I needed some lumber. I thought that there would be no problems with their purchase. How wrong I was. I was looking for the right lumber for a long time, some manufacturers simply did not have it in stock. They were going to cut the wood only at the end of June. In general, this is logical, since many are waiting for the forest roads to dry up. Others are stocking up on wood at the beginning of spring.
Be that as it may, I have never seen such a sharp jump in lumber prices. In just 6 months, timber has risen in price by 70%.
I managed to find one sawmill not far from my area, where we had prudently stocked up with wood. However, the price tag did not please me: 14 thousand rubles per cubic meter. After paying for the goods and waiting for its loading, I got into a conversation with the owner of the sawmill Arkady. I was wondering what caused such a rise in the cost of materials.
Arkady replied that the increase in demand led to the jump in prices. Only the wood is bought not by the Russians, but by the Chinese. Citizens of the Celestial Empire buy up timber, process it and send it home. In the forest regions of Russia, they organized wood processing enterprises.
The demand for lumber in China is related to the economic events taking place in the country. I will tell only about a few of them.
Celestial Empire is a leader in the supply of wood products worldwide. We are talking about plywood, kiln-dried sawn timber, OSB, etc.
China mainly buys timber from the Russian Federation. Australia is also a supplier of timber, but these countries have rather strained relations. Previously, China bought timber from Australia for $ 2 billion annually. But today the Celestial Empire does not acquire timber from this country.
There are also rumors that the US plans to stop purchasing timber from Canada. Allegedly, the "green" came to such a decision. The United States is by far the largest consumer of timber, with timber frame houses being built everywhere.
Even these two events were enough for China to start actively purchasing timber from Russia. The cost of materials has increased throughout the entire Russian Federation, from the Perm Territory to the Khabarovsk Territory.
Although the exchange rate of the yuan to the Russian ruble is not profitable, it is cheapest for the Chinese to purchase raw materials in Russia, process them here, and then send them home.
If the situation does not change, then the cost of lumber will continue to creep up. Obviously, the Russian government should introduce export protective duties. Otherwise, the price of wood will simply become sky-high. The construction of wooden houses will be affordable only for the rich.
The same applies to the reconstruction of roofs on old houses. Since materials are constantly becoming more expensive, it becomes impossible to plan anything.
Why are the authorities inactive? If nothing is done, then prices will rise for absolutely everything, people will begin to be poor. It will be good only for some entrepreneurs who are raising everything and raising prices for lumber.
The situation is even worse in the ferrous metal market. There, products were also exported, which led to the collapse of the domestic market. Over the year, prices have increased by 100 - 120%. Most likely this is just the beginning, and something more terrible awaits us. So, gentlemen, we are preparing for the worst!
I hope that you have not regretted the time spent reading this article!
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