Quality description of roundwood price statistics in Northwest Russia
Content and ownership
Average producer prices of roundwood (at roadside) sold in domestic market (RUB per solid cubic metre without bark, excl. VAT)
Production volumes of roundwood (1000 solid cubic metre without bark)
The Russian Forest Fund is owned by the state. Forest use rights are mainly allocated by lease contracts and standing sale agreements to companies or individual entrepreneurs after auction or tendering. Priority investment projects approved by the authorities receive forests for lease without competition (with 50% reduced rate of forest payment). One fifth of the forests are leased for wood harvesting and about 80 percent of roundwood is extracted from the leased forests. Forest use payment is based on the harvesting volume and leased area and it depends on the distance of harvesting sites, stock quality and conditions of the place. The minimum rate of forest use payment and its annual increase are stipulated by government decrees, and the final rate is formed as a result of auction/tendering (excluding priority investment projects). Data on the final forest payments, i.e. the price of standing timber, are not available.
The producer prices of roundwood are collected by the statistics authority from companies whose registered main activity is wood harvesting. All the ownership categories of companies are included in the statistics.
The average producer price is the volume-weighted average unit value of a roundwood assortment sold to domestic market. It depicts the market price of a roundwood assortment from the viewpoint of wood harvesting companies. The information is derived from the companies’ book-keeping documents. By definition, the producer price does not include transportation, and thus it can be considered as roadside price. Yet in practice, companies’ sales contracts may also include roundwood deliveries to mill gate which are not necessarily separated in book-keeping or reporting of producer prices.
Roundwood assortments
Industrial roundwood: coniferous and broad-leaved sawlogs, coniferous and broad-leaved pulpwood
Roundwood assortments are classified according to the Russian Classification of Product by Economic Activities (OKPD2 ОК 034-2014). Since 2017, the data on sawlogs also include rotary-cut veneer logs. In addition to the information presented in the Roundwood markets in the Baltic Sea region database, the Russian national statistics include the prices for coniferous and broad-leaved sliced veneer logs, other coniferous and broad-leaved roundwood, some special roundwood assortments and fuelwood. According to the standards, industrial roundwood volumes are estimated without bark and fuelwood volumes with bark, and producer prices are presented correspondingly.
The producer prices of roundwood for Northwest Russia are available from 2002 onwards. Since 2010 prices are reported separately for roundwood sold in domestic and in export markets.
Roundwood production volumes are available for different tree species in the national statistics.
Frequency and regionality
Monthly
Country, federal district
Producer price and production statistics are published at the Russian Federation level and for eight federal districts: Central, Far Eastern, Northwestern, North Caucasian, Siberian, Southern, Ural, Volga.
The Northwestern federal district (later Northwest Russia) comprises eleven federal subjects: Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov and Vologda regions; Republics of Karelia and Komi; Nenets autonomous district; city of Saint Petersburg.
Sources and coverage
Statistics on producer prices and roundwood production are compiled by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) and its regional bodies.
Reporters of producer prices are selected at two stages. The Rosstat compiles list of companies whose registered main activity is wood harvesting (the largest and most stable-working), and regional bodies select the reporters. The sample should cover all large sized producers of roundwood in the region, middle sized producers by sampling and small companies if they are important for the regional economy. In the Russian Federation, the producer prices of roundwood are reported by 150 companies. In Northwest Russia, the number of reporters is about 40. For example, in the Republic of Karelia, the sample consists of 11 large sized companies covering 60% of the harvested roundwood volume.
The production volumes of roundwood are reported by medium and large sized companies employing more than 15 persons regardless of the registered main activity. The production volumes of small companies are estimated on a sampling basis. The roundwood production statistics are not exhaustive. In Northwest Russia, they cover about 80% of the total wood harvesting. The statistics on wood harvesting are compiled by the Federal Forestry Agency on a regional level. Information on the removals of roundwood assortments is not available.
Databases:
Producer prices 2002-2009: https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/31453
Producer prices from 2010: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/prices/bd/bd_1904002.htm
Roundwood production volumes from 2017 (by Rosstat): https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/57783
Wood harvesting statistics (by Federal Forestry Agency): https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/37848
Contacts
Sari Karvinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland,
firstname.lastname@luke.fi, +358 29 532 3256
Igor Novoselov, WhatWood – timber market research & consulting,
firstname.lastname@whatwood.ru, +7 (916) 816 47 1