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The mood in the German timber industry suffered a significant setback in May.\u00a0The decisive factor was the significantly lower level of satisfaction with current business.\u00a0Corporate expectations were also noticeably more pessimistic than in the previous month.\u00a0The German timber industry is skeptical about the summer in view of the reduced purchasing power of consumers, higher building interest rates and a decline in incoming orders.<\/span><\/p>\n The assessment of the current situation fell significantly in May to -14 points (previous month: -0.7 points). The outlook for the next six months deteriorated slightly, by one point to minus 31.3 points. Overall, the economic indicator of the \u00a0Main Association of the German Wood Industry (HDH) fell by 6.8 points to -22.9 points in May.<\/p>\n In view of the different impacts on the individual segments, the mood in the German timber industry remained mixed.\u00a0The companies in the construction-related area of \u200b\u200bthe timber industry (+25.9 points) still assessed their current business situation as positive.\u00a0However, expectations in all segments indicated negative developments in the coming months.\u00a0In particular, the wood-based materials industry (-62.1 points), the wood packaging industry (-52.8 points) and the sawmill industry (-40.3 points) have recently looked to the future with concern: These segments expect the business situation to deteriorate significantly in the next six months.<\/p>\n German timber industry records a drop in sales<\/strong><\/p>\n From January to March 2023, sales in the German timber industry were 10.4% below the level of the corresponding prior-year period.\u00a0While a drop in sales of 18.3% was registered abroad, sales in Germany were 7.1% lower.\u00a0The sawmills had to put up with a sharp drop in sales: their sales in Germany were 19.2% and in foreign business 27.2% below the corresponding level of the previous year.\u00a0With a 9.1% drop in sales, engineered wood remained slightly below the industry average.\u00a0Wooden packaging was slightly higher with a minus of 12.8%.<\/p>\n The only industry that was able to show positive sales development was the construction-related sector.\u00a0This was due to a 4.8% increase domestically.\u00a0On the other hand, according to the Federal Statistical Office, sales abroad were 21.5% lower.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The mood in the German timber industry suffered a significant setback in May.\u00a0The decisive factor was the significantly lower level of satisfaction with current business.\u00a0Corporate expectations were also noticeably more pessimistic than in the previous month.\u00a0The German timber industry is … Continue reading