Forest in Latvia take up 3 383 million hectares of land, or 52% of the country`s territory. The amount of forestland, moreover, is constantly expanding. An average of approximately 12 million m3 of round wood has been harvested each year in Latvia forest during the past decade. That is less than the annual increment, and so forestry in Latvia can be described as sustainable. Forestry, wood processing and furniture manufacturing represented 5.2% of GPD in 2014, while exports amounted to EUR 2 billion – 19% of all exports. Round timber consumption opportunities and long-term provision of raw materials woodworking sector development is very important. The study was conducted in 2015, during which surveyed (by telephone) 453 wood processing enterprises, of which the answers provided 65.5% of respondents. Of all the companies surveyed, 87% positioned themselves in the market as the primary wood processing companies.
Forecast show that by 2020 an assortment of wood demand will increase, which will definitely contribute to round timber processing volumes. During the period from 2006 to 2014, round wood recycling rate has increased from 6.8 million cubic meters in 2006 to 8.4 million cubic meters in 2014, which was due not only to wood processing capacity increase, but also wood products demand and exports rise in Latvian and foreign markets. The survey results show that the large wood processing companies make up only 7% of the surveyed companies, but recycle 72% of the total sawlogs of the amount. Latvian processing companies capacity mainly focuses on softwood. In 2014 the softwood of the total processing volume represents an average of 67%.
Keywords: sustainable timber use, demand and supply, Latvia
Authors
Liše S.
Latvia University of Agriculture, Woodprocessing Department, Jelgava, LATVIA
Krūmiņš J.
Latvia University of Agriculture, Forestry faculty, Jelgava, LATVIA
Dubrovskis D.
Latvia University of Agriculture, Forestry faculty, Jelgava, LATVIA
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