In the view of the German sawmill industry, a reduced level of felling puts the competitive capability of the whole wood cluster in Germany at risk. According to the felling figures for Germany for 2012, which were published in June by the German Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), felling was down year on year by almost 4m m3 to a total of 52.34m m3. The biggest decline, at roughly 11% to 25.21m m3, was for the wood species spruce.
According to its general secretary Lars Schmidt, the German Sawmill and Timber Industry Association (DesH) sees this as an extremely alarming tendency. The scarce level of supply, high procurement costs and diminishing ability to compete force an increasing number of sawmills to reduce capacity and axe jobs. In view of the tight profit situation, no funds are available for investments in machinery and the development of innovative and higher-quality products.
