2021 was a year of change in many ways.\u00a0Although the pandemic remained with its effects on large parts of the economy, how the political environment for the German sawmill and wood industry will develop in the future cannot be said with certainty so shortly after the new government was formed.<\/p>\n
In the past year, the industry was able to hold its own comparatively well in the face of rising energy and raw material prices as well as supply bottlenecks, report the umbrella associations,\u00a0The German Sawmill and Wood Industry Association (DeSH) and\u00a0The Main Association of the German Wood Industry (HDH).\u00a0For 2021 the HDH expects an increase in turnover for the entire wood industry.\u00a0In the first nine months of the year, sales in the industry totaled around 29.9 billion, 13.8% above the level of the same period last year.<\/p>\n
The sub-sectors developed very differently: If the challenges of the German furniture industry lay primarily in the pandemic restrictions in retail and the supply situation for primary products, timber construction companies and construction suppliers benefited from persistently high demand - also due to the pandemic.\u00a0German construction companies and companies in the packaging industry were confronted with exceptionally high material prices and delivery delays at the same time.\u00a0In particular, the long-term contracts customary in timber construction made it difficult to pass on short-term price peaks.<\/p>\n
The negotiations in this year's collective bargaining round turned out to be difficult with high inflation and demand on the one hand, but equally rising energy, raw material and material prices on the other.\u00a0The partial retirement regulations enforced by IG Metall meet the employers' wish for more flexible retirement models in order to keep valuable skilled workers longer in working life.<\/p>\n
According to HDH, there are many indications that 2022 will be as volatile as its predecessor.<\/p>\n
In order not to fuel the extremes within the industry in the future, however, the DeSH appeals to learn from the past year.\u00a0While different effects caused an extremely increased demand for sawn timber in the first half of the year, the signs changed in the second half of the year.\u00a0The high stocks and inventories at retailers and processors led to a sharp drop in demand, so that production had to be reduced moderately but then sharply since July.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe developments in the second half of the year show that there has to be a reliable interaction between supply and demand.\u00a0A permanent change of extremes is to be avoided at all costs, it harms everyone involved and thus in the long term also the wood turning itself \",\u00a0emphasizes DeSH President J\u00f6rn Kimmich.<\/p>\n
It is important both to ensure the availability of wood and to guarantee a high level of production with foresighted purchasing behavior, the associations concluded.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2021 was a year of change in many ways.\u00a0Although the pandemic remained with its effects on large parts of the economy, how the political environment for the German sawmill and wood industry will develop in the future cannot be said … Continue reading