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20 | Sector Focus: France


SUMMARY


■Oak represented the highest proportion of France’s log harvest in 2023


■Spruce was the most abundant softwood species last year


■The UK remains the biggest export market for French oak


■Oak log exports to China reduced by 45% last year


SLOWDOWN FOLLOWS BOOM TIMES


The French timber sector is looking for signs of market recovery following deceleration through last year. Thibaud Le Moign of market development organisation French Timber reports


After a buoyant period through 2021 into 2022, the wood sector in France faced challenging times and uncertainty in 2023. Last year, the total log harvest declined slightly. Out of a total of 39 million m3


of


harvested material, the volume of hardwood saw logs was 4.9 million m3


, which was


marginally down, while the volume of softwood logs was around the same level as 2022 at 14.7 million m3


.


By species, oak logs represented the highest proportion of the total at 2.3 million m3 followed by poplar at 1.5 million m3 beech at 900,000 m3


, and .


In softwood, spruce remained by far the most abundant species, with a harvest of 7.3 million m3 million m3


, followed by maritime pine at 3.2 and Douglas fir, 2.8 million m3


.


Over the year, hardwood sawmills produced around 1.3 million m3


of lumber, comprising


80% oak, 25% beech and 17% poplar. Of total sawn softwood production, spruce accounted for around 57%, with maritime pine and Douglas fir around 17% each. The French timber market reported 2023 as a year of transition. After all-time high sales in the immediate post-Covid period, the market was bound to slow down. For


the hardwood sector the slowdown was less abrupt, with sales remaining level until the third trimester when the market started to slow. For the softwood sector the downturn was more brutal and happened earlier, after the first trimester, when sales slowed, and stock levels consequently rose. The rest of the year was characterised by fluctuation. This period of slower sales allowed the sawmills to replenish stocks that were at an all-time low after the hectic period of 2021- 2022. Consequently, the price of premium logs remained unchanged, while second grade prices declined 5%.


One aggravating factor in an already slowing market was the sharp rise of consumer interest rates. House buyers were unable to secure loans from the banks, impacting the construction sector and all associated markets.


TOUGH TIMES FOR EXPORTS It was also a tough year for French timber exports across most categories. Softwood lumber exports dropped by more than 9% and, apart from a slight uptick in September, sales always stayed below 2022 levels.


The main export destinations remained the same, with Belgium, Spain and Netherlands to the fore, but most went into slowdown. However, there was some growth despite generally sluggish market conditions to Italy, Morocco and the UK.


Sales of French softwood lumber to the UK used to be between 6,000m3


Above: The French RE2020 aims to grow use of wood in construction TTJ | July/August 2024 | www.ttjonline.com a year, but that accelerated to 21,000m3


to 9,000m3 in


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