Ukraine’s state-owned forest manager is flooding the local market with 15,000 cubic metres or more of timber every day, with warehouse stockpiles climbing to more than 1.17 million cubic metres amid a slump in demand and a four-month harvest that ran 632,000 cubic metres ahead of the same period last year.
That is according to Forests of Ukraine, which confirmed via its press service on Facebook that it has been re-listing unsold lots for repeat auctions at reduced prices since March, in an effort to clear inventory backlogs, including a 273,000 cubic metre jump in pine roundwood stocks alone.
Wood Central understands the surplus is running at 55,000 cubic metres of daily product offered to market against industry consumption of around 40,000 cubic metres, with the SOE harvesting above the volumes Ukrainian state forestry enterprises produced before the 2022 Russian invasion, despite losing operational access to Luhansk, Donetsk, most of Kharkiv and significant parts of Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
“We are harvesting more than state forestry enterprises did before the war,” Forests of Ukraine said, highlighting production gains across all timber segments under wartime operating conditions.
Despite the harvesting gains, Ukrainian wood processors are struggling with timely shipments of raw materials, with Forests of Ukraine citing power outages, rising logistics costs, weak EU demand and labour shortages as the four headwinds compressing throughput across the country’s sawmilling base. It comes as Wood Central reported that EU wood imports are sliding amid tariffs, EUDR, and weak construction, with the broader continental softwood sector grinding through the same demand environment, now backing up Ukrainian inventories.
Foreign-backed producers are pushing for greater resource allocation, with the press release stating that some large producers with foreign beneficiaries are dissatisfied that Forests of Ukraine prioritises firewood supply to households, the social sector and the Armed Forces of Ukraine over commercial export volumes. The enterprise has signalled that pressure from foreign businessmen will not yield results and that domestic-priority allocations will remain in place.
Forests of Ukraine has flagged that its Q3 2026 supply offer will exceed last year’s level by 300,000 cubic metres, with starting auction prices held at the previous quarter’s level after industry consultation, adjusted only for inflation. The SOE is also considering increasing lot differentiation by log diameter and reducing the share of products sold at semi-annual auctions due to high market volatility.
With domestic supply running 15,000 cubic metres per day above demand and warehouse inventories at a record 1.17 million cubic metres, Forests of Ukraine’s Q3 offer of 300,000 cubic metres above 2025 levels will test whether continental EU buyers can absorb Ukrainian softwood volume into a market still adjusting to the post-2022 displacement of Russian and Belarusian product from European supply chains.
