Availability of wood has stabilized
Timber construction is booming. But because the supply of many building materials from abroad faltered last year, important wood products became scarce and prices rose. In the meantime, there are signs of a lasting calm: the availability and prices of wood have stabilized in recent months. Nothing stands in the way of further growth in the industry.
A major strength of building with wood is the great planning security. High quality and adherence to schedules are motivating more and more builders to implement extensive projects with wood. In 2021, however, price turbulence and long delivery times did not go unnoticed by the material wood.
Market is returning to normal
In the meantime, the warehouses at various retailers are full again. Suppliers can once again serve the Swiss market on schedule. "In Switzerland, the costs for the most common products such as glued laminated timber, construction timber C24 or multi-layer panels have stabilized at a slightly higher level than in the previous year," notes Hansjörg Steiner.
inflation in construction
«The changed material prices have only a minor impact on the total costs in construction. In the case of conversions, which require less material compared to new buildings, the price increase is not significant,” says Hansjörg Steiner. Building has basically become a little more expensive – caused by the price increase of almost all building materials.
Regional use
According to Florian Landolt from Wald Schweiz, the Swiss forestry industry is benefiting from the slightly higher prices, and is now able to cover its costs. The availability of Swiss wood products remains a major challenge. The Swiss timber construction companies are dependent on neighboring countries for 70% of the material. Targeted support for construction projects that use locally harvested wood would create efficient incentives to promote the entire Swiss wood chain and reduce dependency on other countries.
Building with the renewable raw material wood
Wood is the material of choice for energy-efficient and climate-friendly projects. Wood stores CO2 in the biomass – one ton of CO2 per cubic meter of wood used. Building with wood makes a significant contribution to achieving climate goals. In order to make the Swiss real estate park more climate-friendly, promoting timber construction is obvious, both for new buildings and conversions.