Challenging supply
On a regional level, sawmill supply is rather insufficient, especially in the east of Bavaria and the south of Austria. On the one hand, the weather is slowing down the harvest (a lot of snow and/or road closures), on the other hand, small private forest owners are partly back on the fields already – or “have not been in the forest at all this year”. The latter is said to be true for Bavaria in particular. Far and wide, the are no so-called “Bauernbuckel” (“farmer’s humps”, harvested wood which accumulated before the beginning of spring) and big private forest owners have yet to assess the damage in 2021.
In Bavaria, the north and south are divided in terms of prices. In 2020, the north was again more severely affected by beetle-damaged wood than the south. As a result, the damaged wood still dominates the pricing of log buyers in the north. In the south/southeast of Bavaria, an upward dynamic similar to the one in Austria has set in. Parallel to Austria, forest owners would like prices to range from € 90 to € 100/m³. Holzkurier identifies a price range of € 81.5 to € 90 €/m³ for the month of March (up by € 3.8/m³ compared to February) in Bavaria. The Bavarian State Forests (BaySF) are currently still at the lower end of the price range. They are bound by long-term contracts and are rarely present on the spot market. Due to the Forest Damage Compensation Act, the BaySF could also be forced to restrict logging this year.
In Baden-Württemberg, log wood cost between € 79 and € 86/m³ in March, which is an increase of € 2.5/m³ compared to February. The damaged wood is said to have been mostly removed in the state and wet storage facilities have been dissolved.
The current strong demand could change the assessment of damaged wood in Central Germany. Trees that were left standing might still be harvested.
€ 4/m³ more in Austria
In March, the spruce/fir log price (B, 2b) rose by nearly € 4/m³ in Austria. According to Holzkurier, prices now range from € 85.8 to € 90.7/m³ on average.
Log wood is in short supply especially in the south of Austria due to road closures and snow in the mountains. In lower lying areas of the north, small private forests owners are done with the log harvest. As a result, sawmills are still worried about log supply in April.
Possible damaged wood could only arrive around the end of the second quarter. Big private forest owners are likely to be more active in their forests only once the damage in 2021 has been fully assessed. Logging of fresh wood can only start to a full extent when volumes of damaged wood are not expected to be too big.
Czech Republic: limited supply
In the Czech Republic, which was and is hit the hardest by bark beetle infestation, prices are rising as well. “The times when you got everything immediately are over,” comment buyers with a focus on the Czech Republic.
Long timber instead of glued timber?
In light of delays in deliveries and jumps in glued timber prices, there seems to be a real long timber renaissance in Austria. Demand for long timber is increasing – and so are prices.
As for the second quarter, further increases in log prices are likely in all regions of Southern Germany and Austria. At the editorial deadline, there were few deals for the second quarter.
Drop in sawdust prices
In March, selling wood waste has become more challenging in Austria. Due to the abundant supply, sawdust prices in particular have dropped. According to Holzkurier’s research, the sawdust price fell by € 2/stere, while wood chips cost on average 50 cents/stere less.
At this time of the year, it is not unusual that “too many” wood chips are available on the market. This year, however, the situation is more difficult mainly for two reasons. One the one hand, cutting in sawmills is at a level which is unusual for the season. On the other hand, the increased use of old wood in the panel industry leads to weaker sawdust sales. Furthermore, the high season for pellet production is already over.
The high level of production in sawmills has a similar effect on wood chips as well. Demand for this byproduct is also weaker because heating plants in tourism-oriented areas bought less.
Situation to remain difficult
When it comes to wood waste, the situation could further aggravate in the second quarter due to the high level of cutting in Austrian sawmills, as big changes in purchases are not expected.
