Ukraine's ten largest wood processing exporters generated around \u20ac185 million from foreign sales in 2025, with flooring and plywood manufacturers taking the leading positions.<\/p>\n
The figures show the scale of the country's wood processing exports despite the disruption caused by the war, power shortages and difficult operating conditions. European countries remain the main destination for much of the industry's production.<\/p>\n
Barlinek Invest, the Ukrainian subsidiary of Polish flooring producer Barlinek, ranked first among the companies covered by the data. Its plant in Vinnytsia generated exports worth approximately \u20ac40 million in 2025, accounting for just over 21% of the combined total of the ten largest exporters.<\/p>\n
The factory has operated in Ukraine since 2007 and has become an important production site for the Polish group. It supplies around 40% of Barlinek's annual flooring output, with the group producing approximately 12 million m\u00b2 per year and selling its products in more than 70 countries.<\/p>\n
Plywood accounts for another significant part of Ukraine's wood exports.<\/p>\n
Odek Ukraine ranked second with foreign sales of approximately \u20ac34 million. The company's Orzhiv plant has annual birch plywood production capacity of around 115,000 m\u00b3 and accounts for a large share of Ukraine's domestic plywood production.<\/p>\n
Rezult Ukraine was the third-largest exporter in the ranking, with overseas sales of approximately \u20ac26 million.<\/p>\n
The three companies therefore generated around \u20ac100 million from exports between them, more than half of the \u20ac185 million recorded by the ten largest wood exporters.<\/p>\n
Financial results also indicate that most of the companies remained profitable despite the difficult conditions. Nine of the ten companies reported a profit, while their combined revenue reached approximately \u20ac294 million.<\/p>\n
Europe absorbs much of Ukraine's wood product exports<\/strong><\/p>\n Ukraine exports a considerably broader range of wood products than raw timber alone. Softwood lumber, plywood and other panels are sold alongside flooring, doors, windows, mouldings and other further-processed products.<\/p>\n European countries account for much of this trade.<\/p>\n Poland is among the largest markets and purchases several categories of Ukrainian wood products. Germany, Romania and Italy are important destinations for fuelwood, while Turkey and Moldova are buyers of Ukrainian softwood lumber.<\/p>\n The Netherlands and Lithuania are significant destinations for plywood. France, the UK and Sweden also import higher-value manufactured wood products, including flooring and products used in construction.<\/p>\n This geographical spread has kept Ukraine closely connected to the European wood market even as the war has made manufacturing, logistics and energy supply considerably more difficult.<\/p>\n Log export restrictions keep raw material in Ukraine<\/strong><\/p>\n The composition of exports is also influenced by Ukraine's long-standing restrictions on exports of unprocessed logs.<\/p>\n The policy was introduced to retain more timber for domestic sawmills and wood-processing plants rather than allowing the country's forest resource to be exported primarily as roundwood.<\/p>\n Kyiv has since considered maintaining restrictions for a longer period, including proposals that would extend them throughout martial law and for ten years afterwards.<\/p>\n For domestic mills, restrictions on log exports reduce competition for Ukrainian raw material from overseas buyers. They also encourage a larger share of exports to leave Ukraine after at least one stage of industrial processing.<\/p>\n The structure of the 2025 ranking illustrates this. The largest exporters are manufacturers rather than companies relying primarily on shipments of unprocessed logs, with flooring and plywood producers occupying the three leading positions.<\/p>\n Ukrainian plywood retains a sizeable European market position<\/strong><\/p>\n Plywood is particularly important within this trade.<\/p>\n Odek Ukraine's plant in Orzhiv alone has capacity to produce around 115,000 m\u00b3 of birch plywood annually. The company is estimated to account for roughly half of Ukrainian plywood production.<\/p>\n Its approximately \u20ac34 million in exports in 2025 placed it behind only Barlinek Invest among the country's largest wood industry exporters.<\/p>\n The European plywood market has changed considerably since sanctions restricted direct supplies from Russia, historically the dominant supplier of birch plywood to many EU markets.<\/p>\n European authorities and timber organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about Russian-origin plywood reaching EU customers indirectly through third countries. This has increased attention on alternative sources of birch plywood, including Ukraine.<\/p>\n EUDR classification could favour Ukrainian suppliers<\/strong><\/p>\n Ukraine's access to EU customers could also become relevant under the EU Deforestation Regulation.<\/p>\n The European Commission placed Ukraine in the low-risk category under the EUDR country benchmarking system, while Russia and Belarus were classified as high-risk countries.<\/p>\n The distinction affects the level of due diligence required from EU operators. Timber sourced from low-risk countries can qualify for simplified due diligence, provided the other requirements of the regulation are met.<\/p>\n For Ukrainian producers selling lumber, plywood and further-processed wood products into the EU, the classification could therefore become a commercial advantage once the regulation applies.<\/p>\n Trade is nevertheless subject to closer controls than before the war.<\/p>\n Ukrainian authorities have continued to investigate illegal timber exports and the use of false documentation. Earlier in 2026, authorities acted against a network suspected of using falsified documents for wood shipments.<\/p>\n Some shipments have also faced additional checks at the Polish border, adding another complication for exporters dependent on overland routes into the EU.<\/p>\n Wood processing generates most of the export value<\/strong><\/p>\n The 2025 figures underline how far Ukraine's timber exports extend beyond primary forest products.<\/p>\n The ten largest companies generated approximately \u20ac185 million in foreign sales and around \u20ac294 million in total revenue. Nine were profitable.<\/p>\n Barlinek Invest alone accounted for more than one fifth of exports in the ranking, while Odek Ukraine and Rezult Ukraine strengthened the contribution from plywood manufacturing.<\/p>\n Together, the three largest exporters generated approximately \u20ac100 million abroad.<\/p>\n The combination of domestic log availability, established processing capacity and proximity to EU customers has allowed Ukrainian mills to maintain a sizeable export business despite the severe disruption facing the country's manufacturing sector.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ukraine’s ten largest wood processing exporters generated around \u20ac185 million from foreign sales in 2025, with flooring and plywood manufacturers taking the leading positions. The figures show the scale of the country’s wood processing exports despite the disruption caused by … Continue reading