Aspects of Wood Market in Central and Eastern

Europe

Leonard Padureanu

Florian Borlea

Sabin Bratu

Ionut Gondos

Poiana Brasov, 24-27 March 2003

Forest sector importance in CEEC

The wood is an important resource in the countries in transition from Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC)

Forest covers a large area in CEEC , varying around 32%

Forest sector contribution to GDP is up to 5%

CEEC forest sector outlook approach

CEEC main wood and wood products market follows the demand and requires of EU economies

CEEC will be involved in EU inlargement in 2004; 2007; 2012

CEEC forest resources will be reffered in the context of EU enlargement

Difficult marketing studies due to poor available data

CEEC forest resources outlook

The forest cover in CEEC varies around 32% of total land area (54,5% in Slovenia and 19,9% in Hungary)

The total forest area of the CEEC countries exceeds 33 million hectares which could be 25% of the EU forest area after enlargement

The growing stock is 26.000 million cm which could be 47% of the EU after enlargement

Forest cover in CEEC

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

%

Countries

Slovenia

Estonia

Latvia

Bosnia Herzegov.

Slovakia

Albania

Czech Republic

Bulgaria

Croatia

Lithuania

Poland

Serbia&Muntenegro

Romania

Hungary

Total removals in 2000 in CEEC, of 120 millions cu.m., which means 32% of EU after enlargement

The annual wood harvest in the CEEC countries is between 60% and 70% of the total increment

The ownership pattern includes over 30% private forests (70% in Slovenia and 17% in Poland)

Expectations for 2000-2010(data delivered by EFSOS)

The forest area available for wood supply could decrease about 400,000 hectares due to: Still bad infrastructure of forest transport Former available forest areas turned into

protected areas in years to come The growing stock per ha will increase by

2.5% The annual wood harvest will increase to

80% of the increment

Forecast of the CEEC economic growth

Economic analysis approach: The base case scenario is chosen, which

means: Steady improvement of the economic policies Efficient absorption of technology Favourable demographic trends

The real convergence theory that means the economic development gap related to the EU countries decreases by an average of 2% annually

Average growth rate of GDP volume in 2000-2010

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

%

Countries

Slovenia

Czech Republic

Hungary

Estonia

Slovakia

Bulgaria

Poland

Romania

Latvia

Croatia

Lithuania

Serbia and Muntenegro

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Average growth rate of GDP per capita in 2000-2010

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

%

Countries

Slovenia

Czech Republic

Hungary

Slovakia

Poland

Estonia

Romania

Croatia

Bulgaria

Serbia and Muntenegro

Lithuania

Latvia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Round wood market in CEEC

Starting 1994, the production of roundwood in CEEC increased steadley

The export of round wood from CEEC increased in 2000 despite the over supply given by windthrow volumes in Western Europe

In 1996-1999, significant exports of roundwood were going from CEEC to the EU/EFTA subregion, corresponding to 8,5% of the global industrial roundwood trade

0100002000030000400005000060000700008000090000

Ths

cm

1994 2001 2005 2010

Year

ProductionConsumptionImportExport

Round wood in CEEC

Fire wood consumption and trade evolution

A considerable part of the CEEC population is still using the fire wood as the main energy source

The consumption is decreasing as other energy sources became available

An important part of the former fire wood is moved to the fibreboard (MDF) and oriented-structure composites (OSD, LSL, etc.) industry

There is not a real decrease of the fire wood production but a move to the industrial use of this assortment

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

Th

s cm

1994 2001 2005 2010Years

Production

Consumption

Import

Export

Firewood in CEEC

Waste management projects in CEEC

Czech Republic Generalized Baseline and Monitoring Method, District Heating

Czech Republic Generalized Baseline and Monitoring Method, Building EE  

Latvia-Liepaja Solid Waste Management Project - a self-sustaining modern waste management system for city and region of Liepaja

02,0004,0006,0008,000

10,00012,00014,00016,00018,00020,000

Th

s cm

1994 2001 2005 2010Years

Production

Consumption

Import

Export

Sawn wood in CEEC

Certified forests in CEEC (ha)

Country FSC PEFC TOTAL

Czech Republic 10.441 1.809.012 1.819.453

Croatia 1.998.480 1.998.480

Estonia 1.063,517 1.063.517

Hungary 188.687 188.687

Latvia 1.685.932 17.323 1.703.255

Lithuania 66.141 66.141

Poland 5.980.181 5.980.181

Romania 31.611 31.611

Slovakia 48.159 48.159

TOTAL 11.073.149 1.826.335 12.899.484

Main challenges

The low level of domestic consumption Economic reasons Cultural reasons Mentality:quality wood products are “export

products” Missing market information Inadequate marketing measures Forest restitution/private forestry effects

Necessary measures

Wood promotion campaign Wood industry strategies to

develop a domestic market New markets:

Wood energy Wood houses

EU influences on CEEC

Market effects: Demand for forest products

standardization Forest certification extension More competitive forest

products on the market

CEEC influences on EU

Increasing flows of forest products from CEEC to EU

Possible price changes on EU wood market

The potential to supply all the domestic deficit of EU with the forest products coming from CEEC

The sustainable development of the wood market in the CEEC on long term should be considered only connected to the EU market evolution

&

a wise promotion strategy of the sound use of wood.