In 2022, the softwood lumber production of the Top 25 sawmills totaled around 84.54 million m³. While a year-on-year increase of 7% was recorded in 2021, production output remained nearly constant in 2022, recording a slight decrease of 1% or almost 1 million m³.
Canfor not the new number one after all
West Fraser remained the biggest sawmill group in the world in 2022 as well, with a lumber production volume of around 9.07 million m³ (-3% compared to 2021). 2022 also marked the first year in the company’s history in which US production exceeded that in Canada. Nevertheless, double-digit growth rates in the US South (including the Angelina takeover in 2021) were not enough to compensate for the Canadian production deficit. More recently, however, West Fraser invested in its Canadian production capacity again and, in September 2023, the group announced that they would take over Alberta-based company Spray Lake Sawmills (production: around 250,000 m³/yr).
Canfor curtailed cutting significantly, especially in the second half of 2022. As a result, the group was unable to outperform West Fraser in terms of production output despite the acquisition of Millar Western Forest Products (capacity: around 1 million m³/yr) in December 2021. The Vida Group (part of Canfor) also reported a takeover in September 2023. The purchased sawmill in Ingarp/SE has an annual capacity of around 120,000 m³ and the potential to raise production to 240,000 m³ a year.
Previous number four Stora Enso outperformed by Interfor
Finnish forestry and timber group Stora Enso, whose sawmill operations are managed from Austria, slipped to fifth place as a result of two acquisitions made by Canadian sawmill group Interfor. At the end of 2021, the takeover of Eacom Timber/CA took place (capacity: around 1.5 million m³/yr) and just six months later, Interfor announced the acquisition of Chaleur Forest Products with its two sawmills in New Brunswick/CA and an estimated output of over 500,000 m³. Thanks to these takeovers, Interfor managed to increase its production by 31% compared to 2021, making it the big winner in terms of production increase. Binderholz and the US group Sierra Pacific, too, each lost one place in the ranking as a result.
Due to a significant 30% decrease in production, Arauco is the only company which is not based in North America or Europe to fall out of the Top 10.
German sawmills increased cutting
Rettenmeier Holzindustrie increased its production volume by 250,000 m³ (+12%) in 2022 and is now in twelfth place in the ranking.
With ante-holz, another German company made it in the Top 25 in 2022. Significant production increases of 21% to a total of 1.8 million m³ (including the takeover of the sawmill in Rötenbach/DE in June 2021) helped the company to 20th place. Finnish company Metsä Fibre made way although this should only be temporary. At the end of 2022, the group opened what it calls the “most modern sawmill in the world” in Rauma/FI, which has a cutting capacity of around 1.5 million m³ a year.
Ziegler a newcomer in 2023 and Pfeifer in the Top 10?
The Ziegler Group is expected to join the list of top companies in the 2023 ranking at the latest. After the acquisition of two sawmills in Sweden, Ziegler also purchased the Sebes/RO sawmill from the HS Timber Group in spring 2023.
For Pfeifer, the Pölkky deal, which was closed at the end of 2022, could mean a place in the Top 10 for the first time. In 2023, the target production is expected to exceed 3 million m³.
| Ranked acc. to production output in 2022 (in 1,000 m³) incl. outlook for 2023 of European sawmills | ||||||||
| Place 2021 | Place 2022 | Company | Headquarters | Sawmills | Production 2021 | Production 2022 | Target 2023 | Diff. in % 21/22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | West Fraser (1) | CA | 34 | 9,398 | 9,071 | – | –3 |
| 2 | 2 | Canfor (2) | CA | 35 | 8,907 | 8,508 | – | –4 |
| 3 | 3 | Weyerhaeuser | US | 19 | 7,684 | 7,205 | – | –6 |
| 7 | 4 | Interfor (3) | CA | 29 | 4,639 | 6,085 | – | 31 |
| 4 | 5 | Stora Enso (4) | FI | 16 | 5,700 | 5,540 | 5,430 | –3 |
| 5 | 6 | Sierra Pacific (5) | US | 16 | 4,863 | 4,596 | – | –5 |
| 6 | 7 | Binderholz (6) | AT | 17 | 4,830 | 4,430 | 4,280 | –8 |
| 8 | 8 | Georgia-Pacific | US | 13 | 4,098 | 4,016 | – | –2 |
| 9 | 9 | Resolute FP | CA | 14 | 3,063 | 3,237 | – | 6 |
| 11 | 10 | Hampton | US | 7 | 2,903 | 2,845 | – | –2 |
| 13 | 11 | Pfeifer Holz (7) | AT | 9 | 2,200 | 2,400 | 3,100 | 9 |
| 17 | 12 | Rettenmeier Holzindustrie | DE | 5 | 2,050 | 2,300 | 2,100 | 12 |
| 12 | 13 | SCA Timber (11) | SE | 5 | 2,263 | 2,200 | 2,200 | –3 |
| 10 | 14 | Arauco | CL | 8 | 3,000 | 2,109 | – | –30 |
| 21 | 15 | Mayr-Melnhof Holz (8) | AT | 5 | 1,700 | 2,060 | 2,000 | 21 |
| 15 | 16 | Moelven Group | NO | 15 | 2,116 | 2,054 | 2,085 | –3 |
| 14 | 17 | Tolko | CA | 5 | 2,129 | 1,905 | – | –11 |
| 16 | 18 | HS Timber Group (9, 11) | AT | 3 | 2,090 | 1,900 | 1,500 | –9 |
| 18 | 19 | Södra Timber (11) | SE | 8 | 1,965 | 1,807 | 1,700 | –8 |
| – | 20 | ante-holz | DE | 3 | 1,490 | 1,800 | 2,021 | 21 |
| 19 | 21 | Idaho Forest Group | US | 6 | 1,746 | 1,783 | – | 2 |
| 22 | 22 | Setra Group | SE | 7 | 1,675 | 1,750 | 1,800 | 4 |
| 23 | 23 | J.D. Irving | CA | 6 | 1,654 | 1,654 | – | 0 |
| 24 | 24 | Ilim Timber (10) | DE | 2 | 1,650 | 1,650 | 1,500 | 0 |
| 25 | 25 | Potlatch-Deltic | US | 6 | 1,643 | 1,635 | – | 0 |
| Summe | 85,456 | 84,540 | – | –1 | ||||
1) incl. Spray Lake Sawmills from 2023 (around 250,000 m³/yr)
2) Canfor incl. Vida Wood/SE (around 2.75 million m³ in 2022) and acquired Millar Western Forest Products (capacity: around 1.5 million m³/yr)
3) 2021 incl. Georgia-Pacific’s four sawmills; from 2022 incl. EACOM (around 1.5 million m³/yr) and partly Chaleur Forest Products (around 500,000 m³/yr)
4) 2022 sale of two Russian sawmills (-350,000 m³/yr)
5) 2021 incl. Seneca takeover (around 1 million m³/yr)
6) from 2021 incl. BSW-Timber; 2023 target production incl. US sawmills Live Oak and Enfield
7) 2022: production in five sawmills; takeover of Pölkky/FI at the end of 2022
8) 2022: sale of the Efimovskij/RU sawmill, acquisition of Bergkvist Siljan/SE (three production sites with a total of around 850,000 m³/yr)
9) Rădăuți/RO shuttered in 2022; end of April 2022: new acquisition Luvian Saha/FI (300,000 m³); construction of new sawmill in Belarus stopped in March 2022; 2023: sale of the Sebeș/RO sawmill to Ziegler Group; sawmill in Argentina to go into operation in Q4 2023
10) Figures refer to production sites in Germany
11) estimate by the Holzkurier
