The preliminary findings from the wood chip market study initiated by the Competition Council (KP) primarily indicate that there is a shortage of wood chips in many sectors. This was stated by KP Chairman Juris Gaiķis on the Latvian Television programme “Rīta panorāma”.
He noted that the “initial results of the preliminary study are not yet ready to be made public, as the findings mainly show that there is a shortage of wood chips in many sectors”.
“We have launched monitoring of the wood chip market, which is actually a complex market that has not been studied before. (..) We are committed to completing it by the start of the heating season,” J. Gaiķis said, stressing that the study is very extensive.
Gaiķis explained that wood chips are used in the timber industry and for the production of pellets and chipboard, and it is also necessary to determine the volume of wood chips and the contribution of “Latvijas valsts meži” to the volume of branch chips. Consequently, there is a large amount of information that needs to be processed, the KP Chairman added.
Photograph by Frank Horvat used