austria

Thank the Levant, Germany and the US!

Article by Sonja Banschitz (translated by Eva Guzely) | 12.02.2019 - 09:40

Austria’s main client, Italy, remained stable at 2.5 million m³. According to Statistik Austria, gains were made on other markets. Exports to Germany, for example, grew by 7% to 977,000 m³.

The recovery of exports to the Levant was reflected in the increased shipments to Slovenia. Via the Slovenian port of Koper, Austria ships most of its softwood sawn timber to the Levant. Last year, Slovenia received 600,000 m³ (+31%) in the first eleven months.

The highest percentage increase was registered in the USA: 176,000 m³ mean a rise of 360%. For comparison: According to Datacube, Austria exported only a stable 50,000 m³ to China, its other main overseas market.

With a total quantity of 5.6 million m³, Austria’s exports of the first eleven months of 2018 were already higher than the respective overall annual exports of the past years going back to 2010. 2018 will thus be a very positive year for exports.


Austria softwood sawn timber exports incl. planed goods (m³) January – November 2018

Country 2017 2018 Diff. in %
Italy 2,463,378
2,472,690
0.4
Germany 915,085
977,498
6.8
Slovenia 459,029
601,102
31
Japan 262,175
281,693
7.4
USA 38,223
175,655
359.6
Croatia 178,612
172,565
-3.4
Czech Republic 134,751
123,274
-8.5
Switzerland 87,969
95,800
8.9
Slovakia 60,894
75,773
24.4
South Corea 47,111
68,721
45.9
Others 495,750
559,207
12.8
Total 5,142,977
5,603,978
9