From the total amount of wood obtained after felling, on average around 10% is obtained every year, which is not very much. According to the judgment of the Constitutional Court, this volume will decrease, as evidenced by the data of the State Forestry Service.
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In 2023, 1.72 million were obtained after cutting. m³ of wood, which is 11.5% of the total 15 million obtained. m³. On the other hand, in 2022, 1.24 million were obtained in this way. m³ or 9.5% of the 13 million obtained in total. m³. An even smaller proportion of the total harvested wood (13 million m³) was in 2021, when on average 1.03 million were harvested. m³ or 7.9%. It should be reminded that on April 8 of this year, the Constitutional Court issued a verdict in the case of the norm, which changed the numerical values of the diameter of the main felling, and recognized that the principle of sustainability and the principle of precaution were not respected in the process of adopting the contested norm.
This means that the reduced main cut diameter values are no longer valid; they were determined to be the same for all grades – for pine 30 cm (will be as it is until 2023 – from 39 to 27 cm – depending on the grade), for spruce 26 cm (will be as until 2023 – from 31 to 27 cm – depending on the grade) and for birch, 25 cm (it will be the same until 2023 – from 31 to 22 cm – depending on creditworthiness). In fact, in 2024, a return to the past has taken place and is taking place. For the sake of clarity, it is planned to prepare a relevant regulatory act on diameters.
Competitors preferred
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“Latvia is a “unique” country, narrowing down the cutting of three tree species – pine, fir and birch – means reducing the possibilities (in the broadest sense of the word). At the same time, the regulatory regulation of forestry in Latvia (when and what can be done in one’s own property) is very strict and disturbing, because our direct competitors in Scandinavia do not have such state requirements – when and what can be done in their forest,” the situation is critically assessed by the Latvian Forest Certification Council chairman Māris Liopa. He emphasizes that competitiveness is very important nowadays, especially in the European Union, but it can become a significant obstacle. Why? In our (Latvian foresters’ and wood industry’s) competitor countries, for example Finland, there is neither diameter nor age limit for felling trees, the only condition is that the felled areas must be restored, there is also no limit for the diameter of tree felling in Sweden. “The only countries where there is a limit on the diameter of tree felling are Estonia, where they are 28 cm for pine, 26 cm for spruce, 22-26 cm for birch, and Latvia,” says M. Liopa, reminding that when cutting trees according to diameter , the forest stand in Latvia must be restored by planting quality material. In this way, a mechanism was created to increase the value and productivity of the future forest, while also increasing carbon sequestration. “It is a question that currently has no significance,” M. Liopa answered when asked about the volumes of birch, spruce and pine wood extraction, compared to the total annual volume of extraction of the relevant tree species. According to him, at the time when the Constitutional Court has announced the decision, it is much more important to think about what to do and how to act in the future.
Jobs = availability of wood
“Woodworkers working in Latvia need wood to produce their products. In a situation where wood and its products of Russian and Belarusian origin were “excluded” from the game by sanctioning, the issue of the availability of wood resources will intensify, otherwise there are and will be just as acute (urgent) questions about workplaces, especially in rural areas; about the taxes paid and, of course, export revenues,” answered M. Liopa when asked about the most relevant.
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It should be reminded that the two aggressor countries contributed more than 1 million out of the total import of softwood lumber (1.49 million m³). m³ or slightly more than 72%. In 2021, 57.9 thousand m³ of plywood were imported from Russia (almost 53% of the total import volume of this product), which is less than in 2020, when the import of plywood was even higher – 65.1 thousand. m³. Another important import product was wood chips, which are also used for heat production.
Asked about the increase in the total volume of wood felling in 2023, that is, by almost 2 million. m³, compared to previous years, M. Liopa says: “Surprisingly, as the demand in the foreign market decreased last year, the production volumes of woodworkers also decreased, but maybe initially it is incomprehensible and unbelievable, but perhaps a logical explanation will be found, unless the data an error has crept in.” Māris Liopa reminds us of the “cosmic” wood prices experienced in 2022, the jump caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent increase in the prices of energy resources; it was a time when many private forest owners, both hoping for a “continuation of the party” (which did not materialize) and reacting to news about possible restrictions on economic activity, actively developed their forests. “It replaced the wood resources of Russia and Belarus,” the chairman of the Latvian Forest Certification Council points to the other important factor in the increase in the volume of wood extraction. According to him, only thanks to the wood resources available in Latvia, the companies to which wood was supplied from Russia and Belarus were not closed (did not go bankrupt) and jobs were preserved. “This is very, very important, because for the adequate provision of services necessary for society – education, health care, security, social assistance – additional money is needed, the only source of which is entrepreneurship, which can only be earned by working successfully and pay a part of what is earned in taxes, which goes into the common purse of the state. By closing production plants or entire industries, the amount of taxes collected can only be increased with higher tax rates,” explains M. Liopa.
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Opinion. Incredible numbers
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Kristaps Klauss, vice president of the Latvian Wood Industry Federation
All secondary market data, such as production volumes, foreign trade balance, demand for logging services, as well as the subjective feeling of the market “say” one thing – in 2023, logging volumes in private forests should have been lower overall than in 2022, maximum, they could have been the same, but not an increase of more than 1 million. m³. There are three possibilities: first – I am obviously wrong and you can ignore what I say from now on; the second – there is an error in the data of the State Forest Service (VMD), which will be found and corrected; third – neither I nor VMD are wrong, but the forest owners have declared the actual fellings in 2021 and 2022 in 2023, because the felling permits are valid for three years. In any of these options or variations of options, my further comment is redundant, because these numbers do not describe what happened in 2023, or in my world, the year 2023 was different than the VMD statistics show! Not talking about the year 2023, but in general – I urge you to be very careful when naming specific tree species. I have “made up” with it and seen it happen to people much smarter than me when making investment plans. Look at nature – except for some pine forests, we are not dominated by mature forests of one species or monoculture! Birches, firs, pines, etc. grow together. On the other hand, in the inventory, all forests of mixed tree species are listed “under” the name of one species, for example, birch groves or spruce forests. Therefore, if you cut down 100 m³ in a forest dominated by birch, we will see in the VMD statistics that you have cut down 100 m³ of birch, although in nature, for example, 40 m³ of birch, 35 m³ of spruce, 15 m³ of aspen and 10 m³ of logs of other tree species will be obtained from this stand. . The State Forestry Service is not lying, because, not for nothing, when reading the methodology, it is known that in forestry, they are talking about land masses.
Of course, we will also get birch in the forests of other municipalities, for example, there is a significant admixture of it in spruce and aspen groves, but I wonder if everything will compensate each other. Looking at the main felling for the year 2023, we can see that pine stands made up about 30%, birch – 35%, spruce – only 13%, other species – 22%. When counting in the stacks near the fellings, the proportion of pine logs will be slightly lower than the proportion of the trees named after it – it will be closer to 25%, on the other hand, I can bet that there will be much more than 13% of spruce logs, I would say – even twice as much, but birch the yield will have been a third less than the proportion of the fells named after it. The forest is not simple mathematics!
Author of the article: Māris ķirsons / https://www.zemeunvalsts.lv/koksnes-pieejamiba-latvija-situacija-un-prognozes
Tags: Availability wood Latvia situation forecasts BauskasDzive .lv
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