{"id":86909,"date":"2023-10-20T07:57:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T07:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tin.happy-projects.ro\/bark-beetle-infestation-negatively-impacts-french-softwood-market\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:00:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:00:55","slug":"bark-beetle-infestation-negatively-impacts-french-softwood-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/bark-beetle-infestation-negatively-impacts-french-softwood-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Bark beetle infestation negatively impacts French softwood market"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span>For spruce and fir in the East part of France, there was no summer break. On the contrary, in the Jura and Vosges mountains, the health situation even worsened in early September. While the influx of dry wood due to the withering of fir continued to increase throughout the summer, the high temperatures at the end of August caused a third surge of bark beetles that descended upon spruce stands already heavily damaged since the initial attacks of 2018 and subsequent years.<\/p>\n

The recent and exacerbating issue concerns spruce, which is now being attacked by bark beetles on the peaks of the Jura. Previously, insect flights were restricted to around 1,000 meters. However, with the water deficit and the stress caused by high temperatures, spruce, particularly sensitive to climate variations, is now suffering in altitudinal zones typically spared. Since the bark beetle primarily targets weakened trees, the epidemic continues to spread.<\/p>\n

In the Jura, foresters now speak of a health catastrophe. At the beginning of summer, France's National Forests Office (ONF) announced an estimated volume of approximately 600,000 cubic meters of dry fir to be sold in the Jura region. This quantity can be compared to the 200,000 to 300,000 cubic meters of green wood that the Office typically markets annually in the Ain, Doubs, and Jura regions. In July-August, the decline of silver fir was confirmed. For the Jura department alone, the current harvest of sanitary fir wood normally revolves around 20,000 cubic meters per year; by mid-September 2023, the ONF reported an exploited volume ten times higher!<\/p>\n

\"We managed to sell lots of freshly beetle-damaged spruces concentrated on smaller clear-cut parcels. However, the articles of dry fir, often scattered over large areas, were very difficult to sell,\" stated Jimmy Equenot, commercial manager of wood and services at the ONF Bourgogne Franche-Comt\u00e9. He indicated that the unsold stock represents approximately 60% of the volumes presented this summer in the ONF catalogs.<\/p>\n

The health crisis appears less severe in the Vosges. Nevertheless, local foresters express great concern as the epidemic seems to be spreading despite better local conditions than in the Jura. \"We had already started sanitary logging of fir in the spring because the situation was worsening, and we expected a peak in mortality from early August,\" says David Hacquard. The head of softwood sales at the ONF Grand Est added that compared to the summer of 2022, the ONF has harvested double the dry volumes in the Vosges region this summer. Silver fir is also affected, and, as in the Jura, bark beetle flights in early September attacked spruce stands already severely depleted over the past five years.<\/p>\n

Consequently, despite a drastic reduction in green wood volumes offered in public catalogs, unsold stocks are at levels rarely reached in the East: an average of 60% of the quantities listed in the sales books. When lots of fir find takers, prices for dry wood are at their lowest. Only freshly beetle-damaged spruce obtains relatively satisfactory rates.<\/p>\n

This surplus of dry wood comes at a bad time for the softwood industry.<\/p>\n

At the public auctions of the ONF in the Jura and Vosges massifs:<\/p>\n