Already at the beginning of the year, softwood log exports reached 750,000 m³ and were thus well above the 500,000 m³ recorded in January 2019. The absence of the usual seasonal drop in winter could be the result of the removal from forests of considerable volumes of beetle-damaged wood which were harvested in autumn. The lockdown in March brought volumes down to last year’s level for only a short while. Already in April, volumes picked up again, reaching nearly 750,000 m³. In total, Germany exported 6.73 million m³ in the first eight months of 2020. In the same period of 2019, exports were at 4.36 million m³.
Nearly half of overall softwood log exports arrived in China. The volume soared by 109.6% from 1.67 million m³ in 2019 to 3.51 million m³ this year. Germany was also able to ship more softwood logs to all other markets. With a 24.1% increase from 1.08 million m³ to 1.34 million m³, Austria is a relevant market in terms of volume, and so is Belgium where sales grew by 14% from 596,000 m³ to 679,000 m³. With average volumes between 100,000 m³ and 150,000 m³, 28.8% more softwood logs were exported to Sweden and 10% more to the Czech Republic. Luxembourg increased its softwood log purchases by 167.2% from less than 50,000 m³ in 2019. Exports to South Korea and the Netherlands rose by 64.7% and 40.6%, respectively, bringing the total to well above the 100,000 m³ mark in both countries.
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