According to the Russian Furniture and Woodworking Industry Association, in 2022, Russian particleboard and OSB production will drop by 10.5% to 10.3 million cubic meters, and fiberboard and MDF production will drop by 12.1% to 649 million cubic meters. Plywood production fell 28.8% to 3.24 million cubic meters. The decline in wood-based panel production was due to the closure of major export destinations due to European sanctions, as well as lower demand in the domestic market.
Plywood makers have been hit the hardest as exports and prices have plummeted. "In November 2022, the output of Russian plywood factories reached the lowest level in a decade, shrinking to the level of 2010," said Timur Irtuganov, director of the Russian Furniture and Woodworking Industry Association: will continue to decline. In 2023, Russian particleboard production will drop by 8%, while fibreboard and plywood production will drop by another 14%. That would bring the industry back to where it was in 2006, 15 years ago.