Forestry products
Wood is the most widely available renewable raw material in Bavaria. Wood is a source of energy, and is a material used in construction and in many other applications. The state of Bavaria’s forestry industry is as diverse as the material upon which it is based. Wood is widely used in the state in apartment houses, commercial buildings and bridges. A number of headline-making projects—including the roof created by a Bavarian wood engineering company and gracing a major building at Hanover’s World Fair—have shown what wood is capable of.
Bavaria’s forestry industry in number one in Germany and one of the most important in Europe. Thanks to the purposeful implementation of policies designed to produce a sustainable supply of wood by harvesting in accordance with the needs of the forests, Bavaria has one third of Germany’s reserves of wood (as measured in solid cubic meters).
The growth of many other forestry industries in Europe (Scandinavia and Austria) is being hampered by limited reserves of wood. Bavaria is not facing this problem. Its reserves are immense. These, in turn, yield the potential for Europe-largest, sustainability-assuring growth.
The industry’s annual sales amount to more than €25 billion, one of the largest figures in the manufacturing sector. Add in the companies selling wood-based products, and the figure rises to €30 billion. The industry employs 200,000 people.
The components of Bavaria’s forestry industry are a large and diverse number of high-performance companies processing wood, producing wood-based products, and turning both of these into buildings and other structures. Found throughout the state, Bavaria’s sawmills range from small-scale and locally-based operations to high technology, internationally-active wood processing plants. This array guarantees an immediately-available and statewide supply of lumber. Bavaria’s wood processing companies are known throughout the world for their large trove of knowhow. Their range of production is as extensive as that of the industry itself, including everything from parquet floors (an area in which a Bavarian company is Europe’s leader) and kitchen and upholstered furniture, to wood-based materials, palettes and houses.
The successes registered by Bavaria’s forestry industry are attributable to the exceptionally good operating conditions prevailing in the state. Easily accessible and commercial-use forests are found throughout the state. This enables the low transport cost, all year-round harvesting of wood. This is then brought to one of the many near-by processing facilities. Via Bavaria’s high-capacity, high-speed rail, road and water grids, the finished products are then brought to major metropolises of consumption in both Germany and abroad.
Held on a biennial basis in Rosenheim by Bayern Innovativ GmbH and Bavaria’s forestry products cluster, the “Innovations from Wood” symposium presents the newest innovations in the field. In addition to fostering technological development, the symposium also serves as the venue for trade matchmaking and cross-disciplinary transfers of technology.
The state government of Bavaria provides support to the wood cultivation (due to its being a renewal and domestic source of energy and of raw materials used in construction and manufacturing), harvesting and production industries.
- Bavaria’ state forests are managed by a dedicated and business results-oriented state corporation.
- As it views such policies as being the best way to guarantee the sustainable and efficient utilization of forests, the state government is committed to fostering the private ownership of woods, and to entrusting their owners (with these including communities and other local bodies) with their management.
- The use of wood as a prime building material is fostered by a variety of state projects and by construction codes promoting innovation.
- Grants are provided to research into applications of wood.
Access to source of finance
Bavaria is Germany’s center of venture capital. Among the many providers of capital headquartered in the state is trendsetter Bayern Kapital GmbH. Funds provided by private investors are matched on an up to 1:3 basis by Bayern Kapital and by TBG Technologie-Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft.
