Latvian round wood timber exports fall 35.2%

Latvian round wood timber exports fell by 35.2 per cent in the first nine months of 2009, LETA has revealed.

During the first three quarters of 2009, 1.67 million cubic meters of the commodity were exported, the Baltic Course revealed.

According to figures released by the Agriculture Ministry's Forest Resource Department, this compares to the 2.58 million cubic metres which were exported during the same period last year.

The value of timber shipped from the country during 2009 has also fallen sharply.

In the first nine months of 2009, round wood timber exports were worth a total of 47.43 million lats (£60.9 million), 54.6 per cent down on the same period during 2008.

Last month, the same sources reported that round wood timber exports fell by 40.3 per cent during the first seven months of 2009 when compared to the same period last year.

The value of exports was worth 34.64 million lats over the first seven months of the year.

This news item is brought to you by KMS Baltics in conjunction with Fest-Forest and EST KINNISVARA. Baltic forestry and property specialists.