The wildfires that swept through southwest France in July are about to leave a second problem behind: millions of cubic metres of maritime pine that must be harvested and sold before the timber loses much of its value.<\/p>\n
The latest estimates put the affected area in Gironde at between 39,000 and 41,000 hectares, containing around 3.5 million m\u00b3 of timber. Another 210,000 m\u00b3 was damaged by the fire around Biscarrosse in neighbouring Landes.<\/p>\n
The volume in Gironde alone is equivalent to close to two-thirds of the timber normally produced each year in the Landes de Gascogne, the vast maritime pine forest stretching across Gironde and Landes and one of the main sources of softwood raw material for the French wood industry.<\/p>\n
Large-scale harvesting has yet to begin. Although the main Gironde fire has been contained since the end of July, access remains restricted in some areas because the ground is still hot and vehicles or forestry machinery could reignite remaining embers. More extensive work is expected after the first substantial autumn rains.<\/p>\n
Once access is possible, harvesting will have to move quickly. Fire-weakened pine is vulnerable to bark beetles and other forms of deterioration, and every additional month can reduce the proportion of timber suitable for higher-value uses.<\/p>\n
From sawlogs to pellets<\/strong><\/p>\n The fires did not damage the forest uniformly.<\/p>\n Some stands were severely burned, with flames reaching the crowns. In others, the fire moved through the vegetation beneath the trees while leaving much of the stem intact.<\/p>\n This difference will decide how much of the timber can still reach sawmills.<\/p>\n Logs suffering limited damage can remain suitable for sawn timber, plywood and other wood products. Lower qualities can be used for pallets, pulp and panels, while heavily damaged timber may have little value beyond pellets and energy.<\/p>\n Prices consequently vary widely according to condition and destination, from around \u20ac10\/m\u00b3 for the lowest grades to more than \u20ac50\/m\u00b3 for better-quality timber.<\/p>\n The 3.5 million m\u00b3 affected in Gironde should therefore not be treated as 3.5 million m\u00b3 of additional sawlogs. A large proportion will enter markets for industrial wood, precisely where southern France already has more timber to sell than it did at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n Storm Nils brought down at least 2 million m\u00b3 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie in February. Softwoods accounted for much of the damage, including small-diameter timber and logs downgraded by breakage.<\/p>\n The Gironde fires now add another large salvage programme in the same part of France.<\/p>\n France has also lost a major buyer<\/strong><\/p>\n The additional timber is arriving just as the pulpwood market has lost one of its largest customers.<\/p>\n Before their financial difficulties, Fibre Excellence's Tarascon and Saint-Gaudens pulp mills consumed around 2.4 million tonnes of wood annually, equivalent to approximately 3.4 million m\u00b3 of roundwood. Together they accounted for around one-third of the French pulpwood harvest.<\/p>\n Tarascon is now in liquidation. The mill had annual pulp capacity of around 270,000 tonnes and employed approximately 270 people.<\/p>\n Saint-Gaudens, with capacity of around 280,000 tonnes, could still continue production if a takeover is completed. An investor has deposited the \u20ac2 million guarantee required by the Toulouse Commercial Court and has until August 24 to finalise an offer. The amount of wood the mill would consume under a new owner remains unknown.<\/p>\n The timing is particularly awkward for lower-grade timber.<\/p>\n The closure of Tarascon removed a large outlet for pulpwood, thinning material and other assortments produced alongside sawlogs. The fires and Storm Nils are now adding precisely these types of timber to the market.<\/p>\n Good sawlogs are in a different position.<\/p>\n French softwood log prices remained firm during the first half of 2026. Fir and spruce continued to increase, Scots pine also strengthened and maritime pine remained firm. Sawmills are still looking for good-quality raw material despite the growing volumes of damaged wood.<\/p>\n France could therefore enter autumn with plenty of wood available without necessarily having an oversupply of the sawlogs mills want most.<\/p>\n Millions of cubic metres have to find a home<\/strong><\/p>\n The physical scale of the salvage operation will also be considerable.<\/p>\n Harvesters, forwarders and trucks will have to be moved into the burned areas while normal forestry operations continue elsewhere. Timber that cannot immediately be delivered to processors will require storage, adding another cost for forest owners and timber companies.<\/p>\n Land ownership makes the operation more complicated. The Landes de Gascogne covers around one million hectares and is divided among a large number of private forest owners. Salvage harvesting will therefore take place through thousands of individual properties rather than as one centrally managed operation.<\/p>\n France has dealt with much larger volumes of damaged maritime pine before. Storm Klaus devastated the region in 2009 and forced the industry to store and process exceptional quantities of windthrown timber over several years.<\/p>\n The market in 2026 is less accommodating. French construction has started to recover, but from a very low level. Housing starts have risen by around 15% year-on-year to approximately 294,800 units, while detached houses account for only around 36% of starts compared with 41% two years earlier.<\/p>\n The improvement provides some support for sawn timber, joinery and other construction products, but it is unlikely to absorb the lower grades generated by the fires.<\/p>\n Autumn will show where the pressure falls<\/strong><\/p>\n The first large volumes from Gironde are expected to reach the market in autumn.<\/p>\n By then, southern France will be dealing simultaneously with the timber damaged by Storm Nils, the Gironde salvage programme and the consequences of Fibre Excellence's problems.<\/p>\n The numbers are substantial: at least 2 million m\u00b3 from Storm Nils and around 3.5 million m\u00b3 affected in Gironde, while two pulp mills that previously consumed the equivalent of around 3.4 million m\u00b3 of roundwood annually are no longer operating normally.<\/p>\n Those figures cannot simply be added together. They cover different regions and timber qualities, and not all of the burned pine will reach the market at the same time.<\/p>\n But the direction is clear. France is heading into the autumn with considerably more damaged and lower-grade softwood to sell, while good-quality sawlogs remain relatively tight.<\/p>\n How much of the Gironde timber retains sawlog quality will become clearer as harvesting progresses. The rest will have to compete for pulp, panel, packaging and energy outlets at a time when one of southern France's biggest industrial wood buyers has already disappeared.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The wildfires that swept through southwest France in July are about to leave a second problem behind: millions of cubic metres of maritime pine that must be harvested and sold before the timber loses much of its value.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99621,"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-99620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n