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Italy¡¯s timber federation Fedecomlegno predicts a softwood shortfall
¡¾October 01,2013¡¿


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Italy¡¯s timber federation Fedecomlegno predicts shorter softwood supply and higher prices from the autumn, as European Timber Trade Federation said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.

According to Giampiero Paganoni, president of Fedecomlegno, the key factor behind tightening softwood imports is the raw material crisis facing Italy¡¯s key supplier, the Austrian timber sector. ¡°The main Austrian mils are struggling to find sufficient logs leading to capacity cutbacks and these are having a cascade effect across the wider Austrian timber industry,¡± he said. ¡°The decrease in production of material for glulam beams, for example, has meant less ¡®falling¡¯ material for other users, notably pallet makers.¡±


In addition, said Mr Paganoni, Austrian producers are tending to redirect short availablility supply to North Africa. ¡°Add all this together, and it¡¯s evident in the near future in Italy there will be less timber and it will be increasingly expensive.¡±


Mr Paganoni said Austrian¡¯s log shortage was a hangover from a harsh winter, followed by flooding which hit central Europe in June. ¡°Roundwood removals were significantly affected, to the point that key Austrian mills shutdown throughout August,¡± he said.


Massimo De Bernardi, council member of Italy¡¯s wood packaging and pallet association Assoimballaggi acknowledged that his industry was already hurting. ¡°We have had to absorb a price rise of about Euro 15 per cubic metre since the beginning of the year, and in current market conditions, passing that increase on to our customers is not easy,¡± he said.


He and the rest of the sector were hoping for ¡°clear information on future price quotations¡± from the Austrian mills at Austro-Italian International Wood Day meeting in Portschach.


Fedecomlegno, the Italian national timber association, was founded in 1949 in Rome. Fedecomlegno represents importers, merchants, and agents trading in timber, semi - processed and finished wood products, it has around 100 members, spread across the whole of Italy, and strong dedicated representation in all the regions of the country.

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