In the table below, you can find a list of at least 50 new construction or bigger renovation projects which will be carried out in Europe or by Central European companies within 24 months. A good dozen other projects are known to the editorial team, but cannot be announced yet.
A lot of potential for fiber insulation boards
Insulation made from renewable raw materials is said to only have a single-digit market share in Germany. This is going to change soon. As many as six new production sites for wood fiber insulation boards will be added by 2022. One of them is newcomer Ziegler Group, which plans to invest € 85 million in order to produce 500,000 m³ a year on two Andritz plants starting in the fourth quarter of 2022. The other companies are already established on the market: Best Wood Schneider (new start in Hermagor), Gutex (€ 100 million investment in Waldshut/DE) and Steico in particular with three new capacity units.
New cross-laminated timber productions are another trend. The 2021 table includes two new productions in the Black Forest. Another two production sites will be added by the Ziegler Group and van Roje in Oberhonnefeld-Gierend/DE. ante-holz will start producing CLT in Berga/DE this year, thereby extending its previous range of products. With the new plant in Leoben, Mayr-Melnhof Holz also wants to increase its production capacity, and the same is true for Best Wood Schneider’s Meßkirch site (DE). These projects and the start-up of Pfeifer Holz in Schlitz/DE add up to another 315,000 m³ a year of cross-laminated timber produced.
Renaissance of glulam in Europe
In the past few years, European glulam demand has seen strong growth. Thanks to this development, European demand is likely to exceed Japanese demand and Europe is likely to become the world’s biggest market. Japan reached its peak in 2008 with annual sales of around 2 million m³. Thanks to the development in Germany, European demand increased considerably compared to the last peak in 2007/2008. Now, at least 300,000 m³ in annual capacity will be added. This does not include two projects: Stora Enso in Ybbs and HS Timber in Kodersdorf. From a technological point of view, two other projects stand out: Binderholz in Jenbach and Cordes Holz in Bremerhaven.
New sawmills to come
In the table, you can find several new constructions and modernizations of sawmills. These are all known. However, in Austria alone, another three new sawmills will probably be built by 2025. These are built by traditional sawmills who want to expand the existing possibilities with the new plants.
Existing chipper/canter lines are being modernized at several sawmills. The most impressive example is Wilburgstetten where the new line will then manage to cut 1.2 million m³ a year.
Increase in pellet production
The expansion and new construction of pellet production plants are also trends which have been continuing for years in Central Europe.
| New constructions, changes, modernizations, projects and unconfirmed projects | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Production site | Type and Capacity | |
| 1 | ante-holz/HBS Berga | Berga/DE | CLT production; planned capacity: 80,000 m³/yr (1st expansion stage); planned start in 2021 |
| 2 | ante-holz/HBS Berga | Berga/DE | connection of solid structural timber in Berga, around 50,000 m³/yr |
| 3 | ante-holz | Somplar/DE | 2021: another four pellet presses, four drying chambers, new finger-jointing with mechanization and packaging automation |
| 4 | ante-holz | Rottleberode/DE | 2022: four more pellet presses, CHP plant, four more drying chambers |
| 5 | Best Wood Schneider | Meßkirch/DE | sawmill, estimated cutting: 350,000 m³/yr; planned CLT production: 100,000 m³/yr, start of production end of 2021 |
| 6 | Best Wood Schneider | Hermagor/AT | wood fiber board production in Hermagor |
| 7 | Binderholz | Hallein/AT | B-Solution in production (production of components for system solutions) |
| 8 | Binderholz | Baruth/DE | drying chambers done, post-sorting in operation, installation of new sawing line in autumn 2021 |
| 9 | Binderholz | St. Georgen | 2nd production line under construction (multi-layer panels) |
| 10 | Binderholz | Oberrot/DE | new sawing line in operation |
| 11 | Binderholz | Enfield/US | new start of the sawmill scheduled for January 2022 |
| 12 | Binderholz | Live Oak/US | shift operation since March 22, 2021 |
| 13 | Binderholz | Polen | new construction of sawmill/CLT plant – postponed until further notice |
| 14 | Blumer Lehmann | Großenlüder/DE | production of elements for modular constructions |
| 15 | Bullinger | Abtsgmünd/DE | new glulam line |
| 16 | Cordes Holz | Bremerhaven/DE | glulam/solid structural timber production, € 50 million investment |
| 17 | Eschelmüller | Rothfarn/AT | another glulam beam plant; planned start in 2021/2022 |
| 18 | GELO Timber | Wunsiedel/DE | sawmill, planned cutting: 350,000 m³/yr, start in February 2021 |
| 19 | Gemson | Rangersdorf | start-up of CNC machine, expansion of company premises; some solid structural timber, mini glulam, € 8 to 10 million |
| 20 | Gutex | Waldshut-Tiengen/DE | € 100 million investment in wood fiber board production |
| 21 | Säge Handlos Summerau | Summerau/AT | sawmill, possible cutting volume: 120,000 m³/yr in one shift |
| 22 | Hasslacher | Malaya Vishera/RU | cutting raised from 200,000 m³/yr to 400,000 m³/yr; additional 50,000 m³ of glued timber products mostly for export to overseas markets |
| 23 | Holzbauwerk Schwarzwald | Seewald-Besenfeld/DE | joint CLT project with 35,000 m³; start in autumn 2022; involved companies: Sägewerk Echtle (Nordrach), Kübler Holzwerk (Haiterbach) and Sägewerk Streit (Hausach) |
| 24 | Holzwerke Ladenburger | Bopfingen/DE | For € 15 million, up to 45,000 m³ of glued products are to be produced from 2022. |
| 25 | Homanit | Losheim am See/DE | Homanit group subsidiary orders complete THDF plant from Dieffenbacher |
| 26 | HS Timber | Kodersdorf/DE | new start of glulam production: start of construction in 2021 |
| 27 | HS Timber | Svisloch/BY | 500,000 m³/yr (pine, spruce) to be cut in the first expansion stage, completion expected in spring 2022 |
| 28 | Kaml & Huber | Mariazell/AT | autumn 2021, start of new larch sawmill, € 8 million investment |
| 29 | Mayr-Melnhof Holz | Leoben/AT | CLT production, max. capacity 140,000 m³/yr; € 130 million investment |
| 30 | Mayr-Melnhof Holz | Leoben/AT | modernization of sawmill for around € 60 million |
| 31 | Mercer | Stendal/DE | sawmill of unknown capacity announced |
| 32 | Pfeifer Holz | Kundl/AT | modernization of sawmill, construction works since 2020 |
| 33 | Pfeifer Holz | Schlitz/DE | CLT production; planned increase in capacity to 100,000 m³/yr from May 2021 |
| 34 | Pfeifer Holz | Imst/AT | expansion of finger-jointing line for glulam production; start-up of new line in February 2021 |
| 35 | Rettenmeier Holding | Wilburgstetten/DE | sawmill, one-shift capacity: 500,000 m³/yr; pellets; planned start of sawing line on April 1 |
| 36 | Rettenmeier Holding | Hirschberg/DE | glulam production; planned capacity: 60,000 m³/yr; planned start in 2021 |
| 37 | Rettenmeier Holding | Ramstein/DE | pellet production; planned capacity: 120,000 t/yr; planned start in 2021 |
| 38 | Ruhdorfer | Straßburg/AT | new solid structural timber production |
| 39 | Schrage-Holz | Olpe/DE | fire in April 2020, sawmill not to be rebuilt, solid structural timber production planned instead, production to be started up at the end of 2021 |
| 40 | Schwarzwald Holzbausysteme (SBS) | Friesenheim/DE | start of CLT production in 2021 |
| 41 | Steico | Feldkirchen bei München/DE | creation of new production capacities for wood fiber insulations boards with over 1.5 million m³/yr |
| 42 | Stora Enso | Ybbs/AT | glulam; possible capacity: 60,000 m³/yr |
| 43 | Stora Enso | Ždírec/CZE | new CLT plant, € 80 million, 120,000 m³/yr |
| 44 | Tschopp | Buttisholz/CH | construction of new sawmill, start-up in 2023 |
| 45 | van Roje | Oberhonnefeld-Gierend/DE | CLT production, start in Q1 2022 |
| 46 | Wibeba Wieselburg | Wieselburg/AT | new log yard started up in Wieselburg in February 2021, negotiation on twelve additional drying chambers and two vapor chambers |
| 47 | Wibeba Hungary | Rönök/HU | block bandsaw sawmill in Hungary; pressing line for laminating solid wood panels with HDF and veneers; start-up in April 2021 |
| 48 | Ziegler Group Global | Bärnau/DE | fiber insulation board plant; 500,000 m³/yr; € 85 million |
| 49 | Ziegler Group Global | Pressath/DE | € 25.5 million investment in new pellet plant; start in Q3 2021 |
| 50 | Ziegler Group Global | Tirschenreuth/DE | two CLT production lines with a capacity of 75,000 m³/yr; one house production line for up to 3,000 houses a year |
