Timber Exchange Trade Overview – March of 2021

• In March, similarly to the first quarter of the year, the amount of sold timber remained low. Historically, with a few exceptions, the first quarter of the year is always considered the least active.
• The value of the Timber Price Index did not rise for the first time in 12 months and a 1% decrease in price was recorded.
• 57 auctions were announced by 21 regional units, of which 49 took place. There were 112 buyers participating in the auction, of which 90 have entered into contracts. The activity of potential buyers who participated in the auctions but did not conclude any contracts remains very high – compared to actually concluded contracts, they showed interested in buying an average of 178 scm of timber. Such high activity was last recorded only in 2015.
• 25,689 scm of timber has been put up for sale, which is virtually an identical amount to that in February. One third of the sold timber assortments consisted of sawn logs (10,582 scm). The ratio of sawn logs offered for sale to sawn logs purchased was 65%, which corresponds to the 12-month average.
• The weighted price of sawn logs (B/C) reached a record level of 87 EUR/scm. Compared to the midsummer of 2017, when the price of the said assortment reached its lowest point, the current price of this assortment has increased by more than 90%. The situation in the assortment of packing logs is similar with a record price level of 52.78 EUR/scm, which is 80% higher than in October 2019, when the price dropped.
• The price of pulpwood assortment decreased by 13% to 32 EUR/scm after a price jump of 50% recorded in February, however the rising prices of other timber assortments may affect the price of pulpwood, which may also increase.

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