Through its member federations and associated members, EOS represents sawmills in 14 countries across Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland) manufacturing sawn boards, timber frames, glulam, decking, flooring, joinery, fencing and several other wood products.

Together they represent around 80% of the total European sawn wood output in a sector that includes around 32,500 companies across Europe with a turnover of around 50 billion EUR. The sector employs about 230,000 people in the EU.

Sawn Softwood

Sawn softwood production in the member countries of EOS plus the UK peaked in 2021. Starting from H2 2022 markets turned south and the last few years were difficult overall for all countries across Europe. Sales prices of sawnwood have generally declined so, while production has shrunk by around 10% across the EOS members, the decline in turnover has been more sizable. Overseas the situation was equally difficult with subdued exports in the main export markets.

Sawmills’ profitability has been dented by persistently high energy prices, in many instances high raw material prices and increasing personnel costs. Many countries have emphasized a disconnect between sawnwood prices and high raw material prices.  The supply of logs at affordable prices will be an issue which will dominate the markets in coming years.

The question mark is whether production has bottomed out but with the war in Iran uncertainty is once again at a very high level. In 2025, capacity has increased in some countries including Austria and Finland, while in Germany and in Sweden capacity has gone down.

With a projected production of 20.3 million m3 in 2025 (-9% vs 2024) Germany remains the largest sawn softwood producer within the EOS community. Sweden ranks second with about 17.89 million m3 (same level as 2024). Finland remains the third largest producer with 11.7 million m3 (+7% vs 2024), ahead of Austria with 9.4 million m3 (-1.9% vs 2024). France remains the fifth largest producer with 6.5 million m3 (+3.2% vs 2024).

Sawn softwood production volumes in the EOS member countries 2016-2026 (1,000 m³)

Sawn Hardwood

Production in the sawn hardwood sector seems to have finally bottomed out after a few difficult year.  Overall, at Member countries of EOS expect a stable production with the leading country France stable at around 1.1 million m3 and Germany bottoming out in 2024. Production in Germany was projected to have increased by 4% in 2025.

At the same time raw material availability remains challenging and while production’s decline may have stalled, Members still signal difficult market conditions (see section below about hardwood consumption for more information).

Many hardwood companies rely on foreign trade and are negatively affected by the geopolitical situation and the tense trade relations across the globe.

Finally, it is worth noticing that some EOS Members have reported a capacity decrease in the hardwood sector for 2025-2026.

Sawn hardwood production volumes in the EOS member countries 2016-2026 (1,000 m³)