The price of wood is rising rapidly.
This is also due to a rapidly increasing demand from the USA.
This poses problems for carpenters and joineries in Würmtal.
Some advise postponing jobs until the next year.
Würmtal -
Bad planning, long waiting times for companies and expensive end products for customers: These are the consequences of the global shortage of raw materials that arrive in the Würmtal.
Anyone who wants to build a house, stands in front of empty shelves in the hardware store or is doing renovation work, feels it. Wood processing companies such as joiners and carpenters in particular notice that there is too little wood.
Wood has been getting more and more expensive since the beginning of the year.
Sawn and glued timber is now around twice as expensive, with other types of wood such as roof battens the price is "even three to four times as much," reports the Kraillinger carpenter Marcus Proyer.
This is a big problem for Proyer and everyone else who works with wood, because the carpenter has to pass the increases on to his customers.
Craftsmen advise postponing projects
"So I recommend, if possible, postponing bigger things until next year," he says. But this is not possible for many customers because, for example, they live to rent, have to move out of their apartment and therefore have to build now. For this reason, Proyer currently only specifies the price for the resulting working time in cost estimates. "I can only calculate material prices when the wood is delivered." Because the price often changes significantly between the order and delivery.
Why are the costs of wood rising so rapidly at the moment?
"The Americans are buying the market empty," explains Proyer.
Due to the great demand from the USA and other countries worldwide, the supply on the world market has shrunk significantly.
"70 percent are off the market," explains Proyer.
Since the prices in the USA are much higher than in Germany despite the increases - more than 500 euros instead of a good 200 euros per cubic meter of wood - a lot is exported to the USA, which is politically supported by US President Joe Biden.
German politics, on the other hand, is doing too little, criticizes Proyer.
The exceptional Corona period, when people have a lot of time to build and do handicrafts at home, also plays a role in the development.
They also need wood for their projects and get it from the hardware store.
Dependent on dealers
Other carpenters and joiners in Würmtal are also struggling with the sharp rise in prices: The increases are actually "no longer justifiable, but we are completely dependent on the dealers, our hands are tied," says the newcomer Marcus Dauer. The carpenter tries to deal with the situation in such a way that “I communicate everything fairly to my customers and sometimes advise waiting until a peak has been reached. But of course I leave that to the customer, ”says Dauer. “It is balanced”, how many customers waited with construction projects and how many did not. A company as small as his own always notices order cancellations, even if he still has enough orders.
The Gräfelfing joinery Schiller & Wimmer also has “very busy”, explains co-managing director Marco Schiller.
The carpenter's shop also currently has to pay 2.5 to three times as much for construction timber at its wholesalers and therefore only calculates the material prices when the timber has been delivered, which can take time at the moment.
Schiller expects the "prices to stay up" because the reasons for this did not change so quickly at first.
However, customers often responded to the development with understanding.
You are already informed by corresponding media reports.