54 | Country Focus: Germany
SUMMARY
■ In H1 last year, 7.4% more sawn softwood was processed than in H2, 2020
■ Residential construction increased in Germany in 2021
■ Exports were up to the US but down to China
■ Sawn timber prices rose but have settled now
■ Flood and pest damage are forcing a rethink on forest structure
TIMBER MARKET BETWEEN THE EXTREMES
Lars Schmidt, managing director of the German Sawmill and Timber Industry Association (DeSH) describes a year of extreme demand, counter-movement and a federal election in 2021
The crisis year of 2020 with coronavirus lockdown, drought and forest damage was drastic for the German sawmill and timber industry. The industry hoped that the economy would recover in 2021 after the global pandemic slump, that the weather would normalise after three extreme years and that demand for wood would pick up again. So expectations were relatively modest after a difficult year. “Business as usual” was the hope.
Above: Lars Schmidt is managing director of DeSH
But as soon as the winter of 2020 it became clear that 2021 would again hold some surprises in store. Despite the renewed lockdown, the economic indices rose strongly for both softwood and hardwood, and the sawmills expected good months ahead. But how good this spring was to be was once again beyond all imagination: An unprecedented, extreme demand for softwood triggered a boom in Germany. In the first six months of 2021 alone, around 7.4% more sawn softwood was processed than in the second half of 2020. The volume produced of over 13.2 million m3 of sawn softwood in the first half of the year represented a new record. This means that the production, which has been growing steadily for years, could be expanded once again. The additional production in the first half of 2021 was primarily made available to
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the domestic market in order to serve the high demand. Due to the higher production, domestic supply was always guaranteed. Nevertheless, the behaviour of the customers was a reason for the strong demand situation in spring 2021.
In other sectors, such as the production of glued laminated wood components, production was also able to increase strongly again in 2021. In the first quarter, the production volume increased by 31.9% and in the second quarter it increased by 14.2% to a total of 108,600m3.
Residential construction in Germany could also look back on strongly rising numbers in 2021. The main reason for this is the pandemic, which initially stopped many projects in 2020, but they were resumed the following year. According to estimates, the trend will continue until 2023, but will then continue at a moderate pace.
The export rate in the first six months
of 2021 was 0.5% lower than in the same period last year. There was a clear shift in the customer markets – the unusually high demand from the US was accompanied by declining exports to China, for example. All in all, around 60% of the exported sawn timber remained in the EU and Great Britain. Increasing demand caused prices for sawn timber to rise sharply in a short period of time
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