Oil and gas prices are going up, so many consumers are looking for alternatives. Sales of firewood are booming - at least that's how the large forestry business of the house Fürstenberg sees it.
Donaueschingen (dpa/lsw) - Due to rising energy prices, firewood is doing particularly well at the large forestry business of the Fürstenberg noble family. "We are experiencing a real firewood boom," said the head of the Fürstenberg forestry operation, Jens Borchers, of the German Press Agency in Donaueschingen.
The firewood price has doubled within a quarter of a year. Customers are therefore supplied directly, but dealers are also involved. Borchers said he wasn't worried about the ability to deliver, because the forest had "huge potential".
With an area of 180 square kilometers (18,000 hectares), Haus zu Fürstenberg claims to be Germany's second largest private forest owner - and the largest in Baden-Württemberg. Around two thirds of the areas are in the Black Forest. The Thurn and Taxis family has even more forest.
With a view to the supply bottlenecks that companies have often complained about, Borchers said that from his point of view there was no shortage of wood. "The reason for delivery delays were logistical problems related to the Covid crisis."
Dealers currently have full warehouses with lumber. The destocking combined with the uncertain economic situation is causing an extreme slump in demand among retailers, said Borchers. Since domestic demand is weakening, the forestry company is exporting to China. "It's spruce that has been infested with the bark beetle. The logs are stored in containers that would otherwise be returned empty to China. Customers in China have discovered that spruce from Europe is much more suitable for them than pine from New Zealand ", Borchers summed up. Round wood usually refers to raw wood with a round cross-section.
