Forest owners are happy about the increased wood prices

Created: 05/19/2022, 1:48 p.m

By: Andreas Daschner

The price of wood is high.

© dpa

One man's sorrow is another man's joy: While builders complain about the massive increase in material prices, the forest owners are happy:

Mammendorf - "We've finally reached a price level again where it makes sense to market your wood regularly," said Paul Högenauer at the annual meeting of the Brucker Forest Owners' Association (WBV) in Mammendorf.

In 2021 the meeting was canceled due to corona.

For this reason, the annual meeting for this year was not held in autumn as usual, but was brought forward to May.

The WBV is shocked by the global developments.

In view of the war in Ukraine, WBV boss Ludwig Märkl said: "You can only shake your head."

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular FFB newsletter.)

And the joy about a wood price of 120 euros per cubic meter for logs is only for the moment.

According to Högenauer, further development in the construction sector is not foreseeable.

An increase in construction interest could have a negative impact on construction activity, as could further increases in building material costs, energy prices and the availability of materials.

"In addition, a possible Russian gas and oil embargo is hanging over us like the sword of Damocles."

The bark beetle

How the round wood price develops is of course just as dependent on the construction industry as on the extent of the damage caused by the bark beetle.

However, Högenauer did not want to be carried away by a prognosis about possible damage to the beetle.

"When I did it earlier, the weather was often different," said the WBV managing director.

The appearance of the bark beetle depends on the weather.

Incidentally, the increase in the price of wood began even before the war.

From summer 2020 to summer 2021, the price rose from 50 to 108 euros per cubic meter – a record.

"We've never had such price jumps within a year," said Högenauer.

You jumped from the lowest to the highest level.

For some forest farmers, this is a blessing.

Because according to Högenauer, there were previously some where nothing was left after deducting the felling costs.

"The wood is raised over generations, and then there is no profit." Incidentally, only a low 29.50 euros per cubic meter are paid for paperwood.

The reason is that the price is contractually fixed until October.

You can find more current news from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.