The closure of the checkpoint on the border with China may hit the export of Russian timber 
, will hit the export of Russian timber, Kommersant reports.
A lot of timber cargo goes through the checkpoint on the border with China. Last year 6.13 million tons of forest passed through Zabaikalsk, 3.96 million tons – through Grodekovo. These are the largest border crossings for the export of Russian timber products. The termination of the acceptance of timber through them jeopardizes part of the export, experts say.
The eastern border crossings account for about 20-22 percent of the total volume of supplies in the eastern direction. Sources of the publication note that the crossings were already unable to cope with the passage of goods. Now the blocked cargo can be redirected to the congested ports of the Far East, which will aggravate the situation there.
China has closed the Grodekovo-Suifenhe and Zabaikalsk-Manchuria railway border crossings due to the worsening situation with the coronavirus.
Record traffic jams from heavy vehicles have formed on the Russian-Chinese border. At the automobile checkpoint (checkpoint) “Zabaikalsk – Manchuria” there are almost a thousand trucks waiting in line with a throughput of up to 360 heavy trucks per day. Traffic jams have led to an increase in the delivery time of goods from China by 30-40 days.