DACH region as big as Scandinavia
In 2021, softwood lumber production in the DACH region will see a big increase (forecast: 40 million m³; +12%) mostly because of Germany. In terms of production, the region is now as big as Scandinavia. European softwood lumber production is also growing © Timber Industry Association/EOS estimate
Driven by the additional production in Germany and an increase in Austria, the production of softwood lumber in the DACH region is expected to grow by 12%, bringing the total to 40 million m³ (see chart on the left). This makes the region nearly as big as Scandinavia.
Schmölzer regretted that the domestic log wood supply is on the decrease. “Harvesting 22 to 25 million m³ a year would be sustainable. However, we only received 16.8 million m³ last year.” For this reason, the 2020 import volume (8.7 million m³) was nearly as high as the volume of domestic sawlogs (8.9 million m³). Schmölzer emphasized, though, that 97% of the imported wood came from neighboring countries.
In general, reliable supply is a main concern of the sawmill industry. As a result, Schmölzer warned against planned set-aside areas which are part of the EU forest strategy. At the Holztag, which is organized by the Timber Industry Association, he presented a calculation based on an analysis by the Economica Institute, predicting that the setting aside of forests would cost €1.75 billion or 0.5% of Austria’s economic output.
The whole world needs wood
This year’s boom in demand has to do with the global success of timber constructions, among other things. “New products help promote timber construction – and this is recognized worldwide.” At the same time, the economic stimulus programs have had an effect. “The price of construction timber has been the same for 20 years, but this year, it skyrocketed. However, the increase is still moderate compared to iron/steel,” Schmölzer said.
US dynamics with an indirect effect
“The US became much more present. Although we only ship 3% of our overall exports there, we couldn’t escape this dynamic market,” Schmölzer explained. Now, there are signs of stabilization at a level higher than that of 2020. The supply situation is said to be better than last year. More than 50% of the produced softwood lumber remains in Austria. This shows that the domestic market has top priority, Schmölzer added.
All in all, the timber industry experienced two extraordinary years. “There was an unprecedented situation with very different causes. Many questions are still unanswered and there are some things that need to be worked through.”
Small country, big in exports
“The fact that the softwood lumber trade flow from Austria to Italy is the fourth biggest in the world is remarkable and underlines the special relationship between our countries,” Georg Jung, expert on Italy of the Federal Timber Trade Committee, said. “In the first half of this year, shipments to Italy saw a further increase. Laminated timber exports even grew by 31%. Compared to 2019, before the pandemic struck, exports were up by 15%.”
Return to normality
As for the second half year, Jung expects a “return to normality”, which means: “Now that peak prices are of the past, we expect predictable prices and quantities.”
In a video message, Austrian Minister of Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger explicitly spoke out against set-aside areas since only a managed forest fulfills all of its functions. For this purpose, Austria created the €350 million forest fund last year.
