42 | Sector Focus: Panel Products
RE-BALANCING EUROPE’S WOOD RESOURCES
Secure wood raw material supply is vital for the wood-based panels and wider wood industries. But with resources under strain and demand predicted to increase substantially, the EPF is calling for a re-balancing of policy priorities
Secure raw material availability is one of the biggest concerns facing the wood industries in the coming years against a backdrop of growing demand. With this in mind, the European Panel Federation (EPF) has created a policy paper – Strategic Wood Availability, which charts ‘The growing gap between strategic need and ecological reality’.
It is an important document that should elevate this important topic to a wide range of stakeholders, particularly policy makers in Europe. It’s a complex subject and with so many variables affecting the level of timber resources, it is incumbent on the industry to have a good grasp of the issue and campaign effectively to ensure enough wood will be available in future decades. With wood-based panels being so necessary for uses in construction, furniture and design, while also having a great sustainability profile, it therefore follows that the industry needs to be supported with policies that are going to help it thrive. EPF technical director Kris Wijnendaele highlighted the document to EPF members at
the EPF annual AGM in Berlin. It’s possibly one of the EPF’s most important papers to date.
The report presents key findings and policy recommendations that can hopefully help get the industry’s message over to European decision makers about how a more balanced policy approach can help safeguard the needs of the sector.
REPORT’S KEY FINDINGS Concerningly, the Strategic Wood Availability study shows a looming supply deficit coming. Projections show a substantial future gap between European wood demand and sustainable domestic supply, even under conservative growth scenarios. Relying on European forests to meet escalating demand appears increasingly unrealistic. It also shows there is pressure on the cascade principle, one of the keystones of the EPF’s lobbying work.
“Current policies and market realities could lead to the inefficient use of valuable wood resources,” the report says. “Significant volumes potentially suitable for long-lived
material applications are already used in energy generation today. This undermines the cascade principle, where energy use should only be the final step after reuse and recycling, hindering circularity and optimal carbon benefit.”
A third main finding is challenging carbon sink targets. Increasing harvesting pressures make it unlikely that the EU will meet its ambitious 2030 LULUCF (land use, land use change, and forestry) forest carbon sink targets under current policies. With a further increase in demand, more wood-based carbon sink challenges will arise in future. Before laying out the EPF’s policy recommendations, further background on the study is necessary to lay out the arguments, particularly the supply constraints meeting rising demand in Europe’s wood sector. To project future market supply and demand, the EPF commissioned studies from AFRY Management Consulting and SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). Both studies indicate a substantial wood demand increase by 2040, with AFRY projecting an increase by approximately 112 to 190 million m3 current levels.
solid under bark above
Given potential harvesting constraints, Europe likely faces supply deficits, especially in sawlogs and wood residues. Satisfying this rising demand would require significantly increased imports in some regions from currently unknown sources, even if harvesting expands.
Furthermore, intensified competition between material and energy applications threatens effective cascading wood use, highlighting the urgent need to rebalance resource management strategies.
Above: Europe’s forests and wood supply are under pressure from increasing demand TTJ | November/December 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
WOOD RESOURCE BALANCE One method of representing wood supply and demand dynamics is the Wood Resource Balance. On one side there is supply, consisting of primary sources (freshly harvested logs) and secondary sources
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