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Felled trees in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
The German forestry sector sees itself at a disadvantage in view of the sharp rise in international wood prices and has called for countermeasures.
The President of the German Forestry Council, Georg Schirmbeck, called on forest owners in Germany to go on a saw strike.
"I don't see any other option than to say to my association members: 'Stop the sawing, let the trees stand," "Schirmbeck told the" Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ".
The background to the threat is the recent sharp rise in the price of sawn timber.
This is mainly exported to North America and China, where the construction industry is booming.
As a result, lumber has become scarce in Germany.
"Huge profits are made with our raw material, but the forest farmers do not benefit from it," said Schirmbeck.
"We are being ripped off by the few timber trading groups that dominate the market."
The forest farmers, who were already financially damaged by drought and bark beetles, would still receive an average of between 70 and 75 euros per cubic meter of spruce, said Schirmbeck.
Later, the sawn timber is sold many times over on the world market.
"We demand a fair price for our product."
dab / dpa
