The wood is the same wood
Birch does not recognise the border. The species used industrially on both sides is Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, growing in one continuous belt of northern forest that runs across Fennoscandia, the Baltic states and Russia. Density, bending strength, colour, the way the log behaves on the lathe — none of it changes at a customs post.
| Russian birch | Finnish birch | |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Betula pendula, pubescens | the same |
| Density | 620–680 kg/m³ | the same range |
| Bending strength | 120–144 MPa | the same range |
| Behaviour when peeled | straight log, short even fibre | the same |
Where variation genuinely exists, it exists between mills, not between countries: the lathe, the drying line and the grading discipline decide far more than the flag on the invoice. That is true within Russia and within Finland equally.
What actually differs: everything around the wood
Certification
FSC stopped accepting Russian-origin timber on 8 April 2022, and PEFC took the same decision. A Finnish supplier can hand you a chain-of-custody certificate; a Russian one cannot, and anyone claiming otherwise is offering you a problem rather than a document. What we provide instead is a complete and accurate set on the origin of the raw material — the reasoning is on the compliance page.
Market access
This is the decisive line, and it is worth stating without hedging.
| Your market | Russian origin | Finnish origin |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey, domestic | open | open |
| Iraq, MENA, CIS | open | open |
| EU, UK, Japan | closed | open |
| Buyer requires FSC | not possible | possible |
Processing in Turkey does not reopen the closed row. Birch plywood shipped from Turkey carries a 15.8% anti-dumping duty regardless of declared origin, and from 30 December 2026 EUDR asks for the geolocation of the harvested forest — a requirement that survives any amount of processing. The detail is on the EUDR page.
Price
Russian material is cheaper, and that gap is the reason this comparison gets made at all. The cause is not lower grade but a smaller market: volume that used to go to northern Europe now competes for what remains, and the freight leg to Turkey is shorter than the one to the EU ever was. Our price is 17,500 ₽/m³ ex-works for mixed grade 1–4, roughly 219 USD/m³; the full table is on the prices page.
The Finnish side is not what it was in 2021
One point often missed in this comparison: Finnish mills historically sourced a significant share of their birch from Russia, and those imports ended in 2022. Finnish supply had to be rebuilt around domestic and other sources.
The practical consequence for a buyer is simple — compare today’s quotes, not pre-2022 assumptions. Availability, lead times and prices on the Finnish side moved as well, and a comparison built on how the market looked five years ago will mislead you in either direction.
How to compare two offers fairly
A price per cubic metre on its own is not comparable across origins. Put four numbers beside it:
- Thickness tolerance. Ours is ±0.1 mm. Wider tolerance means material lost at calibration.
- Moisture band. Ours is 5–8%, measured before dispatch and written on the shipping document.
- Share of grade 1–2 in the lot. 22–27% in a mixed 1–4 lot. This decides how much of what you buy can go on a visible face.
- Freight per m³ to your port. 90–120 USD from us to Ambarlı. From Finland the leg is different and belongs in the same line.
Those four turn two prices into two comparable costs. What the grade letters mean is on grades; how the moisture figure is produced is on moisture content.
The short answer
If you sell into the EU, the UK or Japan, or your buyer requires FSC — buy Finnish. That is not a concession, it is the only correct answer, and we would rather say it than lose your time.
If you sell in Turkey, Iraq, the Middle East, North Africa or the CIS, both origins are open to you, the wood is the same species with the same properties, and the decision comes down to the four numbers above and the price beside them.