Holzkirchen / Landkreis - The chairman of the Holzkirchen forest owners association, Alexander Mayr, explains the current situation on the wood market.
In numerous municipal construction projects in the Miesbach district, it has recently been discussed that wood has become more expensive and is scarce.
Even private builders and hobby craftsmen complain about the price development.
The chairman of the association, Alexander Mayr, explains how the Holzkirchen association of forest owners (WBV) assesses the situation.
Mr. Mayr, you can often read and hear that wood as a building material has become extremely expensive. That will please the forest farmers?
Wood as a building material only rose in price for a short time due to the significantly higher export price and the subsequent almost panic-like domestic demand. The rapid ascent was followed by an almost equally rapid descent. Due to the logging restrictions from April to the end of September, the forest owners did not have much from the very high price of sawn timber. Nevertheless, the current round timber price is still well above the previous year's level. Of course, we would like it best if we received a price that was as stable as possible over the long term for our main product, round timber for the sawmill industry. This should also reflect the services for society through forest management. In real terms, it should never again fall below the 100 euros per cubic meter mark.But since the price of logs is of course subject to the rules of supply and demand, we will have to live with the ups and downs in the future as well.
If there is no direct link between the prices of sawmill products and cut logs, how has the price of wood as a raw material developed in recent years?
Of course there is some correlation between the price of sawmill products and that of logs. But other factors have played a major role, especially in recent years. These include an increased amount of round wood due to windthrow and bark beetle infestation, but the expanding export market last early summer also had a market economy impact. The log price often lags behind the sawn timber price and price changes occur with a time lag. It was the same this year, when lumber prices rose faster and faster from January and peaked in August. In contrast, the price of round timber did not pick up noticeably from a very low level until the end of April. Now in autumn we are seeing the opposite side: the price of sawn timber fell significantly more than the price of round timber.
In addition to the rise in prices, there are often complaints about the scarcity of wood as a raw material. How do you rate this statement and how important is the forest conversion?
The raw material wood is definitely not scarce in Germany. Around a third of the area is forested and large parts of it are managed according to the principles of sustainability. In normal operation, therefore, no more is removed than grows back. Despite the current mass death of spruce-dominated stands, especially in Central Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia and Upper Franconia, the area of the forest will not decrease. But the future tree species composition will change. Up until now, classic construction timber in Germany has mainly been made from spruce. Due to global warming, however, the spruce is increasingly retreating to cooler climates. In order to meet the increasing demand for wood, the sawing industry will sooner or later switch to other types of softwood such as fir,Douglas fir or even exotic species like the Lebanon cedar have to avoid. From a global perspective, however, the increasing destruction and clearing of forests can lead to a future wood shortage.
The timber harvest has been in full swing since October.
Do you dare to make a forecast?
If there are no disruptions such as storms or falling demand on the part of industry, I expect relatively good yields given the comparatively high price level for round wood already mentioned.
In the case of larger felling measures, however, I advise you to obtain up-to-date information from the forest owners' association beforehand.
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