New Zealand Journal of Forestry (2013) 58(2): 16–19
©New Zealand Institute of Forestry

Professional Paper
Siberia has a very large forest resource but...

Wink Sutton <sup>1

1</sup> retired FRI scientist and Fletcher Challenge Forests executive

The following article was prompted by two New Zealand news items. This year Russian log volume is expected to be some 12-15% lower than in 2011. Increased investment in domestic sawmilling and increasing harvesting and logistics costs are behind this reduction. From PF Olsen’s Wood Matters 2012 issue 49 Dec 2012 …rising logging costs in Russia, with forests getting further from the border and further from infrastructure, thus cartage costs are increasing. The easily accessible forests are getting fewer and so more investment in infrastructure such as roads is needed to complete harvests. From Friday Offcuts 21 Dec 2012 For many decades I have had an interest in the forest industry of the USSR now mainly Russia. About a quarter of my doctoral thesis was devoted to an evaluation of the USSR forest resource (Sutton 1975a). That analysis was later published (Sutton 1975b). My general conclusion in 1975 was that although some expansion in the Siberian wood harvest was possible, most of that wood would be required in the western USSR and that any exports would be expensive.
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