On January 31, it was officially announced that the Rettenmeier Group is taking over the Plößberg sawmill in Upper Palatinate from the Ziegler Group, which filed for insolvency at the end of November 2024. The production capacity in Plößberg is estimated at 1.1 million m³ a year. The takeover brings Rettenmeier total production output to 3.15 million m³ a year, making it the third-largest producer of softwood lumber in Europe and pushing Tyrolean Pfeifer Group out of the Top three as a result. The Plößberg site has “excellent access to raw materials both in quality and quantity,” Rettenmeier’s CEO Dr. Stephan Lang explained in a phone call with the Holzkurier.
Meanwhile, the future of the Ziegler’s other sawmills in Sebeș, Romania, and Sweden is still uncertain. The Sebes site has a production capacity of 740,000 m³ a year. The sawmills in Scandinavia have an output of up to 120,000 m³ and 130,000 m³ a year, respectively – thus, a total of 990,000 m³ per year. The Rettenmeier Group plans to enter the bidding process for these production sites as well, as the subsidiary of the northern German Cordes Group stated.
In addition to Rettenmeier, HS Timber Group also expanded in January: In mid-January, the acquisition of the Latvian sawmill Vika Wood SIA with a production capacity of 300,000 m³ a year was announced. Around two weeks later, the takeover of Kurekss SIA followed. The annual capacity of the sawmill, which is located just a few kilometers from the Latvian Baltic coast, is estimated at 250,000 m³. With a production output of 2.6 million m³ a year, HS Timber Group is now in sixth place in the ranking of Europe’s largest softwood lumber producers.
| Ranked acc. to target production in 2024*, volumes in 1,000 m³ | ||||||
| Rank 2024 | > | Rank 2025 | Company | Headquarters | Sawmills | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | <> | 1 | Binderholz 1) | AT | 15 | 4,500 |
| 2 | <> | 2 | Stora Enso 2) | FI | 14 | 4,100 |
| 7 | < | 3 | Rettenmeier Holzindustrie 3) | DE | 6 | 3,150 |
| 3 | > | 4 | Pfeifer Group | AT | 9 | 3,000 |
| 4 | > | 5 | Vida Wood | SE | 12 | 2,700 |
| 7 | < | 6 | HS Timber Group 4) | AT | 7 | 2,600 |
| 5 | > | 7 | Moelven Group | NO | 15 | 2,198 |
| 6 | > | 8 | SCA Timber | SE | 5 | 2,100 |
| 10 | < | 9 | Mayr-Melnhof Holz | AT | 5 | 1,865 |
| 11 | < | 10 | ante-holz | DE | 3 | 1,850 |
| 12 | < | 11 | Södra Timber 5) | SE | 8 | 1,770 |
| 13 | < | 12 | Holmen Wood Products | SE | 5 | 1,520 |
| 14 | < | 13 | Setra Group 6) | SE | 7 | 1,500 |
| 14 | < | 13 | Ilim Timber 7) | DE | 2 | 1,500 |
| 16 | < | 15 | Fruytier Scierie | BE | 9 | 1,440 |
| 17 | < | 16 | Versowood | FI | 4 | 1,400 |
| 18 | < | 17 | Mercer Timber 8) | DE | 2 | 1,362 |
| 19 | < | 18 | UPM Timber 9) | FI | 4 | 1,350 |
| 20 | < | 19 | Metsä Fibre 10) | FI | 7 | 1,300 |
| Ziegler Holzindustrie REST 11) | RO/SE | 3 | 990 | |||
| Total | 42,195 | |||||
Notes:
1) Binderholz: projection after four months
2) Stora Enso: balance sheet, deliveries 2023; still 16 sawmills in 2023; two-month shutdown in Bad St. Leonhard; 2024: Holzkurier estimate
3) Rettenmeier Holzindustrie: acquired Ziegler’s sawmill in Plößberg (production capacity: 1.1 M. m³/yr) at the end of January; production site in Inčukalns, Latvia, currently in the ramp-up phase
4) HS Timber: sale of sawmill in Sebeș/RO to Ziegler Group in April 2023; start of new sawmill in Argentina in Q1 2024; final assembly underway in Belarus. In early 2025, HS Timber Group acquired 100% of the shares in the Latvian sawmill Vika Wood SIA (production capacity: 300,000 m³/yr). A few weeks later, the takeover of Latvian company Kurekss SIA (production capacity: 250,000 m³/yr) followed.
5) Södra Timber: 2023: annual report; 2024: Holzkurier estimate
6) Setra: 2023 volumes acc. to sustainability report; 2024: Holzkurier estimate
7) Ilim Timber: production output of single production sites 2023: Ilim Nordic Timber: 975,000 m³; Ilim Timber Bavaria: 525,000 m³; 2024: Ilim Nordic Timber: 975,000 m³; Ilim Timber Bavaria: 525,000 m³
8) Mercer Timber: Production output of single production sites 2023: Saalburg-Ebersdorf: 812,000 m³, Torgau: 475,000 m³; 2024: Saalburg-Ebersdorf: 862,000 m³, Torgau: 500,000 m³
9) UPM Timber: 2023: annual report; 2024: Holzkurier estimate
10) Metsä Fibre: 2023: annual report; 2024: Holzkurier estimate
11) Ziegler Holzindustrie: acc. to PwC sales documents, Sebeș/RO has a production capacity of 740,000 m³/yr; Swedish sawmills: 120,000 m³/yr and 130,000 m³/yr; total: 990,000 m³/yr
