Snippet of the map of German sawmills © Holzkurier

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Sawmills with a further increase in cutting in 2021

Article by Martina Nöstler (translated by Eva Guzely) | 09.03.2022 - 12:14

Last year, Germany’s biggest sawmills increased cutting again. This upward trend is likely to continue in 2022, as the companies’ target figures indicate. However, the big question will be which repercussions the current war between Russia and Ukraine will have on the Central European sawmill industry.

The Holzkurier carried out its annual survey among German softwood sawmills which cut 50,000 m³ of logs a year or more and found that sawmills again raised their cutting volume compared to 2020. Two years ago, cutting had totaled 30.89 million m³. The companies, which published their figures, reported a volume of 32.76 million m³ for 2021. This corresponds to a 6% increase, as the Holzkurier survey shows.

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Cutting of softwood sawmills in Germany (50,000 m³/year or more) in million m³; chart only takes reported quantities into consideration German sawmills have gradually increased cutting since 2014 and for several years, they have been cutting at full capacity. The target figures for 2022 indicate another year-on-year increase. © Holzkurier

The additional cutting volume is the result of strong global demand for lumber and derived wood products, such as CLT, solid structural timber (KVH) and glulam. Furthermore, global lumber prices soared to unprecedented levels last year. A similar trend is expected for 2022. The availability of log wood, increased by huge volumes of wood damaged by storms and bark beetles in Central Europe, also contributed to rising prices. It remains to be seen how the log supply situation will develop this year. The storms which hit Europe at the beginning of the year uprooted and damaged 4.8 million m³ of trees in Germany.

Most sawmills either cut constant volumes of log wood or even increased cutting compared to 2020. When you add the companies, which did not provide any information, cutting totaled at least 35.73 million m³ in Germany according to the Holzkurier’s estimate. This is an increase of well over 2 million m³ on 2020. In 2019, the companies had reported a cutting volume of almost 29.8 million m³.

2.2 million m³ at one production site

The biggest single production site was once again Ziegler Holzindustrie in Plößberg. In 2021, 2.2 million m³ were cut at this sawmill. Ilim Nordic Timber in Wismar remained the second biggest sawmill with 1.9 million m³ and is followed by Mercer Timber Products in Saalburg-Ebersdorf with 1.35 million m³.

Binderholz still holds the title of Germany’s biggest sawmill group with its four sawmills in Kösching, Baruth, Wolfegg and Oberrot and an overall cutting volume of 3.47 million m³ in 2021. Ilim reported 3 million m³ for the two sawmills in Wismar and Landsberg. Based on the reported volumes, ante-holz rose to third place, meaning that Pfeifer Holz Group lost one place in the ranking. At ante-holz’s sawmills in Bromskirchen-Somplar and Rottleberode cutting amounted to 2.6 million m³ in 2021. From 2022, the newly added Rötenbach site will increase the group’s cutting volume by another 250,000 m³. Pfeifer Holz achieved a total of 2.41 million m³ in Lauterbach, Uelzen and Unterbernbach last year. The Rettenmeier group completes the Top 5 sawmill groups in Germany with 2.4 million m³. Overall, these five groups cut almost 13.9 million m³ of log wood.

15 sawmills with 1 million m³ or more

Last year, 15 sawmills recorded a cutting volume of 1 million m³ or more. This brings the total of these sawmills to 18.97 million m³ and thus to 57.9% of the overall reported volume (32.76 million m³).

Continued upward trend in 2022

The target figures for 2022 predict a cutting volume of around 33.9 million m³. Including the companies whose volumes were estimated by the Holzkurier, German sawmills could cut a total of 36.5 million m³ of log wood this year.

In 2022, almost all German sawmills plan to keep cutting stable or increase it compared to last year – most of all ante-holz. Including the new Rötenbach site, the company wants to raise cutting by 550,000 m³ this year.

Note: We would like to thank everyone who participated in this survey. Since 2006, the Holzkurier has been conducting surveys on cutting volumes of German softwood sawmills with an annual cutting of 50,000 m³ or more. Should you notice that a company is still not part of our ranking, we would be happy to hear from you: m.noestler@holzkurier.com

In our shop, you can order the latest map (2022 edition) of the softwood sawmills in Germany and Austria.

Sawmill industry Germany | 2021/target 2022
Company	Location	Cutting 2020 (1,000 m³)	Cutting 2021 (1,000 m³)	Target cutting 2022 (1,000 m³)	Staff	Processing (m³/year)	Drying (m³)
Softwood sawmills with an annual cutting volume of 50,000 m³ or more in Germany
ante-holz	Bromskirchen-Somplar	1,100	1,400	1,600	n/s	solid structural timber, glulam, CLT, planed timber; spruce, pine, Douglas fir, larch; joining, “House and garden”, pellets	700,000
ante-holz	Rottleberode	1,000	1,200	1,300	n/s	solid structural timber, glulam, planed timber; spruce, pine, larch, Douglas fir; “House and garden”, pellets	600,000
ante-holz	Rötenbach	––	n/s	250	n/s	––	40,000
Aurnhammer	Ellwangen	90	90	90	43	48,000	30,000
Holzwerk Baumann	Wangen	140	140	150	50	wood packaging: 10,000, planed timber: 20,000	30,000
Holzwerk Baur	Wain	220	240	240	85	solid structural timber: 60,000, finger-jointed until 14 m	100,000
Josef Baust Holzbetrieb	Eslohe	55	55	55	25	garden wood, pellets	15,000
Beckmann Holzwerk	Eslohe	90	90	90	30	solid structural timber	30,000
Bentheimer Holz	Bad Bentheim	142	160	150	48	––	––
Best Wood Schneider (1)	Eberhardzell	125	145	130	450	solid structural timber /glulam/ceiling elements/CLT: 250,000	150,000
Best Wood Schneider (1)	Meßkirch	––	––	120	450		150,000
Bien-Holz	Lauterbach	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	––	––
Bien-Holz	Uelzen	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	––	––
Binderholz	Kösching	1,030	1,005	1,020	n/s	368,000	488,000
Binderholz	Baruth	1,300	1,268	1,300	548,000	628,000
Binderholz	Oberrot	860	948	1,000	496,000	523,000
Binderholz	Wolfegg	250	248	250	85,000	125,000
Braun Holzwerk	Ühlingen-Birkendorf	80	95	100	n/s	n/s	n/s
Heinrich Bulthaup	Melle	100	100	92	19	n/s	12,500
Sägewerk Bürk	Seebach	50	50	50	18	Douglas fir: 15,000; packaging: 5,000	15,000
Eugen Decker	Morbach	250	250	250	160	solid structural timber /Duo/glulam: 100,000	n/s
Karl Decker	Hochscheid	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Dickel-Holz	Schmallenberg	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Dölker Holzwerk	Horb	140	140	140	47	n/s	15,000
Dold Holzwerke	Buchenbach	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Egger Sägewerk Brilon (2)	Brilon	1,097	1,170	n/s	242	540,000	540,000
Gebrüder Eigelshoven	Würselen	215	230	225	75	planed timber: 40,000, joining: 60,000 m/12,500 m³, impregnation	55,000
Elka-Holzwerke	Morbach	260	275	300	200	chipboards, esb engineered timber and natural wood panels	60,000
Franz Fabri	Meschede-Grevenstein	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Finkbeiner	Triberg	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Ernst Fisch	Rüthen	215	240	260	100	planed timber: 45,000	80,000
GELO Holzwerke	Weißenstadt	250	250	250	110	solid structural timber/solid structural timber according to list (spruce/Douglas fir): 70,000; planed timber (spruce/pine/Douglas fir/larch/Siberian larch): 60,000; joining/joinery planning; Zarelo lighter; IPPC treatment	100,000
GELO Timber	Wunsiedel	––	300	350	28	IPPC treatment	180,000
Sägewerk Hagenah	Bülkau	85	90	90	65	planed timber: 15,000	12,000
Heinrich Harling	Bergen-Eversen	80	90	90	63	planed timber: 15,000, solid timber MH-Fix/Plus, KDI, boiler pressure impregnation, packaging, joining	23,000
Holzindustrie Hassel	Stockum-Püschen	110	110	110	23	45,000	45,000
Hermes Holz	Stadtkyll	250	250	250	45	planed timber: 50,000	50,000
HILO	Losheim (Eifel)	200	200	200	43	50,000	40,000
Hirschbach	Sulzbach-Laufen	195	202	210	75	2,000	70,000
HIT Holz	Torgau	1,150	1,100	1,100	730	610,000	610,000
HMS-Holz-Gruppe	Hagenow	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
HMS-Holz-Gruppe	Kleinwallstadt	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Heinrich Holtmeyer & Sohn	Ottersberg	105	135	140	50	planed timber: 25,000, pellets: 35,000 t	30,000
Gebrüder Hosenfeld	Hosenfeld	120	120	130	50	planed timber, specializes in larch/Douglas fir/pine (redwood), pellets	n/s
HS Timber Productions	Kodersdorf	1,000	1,000	1,000	380	430,000	600,000
Hüster	Warstein	180	180	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
I.B.H. Sägewerk (3)	Harperscheid	290	300	300	50	––	––
Ilim Timber Bavaria (ITB) (4)	Landsberg am Lech	1,100	1,100	1,100	600	n/s	n/s
Ilim Nordic Timber (INT) (4)	Wismar	1,900	1,900	1,900	350	n/s	n/s
Hermann Keller	Achern	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Keller Holz	Lichtenau-Scherzheim	120	130	135	45	1,000	3,000
Johann Kirchhoff (Joki)	Finnentrop	165	170	170	54	46,000	45,000
Kolb Sägewerk	Ruppertshofen	60	60	60	20	n/s	35,000
Aloysius Krenzer	Poppenhausen-Abtsroda	60	60	60	n/s	n/s	n/s
Aloysius Krenzer	Biebergemünd	180	190	190	n/s	n/s	n/s
Aloysius Krenzer	Dorndorf	200	190	190	n/s	n/s	n/s
Künzel-Holz	Issigau	170	165	165	50	n/s	60,000
Holzwerke Ladenburger (5)	Kerkingen	1,000	1,000	1,000	750	n/s	n/s
Mercer Timber Products	Saalburg-Ebersdorf	1,350	1,380	1,480	380	450,000	800,000
Holz Otto	Waldkappel	100	100	100	45	solid structural timber, glued timber, joining: 25,000	50,000
Pauls Holz Zingsheim (6)	Zingsheim	110	130	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Pfeifer Holz	Lauterbach	1,050	1,080	1,100	230	n/s	650,000
Pfeifer Holz	Uelzen	520	500	540	140	n/s
Pfeifer Holz	Unterbernbach	780	830	830	250	n/s
Pfeifle Holz	Seewald-Schorrental	67	69	70	n/s	n/s	n/s
Pieper Holz	Olsberg-Assinghausen	390	450	450	135	garden wood/garden furniture, play structures; 20,000 (spruce/larch/Douglas fir), IPPC, boiler-pressure and dip impregnation, planed timber	120,000
Sägewerk Poschenrieder	Grünenbach	58	65	70	30	13,000	30,000
Holz Centrum Regensburg	Wenzenbach-Gonnersdorf	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Rettenmeier Holzindustrie (7)	Ramstein, Wilburgstetten, Hirschberg	1,800	2,400	2,400	870	solid structural timber, glulam; spruce, pine, Douglas fir, larch; pellets	1,400,000
Holzwerke Riedlinger	Singen-Bohlingen	100	100	100	30	5,000	1,000
Robeta Holz	Milmersdorf	300	300	300	160	60,000	60,000
Sägewerk Rothmund	Klettgau	70	70	70	10	n/s	n/s
Holz Ruser	Bornhöved	225	217	220	130	solid structural timber: 60,000; planed timber: 50,000, joining	80,000
Holz Schiller (8)	Regen	115	120	125	250	knot-free glued timber/window scantlings: 38,000; planed timber/prefabricated components: 22,000	52,000
Holzwerk Schilling	Rot an der Rot	210	230	250	75	10,000	40,000
Holz Schmidt	Cölbe-Schönstadt	105	105	105	100	solid structural timber, planed timber: 150,000	90,000
Theodor Schulte	Meschede	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Schwaiger Holzindustrie	Hengersberg	1,225	1,200	1,300	280	planed timber: 360,000; pellets	670,000
Sägewerk Schwarzmühle	Schwarzmühle	90	85	85	20	––	––
Schwörer Haus (9)	Hohenstein-Oberstetten	200	200	200	1,300	solid structural timber, glulam, Duo/Trio/Quattro beams, three-layer panels: 150,000; prefabricated houses	130,000
Karl Streit	Hausach	365	365	365	85	planed timber, battens: 50,000	85,000
SWL Tischlerplatten	Kollerbeck	95	95	95	26	n/s	n/s
Holzwerke Waal (HWW)	Waal	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s	n/s
Holzwerke van Roje	Oberhonnefeld	430	450	400	160	planed timber: 15,000; 10,000 special pallets	165,000
E.A. Vehmeyer	Haselünne	140	145	155	42	––	18,000
Vente-Holz	Finnentrop	135	145	145	75	solid structural timber /Duo/Trio: 70,000	70,000
Holzwerke Weinzierl	Vilshofen	650	650	650	135	n/s	360,000
Josef Ziegler	Plößberg-Stein	250	250	250	80	planed timber: 10,000, solid structural timber: 15,000	50,000
Ziegler Holzindustrie	Plößberg-Betzenmühle	2,200	2,200	2,200	650	planed timber: 500,000	850,000

Source: All figures and information in the table (unless otherwise indicated) have been provided by the companies. The table is not exhaustive. Printing and typesetting errors excepted. 1) number of employees of the entire group; sawmill in Meßkirch will go into operation in mid-2022; 2) Drying and processing volumes refer to capacities; 3) sawmill I.B.V, Vielsalm/BE: cutting 850,000 m³/y; employees: 260 (incl. power plant); pellet plant: 300,000 t/y; drying: 300,000 m³/y; planing plant: 150,000 m³/y; 4) employees incl. temporary employees; 5) number of employees of the entire group; 6) purchasing, sales and administration at the headquarters in St. Vith/BE, cutting in St. Vith: 100,000 m³/y, employees in St. Vith: 30; 7) Drying volume refers to capacity; 8) cutting in CZ: 40,000 m³, processing quantity includes sites in CZ; employees and drying volume of Regen only; 9) number of employees of the entire group | © Holzkurier 2022