The European Commission has opened an expiry review of anti-dumping duties on Russian birch plywood, preserving the measures while it examines whether their removal would allow dumping and injury to European manufacturers to return.<\/p>\n
The investigation, announced on 6 November 2026, follows a request submitted by the Woodstock Consortium on behalf of three EU producers. The duties, ranging from 14.4% to 15.8%, were scheduled to expire on 10 November. They remain in force during the review, together with the measures covering shipments from Turkey and Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n
For European producers, the decision maintains protection against dumped imports while concerns persist over the availability of Russian material through alternative supply channels.<\/p>\n
Russian spare capacity under examination<\/strong><\/p>\n The producers\u2019 request, submitted on 7 August 2026, argues that Russian mills have spare capacity and would have an incentive to redirect output towards the EU if the duties expired. It points to the European market\u2019s size, purchasing power and prices, alongside conditions in alternative destinations, including Egypt, the United States and China.<\/p>\n With direct imports from Russia absent, the dumping allegation relies on comparisons between Russian domestic prices and export prices to third countries. These are arguments the Commission will investigate, rather than final findings.<\/p>\n The investigation should normally conclude within 12 months and must finish within 15 months.<\/p>\n Measures continue to cover Turkey and Kazakhstan<\/strong><\/p>\n The existing 15.8% duty applies to covered birch plywood consigned from Turkey and Kazakhstan, whether or not those countries are declared as its origin. These measures remain part of the protection maintained during the expiry review.<\/p>\n The product concerned is plywood made entirely from wood sheets, each no thicker than 6 mm, with at least one outer layer of birch, whether coated or uncoated. It is currently classified under CN code ex 4412 33 10.<\/p>\n Anti-dumping duties and sanctions remain separate restrictions. The review does not reopen the EU market to prohibited Russian plywood, and payment of a duty does not make a shipment admissible if it breaches sanctions.<\/p>\n European suppliers report pressure from discounted timber<\/strong><\/p>\n The commercial pressure extends beyond plywood. In a February 2026 report by TVP World, Eveli Opmann, chief executive of Estonian wood manufacturer Puidukoda, described timber offers priced 20\u201330% below prevailing market levels that she believed involved Russian material.<\/p>\n Opmann said the availability of these products pushed customers to seek lower prices from compliant suppliers. Her comments concerned the wider timber market, rather than a measured discount across all birch plywood grades, but described the difficulty faced by companies that had replaced Russian sourcing. tvpworld.com<\/p>\n FSC takes further action over birch plywood claims<\/strong><\/p>\n Supply-chain documentation has also come under scrutiny in 2026. In July, FSC announced that it had blocked four additional certificate holders in May following investigations into birch plywood transactions.<\/p>\n The organisations were Xuzhou Discover International Import & Export, Xuzhou Huayu Wood Industry, Xuzhou Shelter Import & Export and Shelter Forest International Acquisition.<\/p>\n FSC identified cases in which companies supplied plywood carrying certification claims while reporting no certified sales to their certification bodies. Other findings included false claims and repeated failures to provide transaction records or cooperate with verification.<\/p>\n FSC has also made information on certificate holders reporting no certified sales available through its public search system and introduced mandatory annual audits for specified wood-product certificate holders in China, including those declaring no certified purchases or sales. fsc.org<\/p>\n These findings concern certification integrity and do not, by themselves, establish Russian origin or sanctions violations. They do show why a supplier\u2019s certificate needs to be supported by consistent purchasing, production and sales records.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n