Czech Republic: Export of logs fall sharply due to bark beetle retreat; sawmills boost processing

For years, the Czech Republic has been the largest exporter of raw wood in the European Union. Last year, however, trucks exported the fewest logs from Czech forests since 2018. The reason was mainly a reduction in logging, which peaked at the height of the bark beetle calamity between 2019 and 2021. However, according to people in the industry, there are also the first signs of a higher domestic demand for wood. Economists have been pointing out for years that the country loses tens of billions of crowns a year through the massive export of unprocessed wood, i.e ...