THE USSR TIMBER INDUSTRY DURING THE PERIOD 1946 - 1950

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700060533-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 6, 2011
• Sequence Number: 533
• Publication Date: June 7, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/06: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700060533-2
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
pl - CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Timber industry
HOW
PUBLISHED Montn'_y ' ical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLI94~D Aug - Sep 1946
LANGUAGE Russian
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REPORT
CD NO.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1946
DATE DIST. -7 Jun 1952
NO. OF PAGES 7
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
TH8 USSR TIMBER yp77U y DURIRO TEE PERIOD 1945 1950
iN
STAT
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M. I. Saltykov, Min, Timber Industry USSR
In 1940, the timber industry of the USSR hauled 246 million cubic meters
of timber, including 117.9 million cubic meters of industrial timber. In 1940,
it produced 34.8 million cubic meters of lumber, 712,000 cubic meters of ply.
wood, and 9.9 million cases of matches.
In 1950, the enterprises of the Ministry of Timber Industry USSR are to
haul 114 million cubic meters of timber, 42 percent more than in 1940. This
figure is to include 82 million cubic meters of industrial timber, 83 percent
more than in 1940.
In 1950, the mills and plants of the ministry are to produce 15 million
cubic meters of lumber, a 24-percent rise over the prewar levi1; 600,00
meters of plywood, and 9.9 billion boxes of matches. Match production willbic
be held to the prewar level, and further expansion will not be required im-
mediately after that level has been reattained, since 9.9 billion boxes fully
meet the demand of the population.
Furniture production in 1950 has been set at 270 million rubles, a 26-
percent increase over 1940. Production of acetic acid is tc total 15,000 tons
In 1950, or 50 percent more than in 1940. Rosin output is to be 45,700 tons
in 1950, or 28 percent greater than in 1940.
Planned timber_haulage.increases in 1950 over 1940 and 1945 for various
regions are shown in the following table (in percent):
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R
Increase in 1950 Over
egion
12
1945
Ar
Komi ASSH khangel'ak Oblast
42
195
28
98
Karelo-Finnish SHE
K
64
403
irov Oblast
M
123
251
olotov Oblast
G
'
162
352
or
kiy Oblast
h
49
282
Bas
kir ASSR
239
459
By 1950, timber haulage is to be 63 percent greater than in 1940 in West
l1 Siberia, 42 percent in East Siberia, and doubled in the Far East (Sakhalin
included).
Timber haulage in Kostroma and Yaroslavl' oblasta, Krasnodar Kray, Tatar
and Udmurt ASSR, and the Ukrainian SSR is also to exceed the prewar level by
a considerable margin.
Logging
For opening up new forest massifs in mostly lightly populated areas, the
Five-Year Plan envisages construction of 660 mechanized timber-haulage roads.
New road construction in some regions has been preliminarily planned as fol-
lows,
Railroads
Roads for Mechanized Haulage
.North
North
t
38
142
wes
and Karelo-Finnish SSR
Urals
47
86
East Sib
3
9
94
eria and Far East
9
161
In 1950, 75 percent of all felling and skidding work is to be mechanized.
By the end of 1950, more than 26,000 electric saws and 6,500 electric power
plants are to be operating in the forests. By 1950, 70 percent of all loading
is to be mechanized.
During the postwar plan period, the Ministry of Timber Industry is to
receive the following equipment: 26,100 electric saws; 6,500 !lectric power
plants; 12,000 tractors, including 7,500 skidding tractors; 2,000 loading
cranes; 470 steam locomotives; 1,420 motor locomotives; 25,000 narrow-gauge
flat cars for both steam- and motor-locomotive draft; 7,000 trucks with
trailers, 2,500 bulldozers; and 500 motorized graders.
The Five-Year Plan envisages a broader use of rail transport for timber
haulage. While one fifth of mechanized haulage was by rail before the war,
one half is to be by rail in 1950.
Horse-drawn haulage will still comprise 45 percent of total haulage. In
round figures, 50 million cubic meters of timber will still be hauled by horse
draft in 1950.
At present, roughly half of all logging work is performed by seasonal wor-
kers -- kolkhoz workers and individual peasants. It is planned to reduce the
seasonal workers'labor contribution to 25 percent in 1950, so that 75 percent
of all felling, skidding, haulage, and loading will be performed by permanent
timber industry workers by 1950.
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New plants are to be built in the Molotov area because logging along the
Rama River is to be increased considerably. The plants in Sverdlovsk, Khaba-
rovsk, and Kaliningrad are to be rehabilitated, and a special experimental plant
is to be created for TaNIIM6 (Central Scientific Research Institute of Power
Engineering and Mechanization of Logging).
The Main Administration of Mechanization has a Central Des eau
which is charged with providing models of new machines capable of inccrea ing
labor productivity in the forest.
I gyres
import operaTh
ti. ens stIn portent task of forestry is to prepare the base for logging
have come into be practice, the terms "known forests" and "unknown orests"
~g? It is the task of forestry to convert USSR forestfs from
unknown into known forests and to estimate their resources in terms of timber
which the USSR has at its disposal.
The Five-Year Plan envisages organization of 19.7 million hectares of
forests, which will also be inventoried, aerially photographed, and aerially
inspected. Detailed inventory will be made of forests located in areas with
a high exploitation priority.
Another important task of forestry is the rehabilitation of forests by
sowing and planting in denuded areas and in areas short of forests, such as
the Baltic countries, Transcaucasus, Central Asia, North Caucasus, Leningrad
Oblast, and others.
Daring the plan period, it is planned to sow and plant 296,000. hectares,
establish tree nurseries ano plantations on 14,000 hectares, procure 3,190 tons
of tree seeds, and maintain 422,000 hectares of valuable planted forests so as
to increase their productivity.
By the end of 1950, it is planned to patrol 300 million hectares of forests
with 200 forestry planes. This area compares with 80 million hectares patrolled
in 1940. Not only forests of the Ministry of Timber Industry but also kol-
khoz forests and forests of local Importance are included in the plan figure.
Labor Productivity and Wages
In 1950, labor productivity is to have increased 54 percent over 1940 in
logging operations and 30.5 percents over 1940 in the manufacturing branches of
the timber industry. Annual output per worker in logging and floating opera-
tions is to grow fror 1,845 rubles in 1940 to 2,852 rubles in 1950. The in-
crease in labor productivity will be considerably greater than the increase in
the number of workers since this number is to increase only 12 percent.
In harmony with the growth in labor productivity, wages of felling and
hauling workers will rise 'o 6,230 rubles in 1950 as compared with 2,980 rubles
in 1945.
It is planned that wages in sawmilling rise to 5,500 rubles annually in
1950, which will be 74 percent higher than in 1940 and 22 percent higher than
in 1945. The wages of engineering and technical personnel amounted to 7,142
rubles in 1940 and 8,871 rubles in 1945. According to plan, they are to rise
to 12,700 rubles in 1950, a 78-percent increase over 1940. Office employees
are to receive a 28-percent increase.
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STAT
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Besides rehabilitating furniture factories in the Ukrainian USE, the
RSFSR, Iatvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, it is planned to build new factories
in Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Sverdlovsk, Arkhangelsk, and elsewhere.
Plywood Industry
During the plan period, the plywood industry is to increase output of
water-resistant plywood and polished (shlifovannaya) plywood.
Match Industry
To achieve production of almost 10 billion boxes of matches in 1950, it
is planned to build nine new factories, to expand existing factories, and to
replace almost all of the equipment of the latter.
During the plan period, 34 automatic machines are to be installed in the
new factories and 18 in the expanded and rehabil+tated factories; 41 worn-
out machines in existing enterprises are to be re7laced.
During the plan period, the geographical distribution of the match in-
dustry is to change considerably. In 1940, Belorussia produced 28.7 per-
cent of all matches made, the central regions, 46 percent. By 1950, Belo-
russia's contribution to total match production is to be only 15.7 percent
and that of the central regions 23.4 percent, The match industry is to be
distributed more evenly throughout the USSR.
Average annual output per automatic machine in 1950 has been set at
92,000 cases, including 100,000 cases in existing factories and 80,000-
85,000 cases in new enterprises, depending on the length of time during which
new equipment will have been utilized.
Wood-Chemical Industry
Rosin production is to increase from 35,700 tons in 1940 to 45,700 tons
in 1950; 82 percent of the 1950 goal is to be produced from soft resin, 18
percent, by extraction. Output of acetic acid is to rise from 10,000 tons in
1940 to 15,000 tons in 1950. To attain this program, it is planned to build
five new plants and to expand the existing Vakhta Plant.
It is planned to construct large acetic acid plants and to reconstruct
and expand the Asha, Syavskiy, and Dmitriyevskiy chemical plants.
The plan envisages developmei,t of the tapping sector of the industry.
Collection of soft resin is to rise to 51,000 tons in 1950, as compared with
49,000 tons in 1940 and 20,000 tons in 1945. The area of tree stands utilized
for tapping is to rise to 515,000 hectares in 1950. Exploitation of pine
stands by tapping is to be extended from the present 5-6 years to 10 years,
before the stands may be cut down.
Machine-Building Industry
The Main Administration of Mechanization of the Timber Industry was created
during the war. Gross output of logging machinery during the plan period is
to increase to 276 percent of the prewar level.
In 1950, the enterprises of the logging-machinery industry are to produce
1,500 electric power plants, 2,000 electric saws, 4,000-5,000 narrow-gauge
flat cars, 62 tugging cutters, 3,000 truck trailers, 30 motor locomotives,
200 loading cranes, 200 bulldozers, and 30 self-propelled timber-haulage ships.
They are also to make repairs on 1,500 trucks and tractors and 1,000 tractor
and truck motors.
STAT
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. New plants are to be built in the Molotov area because logging along the
Kama River is to be increased considerably. The punts in Sverdlovsk, Kh&ba-
rovak, and Kaliningrad are to be rehabilitated, and a special experimental plant
is to be created for TsNID( (Central Scientific Research Institute of Power
Engineering and Mechanization of Logging).
The Main Administration of Mechanization has a Central Desigai which is charged with providing models of new machines capable of increasing
labor productivity in the forest.
The most important task of forestry is to prepare the base for logging
operations. In Soviet practice, the terms "known forests" and "unknown forests"
have come into being. It it the task of forestry to convert USSR forests from
unknown into known forests and to estimate their resources in terms of timber
which the USSR has at its disposal.
The Five-Year Plan envisages organization of 19-7 million hectares of
forests, which will also be inventoried, aerially photographed, and aerially
inspected. Detailed inventory will be made of forests located in areas with
a high exploitation priority.
Another important task of forestry is th' rehabilitation of forests by
sowing and planting in denuded areas and in areas short of forests, such as
the Baltic countries, Transcaucasus, Central Asia, North Caucasus, Leningrad
Oblast, and others.
During the plan period, it is planned to sow and plant 296,000 hectare;
establish tree nurseries ana plantations on 14,000 hectares, procure 3,190 tone
of tree seeds, and maintain 422,000 hectares of valuable planted forests so as
to increase their productivity.
By the end of 1950, it is planned to patrol 300 million hectares of forests
with 200 forestry planes. This area compares with 80 million hectares patrolled
in 1940. Not only forests of the Ministry of Timber Industry but also kol-
khoz forests and forests of local importance are included in the plan figure.
Labor Productivity and Wages
In 1950, labor productivity is to have increased 54 percent over 1940 In
logging operations and 30.5 percent over 1940 in the manufacturing branches of
the timber industry. Annual output per worker in logging and floating opera-
tions is to grow from 1,845 rubles in 1940 to 2,852 rubles in 1950. The in-
crease in labor productivity will be considerably greater than the increase in
the number of workers since this number is to increase only 12 percent.
In harmony with the growth in labor productivity, wages of felling and
hauling workers will rise to 6,230 rubles in 1950 as compared with 2,980 rubles
in 1945.
It is planned that wages in sawmilling rise to 5,500 rubles annually in
i 1945. The 9950, which will be 74 percent higher than in 1940 and 22 percent higher than
1
wages of engineering and technical personnel amounted to 7,142
rubles in 1940 and 8,8/1 rubles in 1945. According to plan, they are to rise
to 12,700 rubles in 1950, a 78-percent increase over 1940. Office employees
are to receive a 28-percent increase.
STAT
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Output per worker in the manufacturing branches of the timber industry
amounted to 9,328 rubles in 1940; in 1950, it will have increased to 12,176
rubles, a 3O.5-pereent increase. At the same t!me, the number of workers
is to decline from 237,000 in 1940 to 224,000 in 1950, or to 95 percent of the
1940 number.
During the first three five-year pla_.s, capital investment in the Ministry
of Timber Industry amounted to 4.5 billion rubles. During the fourth plan
period, it is estimated that 4 billion rubles will be invested in the ministry,
distributed as follows (in rubles):
Logging and floating
Sawmilling and wood processing
Furniture industry
Plywood industry
Wood chemistry
Match industry
Machine building
Other
2,352,000,000
490,000,000
180,000,000
180,000,000
150,000,000
245,000,000
150,000,000
173,000,ooo
Of the 4 billion rubles, 800 million rubles are to be spent for housing.
During the plan period, 172 new factories and plants are to be built,
187 rehabilitated, and 173 redesigned. In 1950, it is planned to haul 40
million cubic meters of timber, or more than one third of the planned total,
on newly built timber-haulage roads.
By 1950, roughly as many as 100,000 workers are to work in construction
organizations.
Scientific Research Work
TsWIIME is to occupy itself with questions of mechanizing laborious opera-
tions such as felling and bucking, creating machines for limbing, improving
skidding equipment, and designing road-construction machinery which can be
used in the forest.
Raft building is already comparatively well mechanized, but other float-
ing processes are only slightly mechanized. The Central Scientific Research
Institute of Timber Floating is to develop better loading equipment for lift-
ing timber out of the water into barges. The objective is to mechanize all
floating operations completely.
The Central Scientific Research Institute for Mechanical Wood Processing
faces the tasks of developing the continuous, or conveyer, production method
and designing new, more productive machines.
The main tasks of TsNIIF (Central Scientific Research Institute of Plywood)
are to develop new forms of plywood and to study their physical and structural
qualities.
TORILKhI (Central Scientific Research Institute of Wood Chemistry) faces
the task of obtaining higher acetic acid yields from wood, expanding the range
of chemical products, and exploring the possibility of setting up small mobile
units for processing cutting area waste materials.
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STAT
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TsNIILKh (Central Scientific Research Institute of Forestry) faces the
task of solving problems concerning practical application of colchicine for
the rapid groving of forests.
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