Forest products

SYKTYVKAR, September 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Komi on Tuesday for chairing a conference on timber industry investments and visiting Mondi Syktyvkar, one of Russia’s largest paper and pulp producers, and the Syktyvkar timber industry plant.

Paper and packaging group Sappi has renamed its secondary fibre division, formerly known as Sappi Waste Paper, to Sappi ReFibre.

This formed part of the group’s commitment to sustainability and to recycle paper and reduce waste.

Stepping up its fight against illegal logging, the government began the implementation early this month of a ban on exports of illegally harvested wood and wood products.

The government made it mandatory for forestry companies to obtain official certificates to show that timber has been legally sourced without damaging forests. The policy has been deemed necessary since according to official statistics illegal logging activities have been destroying more than 1 million hectares of forests each year.

Despite the fact that China has a simple, unsophisticated and labour-intensive sawmill industry, the country is ranked as the world’s third-largest lumber producer (after the U.S.