For a while, the rain made harvest and transport more difficult, which took some pressure off of log markets at a regional level. Here and there, fresh sawable goods were scarce and sought after.
Down again by three euros
Despite this, prices on the log market again saw a marked decrease in June. Holzkurier’s editorial team found that they fell by 3 €/m³ in Southern Germany and Austria to the following levels:
- 66 to 71 €/m³ in Austria
- 55 to 68 €/m³ in Bavaria
- 57 to 65 €/m³ in Baden-Württemberg
As was the case in 2017 and 2018, the waiting for buyers begins at the end of July. Last year, when it was much hotter, a lot more log wood had accumulated at this time.
A lot of log wood is still being shipped to China. Prices there are just above 100 €/m³. How much forest owners receive depends mainly on transport costs to the nearest port (e.g. Hamburg, Gdansk, Koper). In Southern Germany, this price is hardly enough to cover harvest costs. Profits from goods shipped to China in containers range from 20 to 25 €/m³. The loading of containers thus has to be as efficient as possible.
Distance to ports determines profits
For some regions, which are closer to shipping ports, Chinese prices are partly higher than those for beetle-damaged wood which Central European sawmills are prepared to pay. Thus, it could happen that exports to China limit the lowest level in buying for sawmills. As with sawn timber, “70 €/m³ ex works for sideboards for China” are called the worst case price.
As previously reported, enormous volumes are exported to China. If this current trend continues, around 6 million m³ could be shipped from Germany this year, 3 million m³ from the Czech Republic and about 500,000 m³ from France.
Massive accumulation of wood waste
Lately, the Austrian wood waste market was characterized by increased cutting in sawmills. As to the third quarter, the sector expects a further slight reduction in prices.
For the month of June, Holzkurier found that sawdust prices fell by around 10 cents per loose cubic meter compared to May and now range from 8.5 to 9.4 €/lcm. A similar decrease was observed with wood chip prices (June: 10.3 to 11 €/lcm).
