Germany\u2019s timber market has entered 2026 in a state of unusual tension, with log prices surging and sawmills scrambling to secure enough raw material to keep production lines running. Across much of the country, mills report that deliveries of spruce and pine logs are falling well short of demand, triggering an aggressive bidding war for available volumes.<\/p>\n
The spike has pushed prices into territory rarely seen before. Spruce logs \u2014 the backbone of the German lumber industry \u2014 are now selling at \u20ac130 to \u20ac133 per cubic meter for fixed lengths in grade B\/C and long logs of grade B in diameter class 2b+. In some regions, transactions are already touching \u20ac135 per cubic meter. Lower assortments in class 2b+ B\/C are trading between \u20ac96 and \u20ac100 per cubic meter, while timber damaged by bark beetles is typically discounted by about \u20ac20 per cubic meter.<\/p>\n
The price rally reflects a market that has tightened dramatically in recent months. Sawmills are increasingly anxious about the prospect of entering the summer with depleted log yards, prompting buyers to raise procurement prices in an effort to persuade forest owners to harvest and deliver timber while conditions remain favorable.<\/p>\n
Most contracts currently in force run only until the end of April, and the removal of logs from forests has accelerated sharply. Mills, many of which say their inventories remain dangerously thin, are racing to replenish stocks before harvesting slows later in the year.<\/p>\n
Pressure is building beyond the sawlog segment as well. Industrial wood demand has climbed significantly, partly because earlier deliveries were postponed while mills prioritized higher-value logs. At the same time, an unusually cold winter has intensified demand for firewood, further tightening supply across lower-grade assortments.<\/p>\n
Forest owner associations say some buyers are offering additional premiums for freshly harvested industrial wood during the first quarter, urging suppliers to bring material to market. The prolonged heating season has also emptied firewood reserves, creating strong demand for high-quality fuelwood as distributors rebuild their inventories.<\/p>\n
Behind the price surge lies a deeper shift in supply. According to the German Timber Industry Association (HDH), the availability of raw logs has deteriorated rapidly. Germany harvested more than 80 million cubic meters of roundwood in both 2020 and 2021 during the peak of storm and bark beetle damage. But by 2024, total harvests had fallen to just over 61 million cubic meters \u2014 a drop of around 13 percent compared with the previous year.<\/p>\n
The decline is largely due to a sharp reduction in salvage timber. Volumes of damaged wood were nearly 30 percent lower in 2024 than in 2023. At the same time, difficult weather conditions slowed logging operations in several forest regions, further constraining supply.<\/p>\n
The tightening market is already being felt across the softwood sector, where prices for logs have decisively broken through the \u20ac130 per cubic meter mark.<\/p>\n
Industry groups warn that regulatory developments could intensify the shortage. The HDH has raised concerns about the European Forest Restoration Regulation, arguing that it could impose significant limits on forest management and ultimately reduce the volume of logs entering the market.<\/p>\n
Carsten Merforth, president of the HDH and spokesperson for the Working Group on Raw Timber, said the regulation risks placing the industry\u2019s entire raw material base under pressure if it is implemented without revision. The association has called on Germany\u2019s federal states to support a motion introduced by Bavaria in the Bundesrat seeking changes to the regulation.<\/p>\n
At the center of the debate is the so-called \u201cdeterioration prohibition,\u201d a rule requiring that ecological indicators in certain forest areas must not decline over time. Industry representatives fear that, in practice, even responsible harvesting could be interpreted as ecological deterioration.<\/p>\n
If forest owners begin to view sustainable management as a regulatory risk, they warn, harvesting activity could slow markedly. The result would be a significant contraction in the supply of logs \u2014 a development that could reverberate across the entire wood sector, from forests to sawmills and manufacturers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n