Wood is pushing into Switzerland
Thomas Lädrach, President of the Swiss sawmill and timber industry, welcomed more than 100 participants to the second Wood Congress in Yverdon-les-Bains/CH © Holzindustrie Schweiz
The growing pressure on wood products because of imports is due to two factors:
- the fall in prices for lumber and glued timber in other European countries
- and the Swiss franc steadily increasing in value.
For 2024, Lädrach predicts a 0.8% decrease in new construction, while the renovation segment will grow by 0.7%. The total volume of building construction is expected to remain just under CHF 50 billion (€52 billion).
The high and rising production costs, including raw materials, electricity, transport, land and wages, are challenges for all Swiss companies and the situation is exacerbated by the strong Swiss franc. In addition, the shortage of skilled workers is a growing challenge.
More log wood to be harvested
At the Wood Congress, members of the Swiss timber industry presented the goal of using an additional 1 million m³ of log wood each year by 2030. Currently, 5 million m³ are harvested annually in Swiss forests, which corresponds to only half of the annual forest growth. The goal is to increase this volume to 6 million m³ a year.
Strategy for increasing harvest volumes
Under the leadership of the Federal Office for the Environment and in close cooperation with the industry, the federal government is developing a strategy for forests and wood, which is to be presented to the Federal Council at the end of 2024. Despite the pressure from imports of lumber and timber construction products from the EU, production at Swiss sawmills only decreased by a single-digit percentage. The additional output resulting from increases in sawmills capacities can be sold on the domestic market.
Harvesting log wood as top priority
The main issue in Switzerland is the volume of available log wood. Jean Rosset, the chief forester of the canton of Vaud, talked about very efficient support programs for building in domestic wood.
“We could harvest 50,000 to 100,000 m³ more in our canton,” Rosset said. Didier Wuarchoz, director of the marketing organization La Forestière, which is responsible for over 80% of the wood in the canton of Vaud, added that there is a lot of unused wood in Swiss private forests. It is therefore important to maintain the higher log prices of recent years. Wuarchoz did warn, though, that anyone who thinks in long-term strategies also has to keep an eye on the decrease in spruce stocks.
Road quality more important than density of network
One strategy is to access previously untapped spruce stocks in the Swiss Prealps and Alps. Janine Schweier and Leo Bont from the WSL Sustainable Forestry Research Group believe that the economically sustainable use of wood depends in particular on the quality of the forest road network and not on its density. Optimized road development allows for more resource-efficient wood harvesting processes and also reduces costs. “Such development projects become a reality especially when they are set up together with the energy industry, agriculture and tourism,” Schweier said. Roland Furrer, Head of the association of forestry companies in Switzerland, was happy that “the topic of development is no longer a taboo and is becoming socially acceptable”. According to Lädrach, the federal government and the cantons now have a duty: “What we need is a commitment on the part of the public sector. Some cantons are already heading in the right direction, by granting subsidies for cable cranes. Now, we need additional contributions for development projects. This is a joint task for the federal government and the cantons.”
Promoting development together
Michael Gautschi, director of the Swiss association of the sawmill and timber industry, added: “We will enter into dialogue with the cantons and the forest owners in order to further deepen and coordinate the development topic, together with other interest groups and research.”
