Fewer logs in the woodpile

The Austrian chipboard, MDF and fibreboard industry increased its sales last year by around three per cent to € 882 mio. Modest growth is also expected for 2006, but Laszlo Döry, a spokesman for the Austrian chipboard and fibreboard industry, which is part of the Association of the Austrian Wood Industries, refers in a press release to the raw material difficulties currently facing the industry. He is quoted as saying “However improbable it may sound for a country rich in trees like Austria, we are experiencing major timber supply problems at present.” The demand for wood had grown in connection with new legislation on green electricity, and more and more large-scale consumers would consider switching to energy production using wood on account of the Kyoto Agreement and CO2-neutral wood-burning.