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The Baltic countries of Estonia and Latvia regained their independence in 1991 and became members of the EU in 2004. Forestry has always been an important part of the economies. The Spanish, French and British fleets at the Battle of Trafalger in 1805 all were made using Baltic timber.
During the Soviet period, the timber resource which has been in the private sector was largely ignored, and industry consisted of small, inefficient sawmillls. Following indepence, a huge investment was made, especially by Scandinavian companies and the processing industry is now on of the most modern in the world. Both countries are now major exporters of timber to all parts of the world. The 2007 financial crises, saw timber prices drop dramatically, but by 2010 they have recovered much of their pre-crises values. Demand is also steady.
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