. All these countries are ready to increase imports of sawn timber products from Belarus. For example, in Q1 2022 alone, more than half of last year's total volume was already sold.”

Diversification of exchange exports of timber products will also be facilitated by a more flexible pricing policy of Belarusian producers. The decrease in export quotations will be be compensated by an increase in sales in physical terms.

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