US companies continue to buy large quantities of birch plywood from Russia, including from companies owned by Russian oligarchs close to Putin and sanctioned by the EU and UK.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian parliament recently called on the international community to ban the purchase of timber from Russia, a call that has been heeded by both the UK and the EU, while the US government has so far ignored it.<\/p>\n
Over the past five months, $341 million worth of Russian plywood has been imported into the United States (retail value).\u00a0This premium material is used in furniture and kitchen appliances in millions of US households.<\/p>\n
For example, in June, the latest month for which data is available,\u00a0Segezha\u00a0exported 1,374 m\u00b3 of plywood to the US.\u00a0One US company that continues to buy\u00a0Segezha\u00a0plywood is Georgia-based\u00a0PG Wood Imports\u00a0.\u00a0It is the largest importer of Russian plywood in the US, receiving nearly 6,000 m\u00b3 in the six weeks to August 10, 2023,\u00a0or\u00a0\u00a030% of all Russian plywood imported during that time.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"