More than 4,000 companies have logging operations, the first link of a chain that ends with the wood leaving plants, and they post more than EUR1 billion revenue a year, according to Trade Registry data.
However, wood processing companies make even more money, as their sales amount to almost EUR3 billion a year. The largest company in this particular industry is Austria’s Holzindustrie Schweighofer.
“Our main raw material suppliers are public and private operators. Because of the forest ownership structure in Romania, our largest supplier is RNP (Romsilva i.e.), followed by another more than 1,000 private suppliers,” Holzindustrie Schweighofer representatives said.
The wood buying market is very dynamic so the company gets new suppliers every month and has more than 1,000 suppliers of raw material in all, the company added.
The profitable wood processing companies posted almost EUR200 million net income in 2013.
The logging and wood processing industry in Romania relies on the 6.5 million hectares of forest in the country, which puts it on the 13th place in Europe by forest area.
Although affected by illegal logging, which caused EUR5 billion losses in 1990-2011, according to the former minister of water, forestry and fisheries, the logging and wood processing industry continued to increase.
The starting point of the industry is state-owned Romsilva, which set out to cut 9.6 million cubic meters of wood in 2014, but usually does not reach its targets. There are also private forest owners who sell timber.
Holzindustrie Schweighofer, the largest wood processing business in Romania, which posted EUR470 million revenue from one company last year, is not the only Austrian-held group operating in this industry.
Rival Egger works with more than 500 raw material suppliers and gets about 60% of what it needs from the Romanian market.
“Our company buys low-quality roundwood (pulpwood and firewood), as well as wood waste. Another product category includes decorative paper used in the manufacturing of melamine-faced particleboard and various types of additives,” said Ioan Banciu, country manager of Egger.
Egger’s main wood suppliers are state-owned (Romsilva) and private forest managers, as well as wood processing companies. It also buys wood waste from Holzindustrie Schweighofer near Radauti, NE Romania.
Egger Romania exports more than 60% of its annual production to Southeastern Europe, Middle East, Baltic Countries, Commonwealth of Independent States and Asia (29 countries in all).
Holzindustrie exports about 80% of its production. Its revenue has increased significantly over the years from less than EUR150 million in 2008.
Wood processing companies’ revenue went up by EUR700 million in 2008-2013, according to Trade Registry data.
Holzindustrie officials say they need 2.9 million cubic meters of logs this year, 700,000 cubic meters of which imported from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.
Their import volume in 2014 is double the volume of logs exported by local companies from Romania without any processing whatsoever, 400,000 cubic meters in 2013, according to Eurostat data. Log exports cause a huge loss for Romania because they do not generate any added value for the country, Holzindustrie officials added.
Romania’s wood processing plants are concentrated in countries like Suceava (four facilities), Alba (two facilities), Brasov (two facilities), with another, smaller facility, located in Bucharest, according to the data centralized by ZF.
If Holzindustrie completes its new investment, the newest such facility will operate in Covasna.
The wood processing industry provides the raw material the furniture industry needs, but has given rise to a lot of criticism lately. Furniture manufacturers say they are getting less and less material for their products and its quality is lower, too, so they are losing competitiveness abroad. They propose to have export of wood products allowed only after demand on the domestic market has been met.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)