Prices for oak logs continued to increase strongly in the autumn on the back of strong demand throughout Europe. The evolution of beech log prices differed strongly between countries. 

Note that due to differing formats of sale, in Croatia and Germany prices are for logs alongside roadside in forest and in Romania and France prices are for standing timber. 

FRANCE: Standing timber prices

In France oak prices declined in 2020 due to the pandemic but prices are up +- 40% in 2021 autumn sales. 

Oak log prices are rising in France Price in euros / m3 ONF Burgundy public auction
Volume in m3	Q3 2018	Q3 2019	Q3 2020	Q4 2021	Change in % for 1 year	Change in  % over 3 years
1,5 m3	150	125	102	136	+33%	-9.3%
2 m3	204	162	151	210	+39%	+2.9%
2,5 m3	245	190	188	261	+39%	+6, 5%
3 m3	279	216	218	304	+39%	+9%
3,5 m3	308	237	243	343	+41%	+11.4%
4 m3	334	253	266	376	+41%	+12.5%
4,5 m3	356	268	286	403	+41%	+13.2%

Increases in beech prices are more subdued. The ONF reports price increases of 6% for beech. Our data reports strong disparities in prices between different auctions making it very difficult to report average prices. In comparison with 2020 it seems that there is more interest for smaller dimension logs then in the previous year. In 1-2m3 class prices tend to be above 25 Euro/m3, in 2-3m3 class prices average around 45 Euro/m3 and in larger diameter classes results between auctions showed wide disparities with average prices of 70 Euro in Bourgogne but much lower prices in the East.  

Attached auction results as visible on www.fordaq.com

GERMANY:

Oak: great demand for quality B 3a + at an average price of € 142

Beech: Stable demand, quality B varies between € 70 and € 90 depending on the diameter. 

sources: associations of private forest owners in different regions and official authorities

on the same topic we recommend also the following articles giving an overview of producer price indices in sept. 

https://www.fordaq.com/news/Germany_beech_roundwood_logs_priceindex_September2021_74591.html

https://www.fordaq.com/news/Germany_Oak_roundwood_logs_priceindex_September2021_74589.html

ROMANIA:

Price increases in the market started in the spring of 2021 fueled by the strong demand on the international markets but also by the reduction in volume induced by the introduction of the new official system to monitor wood flows in Romania - UMAL 2.0 .

SUMAL 2.0 is a system designed to combat illegal logging and of compulsory use for the industry in Romania. The traceability works through quantitative correlations between forest management plans - mandatory in Romania, timber assessment documents authorizing the harvesting, timber transport documentes, receipts to the beneficiary, production reports in primary processing, transport documents for wood materials with an extended definition to timber, wood waste, wood chips and even charcoal! The introduction of the system has led to high administrative costs and has created problems in the marketing of wood in the spring of 2021, problems that persist in the fall of 2021, because this system is mandatory  also for self-consumption of firewood of forest owners and the population.

In the autumn of 2021, the wood deficit was amplified by new regulations regarding the environmental assessment of forest management  plans, which largely blocked the application of new forest management  plans, which overlap over Natura 2000 sites. This reduced supply by an additional 8-10%.

The result of the 2 factors - SUMAL 2.0 and the environmental assessment of forest management - led to an artificial resource deficit in the fall of 2021. This in turn led to an explosion of prices of   all  wood  assortments with increases of 20-40% in some cases of prices respective to the prices indicated in the table above. In some auctions beech log prices reached 120 Euro/m3 and Spruce logs 160 Euro/m3. Prices of firewood have also increased significantly reaching 100 Euro/m3   and  even much more delivered to consumers in some regions of Romania.

As the causes of the blockages continue to persist and produce effects, the tension on the wood market in Romania is expected to persist in 2022, affecting the availability of resources for industry and prices at crisis levels.

 

Please note that prices mentioned below are from Sept 2021 before further prices increases mentioned above in the article. 

Nr.	Sortiment	Species	Average price   -euro
			2020	Until  september  2021	Increase %
1	Estetic Veneer  Logs	Spruce	62	154	147%
		Beech	80	112	40%
		Oak	324	485	50%
2	Technical veneer Logs	Spruce	76	111	45%
		Beech	75	95	27%
3	Logs  for  sawmilling	Spruce	64	104	64%
		Beech	58	76	31%
		Oak	113	169	50%

 

The above prices are for standing timber in the forest

 

CROATIA: Sawmills have been coping with strong increases of electricity and labor costs over the last 5 years (respectively +30/40% and +100% over the total period). In the auctions of November 19^th from Hrvatske šume doo oak log prices increased up to 230%  and beech prices increased +10-18% from the bid starting price.

For instance :

OAK LOGS quality F / II from 322 € / m3 base arrived at 760 € / m3 (+ 236%)
BEECH LOGS F / II from 80 € / m3 base arrived at 132 € / m3 (+ 165%)

 OAK LOGS quality F / III from 190 € / m3 base arrived at 399 € / m3 (Bauwerk + 210%)
BEECH I / III LOGS from 47 € / m3 base arrived at 65 € / m3 (+ 138%)

Prices for OAK start on average at 400 and reach 800 € / m3 Ex log yard in the forest and future increases are expected; Beech from 47 to 132 € / m3