Exports to China rose from 3,000 sm³ to 367,000 sm³. With a growth of 11,575%, China has become one of the most important buyers of German softwood logs after Austria and Belgium. As Timber-Online reported, this is possibly due to the way North Rhine-Westphalia manages the damaged wood which accumulated there. The German state in the west started test deliveries in order to be able to market 4 million sm³ of damaged wood.
In 2018, exports to Austria (+13%; +220,000 sm³; 2 million sm³) and Belgium (+29%; +100,000 sm³; 443,000 sm³) increased as well. Other neighboring countries also profited from the enormous quantities of damaged wood: Apart from the Czech Republic (+8%; +13,000 sm³; 170,000 sm³), France (+18%; +16,000 sm³; 106,000 sm³), the Netherlands (+99%; +34,000 sm³; 68,000 sm³) and Luxembourg (+4%; +2,500 sm³; 59,000 sm³) bought more log wood from Germany.
Exports to Italy (-10%; -11,500 sm³; 102,000 sm³), Poland (-23%; -28,000 sm³; 96,000 sm³) and Switzerland (-11%; -11,000 sm³; 90,000 sm³), on the other hand, decreased last year. Those countries partly struggle with a high percentage of damaged wood themselves.
Germany Softwood log exports January – December 2018
| Country | 2017 | 2018 | Diff. in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 1,740,240 |
1,964,310 |
12.9 |
| Belgium | 342,799 |
442,966 |
29.2 |
| China | 3,142 |
366,834 |
11575.2 |
| Czech Republic | 156,950 |
170,138 |
8.4 |
| France | 89,836 |
106,202 |
18.2 |
| Italy | 113,100 |
101,583 |
-10.2 |
| Poland | 124,257 |
96,093 |
-22.7 |
| Switzerland | 101,565 |
90,183 |
-11.2 |
| Netherlands | 34,190 |
67,946 |
98.7 |
| Luxembourg | 56,581 |
59,047 |
4.4 |
| Others | 135,551 |
225,203 |
66.1 |
| Total | 2,898,211 |
3,690,505 |
27.3 |
