MINSK, 17 June (BelTA) – Over 30,000m3 of coniferous species timber worth $8.8 million has been sold to China as a result of the largest special export session hosted by the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), BelTA has learned. The timber will be shipped in containers on CFR terms (cost and freight).
According to BUCE Press Secretary Roman Yaniv, special trade sessions have become an effective tool for encouraging Chinese companies to use BUCE. As many as 45 Chinese companies are accredited with BUCE now. Many of them are major importers, which can always get a batch of timber of the necessary volume thanks to exchange trade. In turn, for Belarusian exporters – state-run and private ones – BUCE offers opportunities for working directly with the highly profitable market of China. A total of $8.4 million worth of timber was sold to China via the special trade sessions in January-May 2021 ($17.2 million taking into account the latest trade session). To compare, a total of $12.8 million worth of timber was exported to China in 2020.
The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange has been hosting special trade sessions to sell timber to China since December 2020 with assistance of the Belarusian Forestry Ministry for the sake of diversifying export shipments of Belarusian sawn timber away from the traditional direction – the European Union – to other promising regions. The main peculiarity of the special trade sessions is that timber is offered with several combinations of export terms. It allows customers to choose the most convenient location for accepting the goods. As a rule, those are major sea ports and railway stations.
The public joint-stock company (OAO) Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange was established in 2004. The first trade sessions took place in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest mercantile exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its key function is to assist Belarusian companies with exporting their products and assist foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. The commodity exchange facilitates trade in metals, timber, agricultural products, and a broad choice of industrial and consumer goods.
