Representatives of the Polish wood industry accuse the State Forests of the fact that there is a plundering wood market in Poland, and that Polish wood is exported on a larger scale than the company states.<\/p>\n
In their opinion, the policy pursued by the Polish State Forests is driving up the prices of wood. As a result, the wood raw materials are becoming scarce, and prices in Poland are today the highest in Europe.<\/p>\n
For this reason, building materials are also becoming more expensive and the prices of firewood are rising.<\/p>\n
''We want to lead to a situation where most of the Polish wood raw material will be processed by local companies,'' the Minister of Development Waldemar Buda said to the Polish media recently.<\/p>\n
The minister notes that \"the war in Ukraine has exacerbated the problems of wood availability for Poland's sawmills and for the furniture industry.\"<\/p>\n
''Imports of wood and its semi-finished products from Russia and Belarus have completely stopped. Ukraine, mainly Western, provides us with maybe 25 percent of the necessary wood before the war,'' says the director of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Wood Industry, Rafa\u0142 Szefler.<\/p>\n
According to him, \"the industry has been appealing to the government for many years to undertake work aimed at promoting the processing of wood in the country\".<\/p>\n
\"We warned that putting more wood in open auctions and the lack of control over Poland's exports would lead to serious disruptions in supply and price increases, \" he emphasized, adding that \"no one in Europe has such liberal rules for selling timber as the Polish State Forests.\"<\/p>\n
Waldemar Buda - we read further - says \"DGP\" that \"in dialogue with the State Forests, the ministry takes steps to create the most favorable solutions for wood processors in Poland\".<\/p>\n
''Let me remind you that we are a European power. So guaranteeing the raw material is crucial for us. Now, for example, subcontractors of large furniture chains do not have the raw material for the production of furniture. And this makes them look for other markets and other suppliers,'' says Minister Waldemar Buda<\/p>\n
How much did wood prices increase?<\/strong><\/p>\n In the period of Q4 2020 to July 2021, prices of softwood lumber increased by 15-20% in individual assortment groups, oak lumber increased by 20-22% and pine lumber by 50 up to 77%.<\/p>\n The price of pine wood at auctions reaches even 1000 PLN per cubic meter.<\/p>\n In total, in the last year, wood prices in some cases increased by as much as 200-300 percent.<\/p>\n The prices of OSB boards in September 2021 were nearly 125 percent more expensive than the year before. The increases were also felt by the window joinery industry. In the first quarter of last year, the price of the so-called square timber, necessary for the production of windows, amounted to 2100 PLN per cubic meter, and at the end of the year prices increased to PLN 4500.<\/p>\n Wood industry representatives have also been demanding the government for a long time to introduce regulations that will limit the export of wood abroad .<\/p>\n They argue that there is a plundering wood management in Poland, and Polish wood is exported on a larger scale than it is reported by the State Forests. However, there was no response from the industry's appeals.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to official data, 10 percent of the Polish roundwood is exported, around 4 million cubic meters of wood, which goes mainly to China.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Representatives of the Polish wood industry accuse the State Forests of the fact that there is a plundering wood market in Poland, and that Polish wood is exported on a larger scale than the company states. In their opinion, the … Continue reading