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A strengthened Ruble, weak import duties and a decline in European demand is a perfect storm – with the peak body for furniture now urging Putin to ramp up import duties to protect the local industry.
Italy and Germany are the leading contributors to the surge entering Russian ports, with export volumes from both countries nearing pre-COVID (and Ukraine war) levels. At the same time, Russian domestic production has dropped by 2%, with the cost of materials and other components—including plywood, MDF, and particleboard—expected to rise by more than 15%.
The investigation shows that Russian plywood is being smuggled en masse into numerous EU member states and that efforts by authorities to clamp down have been woefully inadequate. As a result, illegal blood-stained birch worth over 1.5 billion euros has been sold in Europe since sanctions took effect.
Piecing together information from insider leaks, trade documents and clandestine calls, we reveal the actorsThe investigation shows that Russian plywood is being smuggled en masse into numerous EU member states and that efforts by authorities to clamp down have been woefully inadequate. As a result, illegal blood-stained birch worth over 1.5 billion euros has been sold in Europe since sanctions took effect.
Piecing together information from insider leaks, trade documents and clandestine calls, we reveal the actors at every stage of the supply chain – from the manufacturing giants in Russia, through to the firms laundering their products in China, Kazakhstan and Turkey, and their customers in the EU.
at every stage of the supply chain – from the manufacturing giants in Russia, through to the firms laundering their products in China, Kazakhstan and Turkey, and their customers in the EU.
Chicken sold by fast-food chain McDonald’s and major European supermarkets Carrefour, Intermarché, Edeka and Albert Heijn has been linked to the loss of 23,000 hectares of Cerrado vegetation since January 2021.
Soy used in animal feed in Europe has been produced by agribusinesses linked to deforestation, land grabbing, corruption and violence against traditional communities. Two of these large agribusinesses have farms certified by the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS). In response to Earthsight’s findings, RTRS has suspended their certificates.
Russia and Belarus now account for 70% of all Chinese lumber imports.
Russia is ramping up plywood production, with exports to China surging more than 344%, according to new data provided by Roslesinforg – the Russian state-owned customs agency.
The latest numbers come after China Customs reported that exports to China had tripled for March. environmental groups have flagged concerns that China is operating as a broker for Russian and Belarussian timber, with plywood made from Russian birch entering European markets via China, Vietnam and a series of “friendly countries” across Eurasia.
Lumber exports from the EU’s largest timber economies are in decline, thanks to a shortage in biomass in the Baltic states. However, with the roll out of the Green New Deal there are concerns that European countries will not be able to balance increased harvesting with climate commitments.
An investigation by the European Commission has confirmed the circumvention of anti-dumping duties by firms buying plywood from Turkey and Kazakhstan. The investigation found evidence of laundering of finished Russian plywood – a breach of EU sanctions put in place following the Ukraine invasion.
Inspectors also confirmed Turkish and Kazakh firms are using Russian raw materials to make birch ply for sale in Europe. The European Commission investigation found evidence of plywood made in Russia being simply laundered and re-labelled as of Kazakh or Turkish origin, something which should be of interest to authorities tasked with enforcing EU sanctions, both at EU and Member State level. Though not covered by sanctions, these sales are in clear breach of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), a law meant to halt illegal wood use in Europe.
Today Earthsight, which submitted evidence to the EU’s investigation, has filed EUTR complaints pertaining to 31 firms across nine member states whose suppliers were confirmed by the EU to be using Russian raw materials.
A new Greenpeace report, Nature Crime Files – Romania – Greenpeace International, followed the traces to the suppliers of furniture companies, such as IKEA. By closely examining the entire supply chain, from logging sites to wood depots, including scrutinising transport permits with geolocation attributes, and visiting processing facilities Greenpeace CEE found old-growth or other high conservation value destruction linked to at least seven different IKEA suppliers in Romania. Investigations identified at least 30 IKEA products, and some of IKEA’s well-known furniture, originating from these producers, raising a concern that wood from old-growth forests could ultimately end up in homes all over Europe and beyond.
There is an import ban on Russian timber. In fact, EU sanctions are being circumvented on a large scale. Chinese companies play a key role, as frontal reveals.
This report by Global Witness shows how the 20 biggest banks in the EU have provided billions to companies linked to deforestation since 2016. This review shows that voluntary guidelines and individual commitments by financial institutions are unlikely to stop the financing of forest destruction.
A cross-border probe, led by ICIJ and first published in March 2023, involved 44 media partners globally and documented how Western environmental auditing firms and governments failed to stop the trade of wood logged in conflict zones.
The findings supported a June investigation from ICIJ partners Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, ZDF and others that similarly revealed how Russian timber continued to circumvent the EU’s embargo, making its way into the bloc by routing through countries like China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Purchases will start in 2024 and account for about 6% of all Argentina’s soy area in the first year of the deal, Bayer executives Juan Farinati and Fábio Passos said in an interview. The German seed giant will work with 300 Argentine farmers to certify the
The destruction of the Cerrado is closely linked to the growing demand for meat and dairy. This report shows that some of the world’s largest investment funds that have put billions into buying farmland in the Cerrado, including pension funds in Sweden and Germany, Harvard University’s endowment, and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, better known as TIAA, the $1.2 trillion pension fund for 5 million people across the United States. Thanks in part to its investments in Brazilian farmland, TIAA has become one of the largest farmland investors in the world. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nuveen Natural Capital, the fund has accumulated some 3 million acres across 10 countries. Its investments in Brazil, where it manages 1 million acres, are some of its most controversial holdings.
Shipments of timber transported by trucks from Cameroon, the CAR and Congo-Brazzaville pass through the port hub of Douala and Kribi supply markets in China, Vietnam, France, Spain, Germany, etc. A volume of timber that could soon double thanks to the new multi-purpose quay of the wood terminal of the port of Douala inaugurated on March 29, 2023 .
According to the report “State of the forest-timber sector in Central African Republic (2021)”, between 2017 and 2021, 1,473,882 m3 of timber were exported in logs from the CAR, as compared to 78,439 m3 of sawn timber. SCAD, other Besides companies in the timber sector in the CAR, such as SOFOCAD, SEFCA and CENTRABOIS, make regular trips to the port of Douala (Littoral), as well as to the deep-water port of Kribi, in the south of Cameroon .
In addition to timber from the Central African Republic, the Port of Douala’s Timber Terminal also receives shipments from northern Congo-Brazzaville, where the forest sector generates a turnover of about 100 billion CFA francs a year and contributes 20 billion CFA francs to government tax revenues .
From 2016-2018, 94% of Germany’s directly imported deforestation risk was linked to just five key commodities: soy, coffee, palm oil, cocoa and cattle. More than 90% of this comes from nine countries, including Brazil Colombia, and Indonesia. Deforestation risk in Germany’s supply chains has varied over time, but has recently begun to emerge in particular hotspots, such as Colombia.
Deforestation risk can be concentrated in particular areas within hotspots: more than half of Brazilian soy deforestation risk comes from just three municipalities in the Matopiba region.
Germany-based third-party sustainability certification provider 4C Services has launched a suite of services for coffee and cocoa companies seeking compliance with new European deforestation-free supply chains (EUDR) legislation.
German agricultural and food associations have collectively voiced concern about obstacles hindering seamless implementation of the EUDR.
Deutsche Welle film focuses on the illegal timber trade which is worth billions. High returns and low rates of prosecution attract organized crime. In the past year alone, 120 million tons of timber in Europe had no official certificate of origin.
In March 2023, the ICIJ and 39 media partners published Deforestation Inc., a global investigation that exposed flaws in environmental auditing and certification programs intended to promote responsible forestry and combat illegal logging and deforestation. For this month’s episode of the Meet the Investigators podcast, we recorded a special live panel featuring reporters who had visited ravaged forests, tracked shipments of timber around the world, and trawled through corporate documents, leaked files and more to uncover the many ways in which a system designed to protect the environment, consumers and investors is failing with concerning frequency.
The situation in Myanmar, Romania, Indonesia, Germany is featured, as well as with the extent and nature of problems with falsified documents and certification systems more broadly.
Deforestation Inc. reporters in a dozen countries investigated weak government efforts and loopholes allowing companies to keep trading Myanmar teak, a natural resource controlled by the military junta.
The Deforestation Inc. investigation by ICIJ and its 39 partners found that timber traders in three continents have continued to import Myanmar teak by the ton to supply shipbuilders and furniture manufacturers around the world, while consumers may be unwittingly financing the junta’s repressive campaign.
The reporters visited boat shows in Fort Lauderdale, Amsterdam and Paris to learn about the international teak market. They interviewed timber traders in 11 countries and pored over documents leaked from Myanmar’s tax agency and shared with ICIJ by Justice for Myanmar, a human rights group, U.K.-based news outlet Finance Uncovered and Distributed Denial of Secrets, a data transparency group.
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Cases from Slovenia, Croatia, USA, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Turkey, Taiwan, France, and India are included.
Germany has pledged tens of millions of dollars to help Brazil defend the Amazon rainforest, a critical global ecosystem that experienced years of devastation under former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
During a news conference in Brasilia on Monday, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced that Berlin would make $38m available for the Amazon Fund, an international mechanism largely funded by Norway that aims to prevent deforestation.
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