Timber Harvests, Log Consumption Shift from West to East in Central Europe

Harvests of timber in Europe have remained practically unchanged for three years at around 370 million cubic meters annually, according to the UNECE. A closer look at the timber harvest trends for Central Europe the past 10 years reveals the interesting development that the average annual harvests in the "Central West" region (Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland) were 15% higher in the five years between 2003 through 2007 than between 2008 and 2012. according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (www.woodprices.com) (WRQ), Seattle, Wash., USA. .

During the same period, timber removals in the "Central East" region (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia) increased 4%, and this region now harvests more than the "Central West," a reversal from the historical position when more timber was removed in the western countries, WRQ reports.

Not only has log production fallen in the "Central West" region the past five years, but so has log consumption by the forest industry, which was down on average 9% during the 2008-2012 period, compared with 2003-2007. In the "Central East," log consumption fell only 2% during the same time period.

The log trade flow in Central Europe has changed the past decade with the "Central West" region having become a larger net importer of logs the past five years, compared with the previous five-year period, and the "Central East" region exporting more logs the past few years than prior to this time. The biggest change occurred in Germany, which traditionally had been a net exporter of logs, but became a net importer in 2009. During the first five months of 2013, Germany was a net importer of two million cubic meters of softwood logs, which can be compared with net exportation of 1.6 million cubic meters just five years ago. 

Sawlog prices in Germany and the neighboring Czech Republic have followed each other fairly closely the past 15 years, however at different levels, the WRQ points out. In the 1990s, average sawlog prices in the Czech Republic were approximately 60% of the German prices, while during the past few years this level has reached 80%.