BUCE arranges first transaction to sell lumber from EU in Belarus

The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) has completed the first deal to sell roundwood from the European Union on the domestic market of Belarus. Thus, in the course of weekly trades, a Lithuanian company sold 300 cubic meters of roundwood of coniferous species worth €45,000 to a Belarusian woodworking enterprise, BUCE Press Secretary Roman Yaniv told BelTA.

According to the press service, this transaction was part of the BUCE efforts to increase the supply of wood in the rough, including by offering lumber harvested outside the country.

“In order to meet the demand for forestry products that are needed by the domestic market, since December last year the BUCE has been working to bring foreign suppliers to auctions. So far, we have made the biggest progress with companies from the Russian Federation. For example, in January-February only one supplier (Smolensk Oblast) participated in the auction, while now we place orders to sell roundwood from companies coming from all border regions of Russia every week. Trade in Russian lumber is becoming regular. Of course, the amount of trade is not big yet, but this is just the beginning. In addition, the geography of suppliers is gradually expanding. In light of this, the transaction to sell roundwood made by the Lithuanian company clearly demonstrated the ability of exchange trading to boost the supply of wood resources without hurting the forest reserves of Belarus,” the BUCE representative said.

Over the past few months, 2,800 cubic meters of roundwood and plywood from abroad were sold on the domestic market through the BUCE at a total amount of more than $284,000.

Founded in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange conducted its first trading session in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest commodity exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its main function is to assist Belarusian enterprises with export and foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. BUCE sells a wide range of metal, forestry, and agricultural products, industrial and consumer goods.