In the first 11 months of the year, Latvia exported EUR 2.414 billion worth of forestry products, up 15.1 percent against the same period last year, according to information released by the Latvian Agriculture Ministry.
Timber and timber products made up the bulk or 85.9 percent (84 percent a year ago) of total forestry product exports in the first 11 months of 2018, accounting for EUR 2.073 billion and rising 17.8 percent year-on-year.
Timber exports in January-November 2018 included EUR 644.191 million worth of sawn timber, up 8.4 percent year-on-year. Firewood exports increased 13.2 percent year-on-year to EUR 298.718 million, round timber exports doubled to EUR 259.742 million, plywood exports dropped 1 percent to EUR 220.494 million, and exports of woodchip plates rose 12.5 percent to EUR 199.285.
According to the Agriculture Ministry's data, exports of wooden furniture declined 0.4 percent from January-November 2017 to EUR 152.485 million, or 6.3 percent (7.3 percent a year ago) of total forestry product exports, and exports of paper, cardboard and their products grew 6.7 percent to EUR 111.177 million, or 4.6 percent (5 percent a year ago) of total forestry product exports.
In January-November 2018, Latvia supplied forestry products mainly to the UK (18.2 percent), Sweden (12.3 percent) and Estonia (10.4 percent). In comparison with January-November 2017, exports of forestry products to the UK grew 21.7 percent to EUR 438.368 million, exports to Sweden rose 44.3 percent to EUR 296.279 million, and exports to Estonia picked up 15 percent to EUR 251.772 million.
In the first 11 months of 2017, Latvia's forestry exports reached EUR 2.096 billion.
