Press release No. 377 of 25 September 2019
- In nominal terms, the turnover in this branch has grown by one third since 2008
- Many spruces and pines were felled because of environmental damage in 2018, which was a dry year
- Forests also serve to store carbon
WIESBADEN – The turnover of German sawmills (sawing, planing and impregnating wood) has increased by roughly 33% in nominal terms (not price adjusted) in the past ten years. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that it was 6.4 billion euros in 2018 (2008: 4.8 billion euros). In the unusually dry and warm year of 2018, the turnover of this branch rose 8% year on year, exceeding for the first time the 6 billion euro threshold. The branch is dependent on domestic timber, although some of the raw material is imported. The companies have more and more foreign clients. They achieve just under a third of their turnover through exports (2 billion euros). The number of establishments was down from 435 in 2008 to 324 in 2018.
