France's pulpwood market is awaiting a pivotal court decision that could reshape timber flows across the country's southern regions.<\/p>\n
The Toulouse Commercial Court is expected to rule on July 27 on the future of Fibre Excellence, deciding whether the company will be liquidated or taken over by a new investor. The outcome carries major implications for France's forestry sector, as the company operates the country's last two market pulp mills at Saint-Gaudens and Tarascon.<\/p>\n
Should no buyer emerge, France would lose its remaining market pulp production capacity while one of the country's largest consumers of pulpwood would disappear almost overnight.<\/p>\n
A major outlet for French pulpwood<\/strong><\/p>\n Together, the Saint-Gaudens and Tarascon mills consume around 2.4 million tonnes of pulpwood annually, equivalent to approximately 3.4 million m\u00b3 of roundwood. That represents roughly one-third of France's industrial wood harvest, making Fibre Excellence one of the most important buyers of small-diameter timber in the country.<\/p>\n The mills source wood across Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes, supporting thousands of forest owners, harvesting contractors and transport companies.<\/p>\n Production stopped in April after Fibre Excellence entered insolvency proceedings, leaving around 670 employees on temporary layoff while disrupting timber procurement across much of southern France.<\/p>\n Public support was not enough<\/strong><\/p>\n The company blamed its financial difficulties on rising wood procurement costs and declining revenues from electricity generated by its 25 MW cogeneration plant.<\/p>\n Before suspending operations, Fibre Excellence secured a 20% increase in its regulated electricity tariff, while the French government pledged support worth EUR 150 million. Regional authorities in Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur also expressed willingness to participate financially in a rescue plan.<\/p>\n Despite these measures, the company announced it could no longer meet its financial obligations and subsequently shut both mills.<\/p>\n Storm damage compounds market uncertainty<\/strong><\/p>\n The market is facing additional pressure following Storm Nils, which struck southwestern France in February and brought down at least 2 million m\u00b3 of timber, much of it small-diameter softwood suitable for pulp production.<\/p>\n With Fibre Excellence no longer purchasing wood, the surplus threatens to weigh on demand if the mills remain closed.<\/p>\n Market participants warn that forestry operations, particularly thinning programmes, could slow if alternative outlets fail to absorb the additional volumes.<\/p>\n Biomass sector limits downside risk<\/strong><\/p>\n The growing biomass industry is providing some relief.<\/p>\n According to FCBA, France's industrial wood harvest declined from 12.4 million m\u00b3 in 2009 to 9.4 million m\u00b3 in 2024, while harvested energy wood volumes increased from 3.8 million m\u00b3 to 9.7 million m\u00b3 during the same period.<\/p>\n Further demand is expected from the GazelEnergie biomass plant in Gardanne after a French appeals court approved its wood procurement plan. The facility is expected to consume 450,000 tonnes of wood annually.<\/p>\n The French Biomass Energy Association (CIBE) also expects national wood chip consumption to increase by 20-30% over the next three years as new heating plants come online.<\/p>\n Prices remain stable\u2014for now<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the uncertainty, public auction prices for pulpwood in southeastern France have so far remained broadly stable compared with autumn 2025.<\/p>\n However, forestry professionals report weaker demand for hardwood pulpwood, particularly beech harvested in the Pyrenees, where the loss of Fibre Excellence's buying activity is already being felt.<\/p>\n The July 27 court decision is expected to determine whether France's pulpwood market retains a key industrial consumer or enters a period of structural oversupply that could reshape timber flows across the country's southern forest regions.<\/p>\n Wood prices in southeastern France<\/strong><\/p>\n Standing timber values recorded at public auctions organised by the French National Forest Office in the Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur region. Prices are expressed in EUR\/m\u00b3 over bark on a stem-volume basis.<\/p>\n Prices in EUR\/m\u00b3.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" France’s pulpwood market is awaiting a pivotal court decision that could reshape timber flows across the country’s southern regions.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99345,"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-99344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n
\n \nProduct type<\/th>\n Q3 2020<\/th>\n Q3 2022<\/th>\n Q3 2023<\/th>\n Q3 2025<\/th>\n Q2 2026<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Oak pulpwood<\/td>\n 8\u201324<\/td>\n 15\u201342<\/td>\n 17\u201325<\/td>\n 15\u201325<\/td>\n 11\u201326<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Aleppo pine<\/td>\n 15\u201318<\/td>\n 20\u201327<\/td>\n 15\u201331<\/td>\n 17\u201332<\/td>\n 11\u201331<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Austrian black pine<\/td>\n 8\u201315<\/td>\n 15\u201330<\/td>\n 10\u201321<\/td>\n 15\u201325<\/td>\n 20\u201324<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Scots pine<\/td>\n 14\u201316<\/td>\n 14\u201323<\/td>\n 10\u201318<\/td>\n 14\u201330<\/td>\n 15\u201333<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n