Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) has registered the first transaction under which the Belarusian sawn timber was sold to the United Arab Emirates. During the export trading session on February 17, a company from Abu Dhabi purchased a trial shipment of 20 cubic meters of edged sawn timber from a Belarusian sawmill. In accordance with the terms of the contract, the buyer will take care of logistics and delivery.

“This year, BUCE devotes special attention to diversifying the exports of timber products by reaching out to the end-users in geographically remote countries. We prioritize Asia and the Middle East since the largest importers of woodworking products are concentrated in these regions. We have already achieved some success in China. Thanks to special trading sessions, sawn timber is regularly exported to this market with delivery included in the price. As a result, in 2021, sales of Belarusian lumber to China amounted to 44 million USD. As for the Middle East countries, the residents of Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt are the most active users of our trading platform. The purchase volumes are not very large yet, but the trend is definitely positive. The first transaction made by a company from the UAE, opens up wide opportunities for our exporters of sawn timber, as the Emirates are an international trade and logistics hub that unites many countries of the world. This means that by selling their products to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Sharjah, Belarusian enterprises automatically gain access to potential buyers from Africa, Southeast Asia, and other regions. Therefore, now our primary objective is to gain a foothold in the UAE market by increasing the number of accredited companies and the volume of shipments. At the same time, we’ll be looking for a partner organization that would be interested in becoming an exchange broker in this country,” BUCE press service reported.