Production and markets of modified wood in Russia

AbstractUnderstanding the state of market for modified wood as well as the forces that affect its future development will be essential for those seeking to enter the Russian market. Information on modified wood from websites of companies, research and development organisations, woodworking-oriented magazines and forums, and official Russian statistics were explored, and finally verified by personal contacts with experts. A number of modification methods have been either researched, developed or pre-commercialised during the past 15 years, but only few of them have been adopted by users. Mostly, the modification methods have been copied, further developed and commercialised from variations of thermal modification originally introduced in Western Europe. Modified wood products are still considered premium goods among Russian consumers. Political initiatives aim at increasing the share of wood in construction and renovation but also at import minimisation, which reduces the penetration of foreign producers i...