The Nantes event was particularly awaited by companies in the sector as it is now the only event dedicated solely and exclusively to companies that transform solid wood into semi-finished products.
And wood pays off: 637 exhibitors, + 28% of exhibition space, 4 parquet pavilions – panels – carpentry, sawn wood and trade! Fordaq embraced around 400 exhibitors present in Nantes and always present in the online market www.fordaq.com
The elite of processing companies in sawn wood, panels, beams for carpentry, parquet and decking, semi-finished products for furniture and other sectors, exhibited the best processes and woods available for current and future applications.
In fact, the challenges are multiple: the approach of the EUTR / EUDR alternation which is not understood and/or accepted by many, the proposal of cheaper, more available and high-performance alternative wood species, investments in more eco-sustainable production and, finally, increasing contacts to sell.
The wood market is always effervescent and alive but after years of prosperity in the time of Covid it has fallen vertically and inexorably into a worrying stagflation: the costs of raw materials, labor and energy are constantly increasing but the consumer markets they are in decline or in almost total stasis.
PANEL MARKET
The plywood market, present en masse in Nantes with the companies Panguaneta, Bonzano, Invernizzi, Vigolungo, Cima, Compensati Sud, Garnica, Joubert, Allin and many others are favored by a European market that is making a square against foreign imports from China and other competing nations, especially for poplar, but for some producers the supplies of logs are very limited due to the flooding of the forests in recent months, which has left muddy terrain inaccessible throughout central and southern Europe.
Furthermore, the nesting of migratory species is slowing down the clearing of many hectares of land in Italy for ecological reasons.
The German market is still the big absentee on the purchasing planning front, but there are signs that it will lead to inevitable increases in September.
MARKET SAWN AND SEMI-FINISHED HARDWOOD PRODUCTS
At the new XXL pavilion, much appreciated by operators, the elite of the world's producers of temperate and tropical hardwood timber and panels met: Interholco, Rougier, Florian Legno, Lamel wood, Luvisoni, Corà, Barth, Trasam, Cotimber, Ducerf, Tarteret and 200 other exhibitors, mostly French.
The qualified customers who flocked to the XXL pavilion over these 3 days were mostly distributors and importers. Strong lack of interested large industries but top turnout as not seen since before Covid.
The bet of all exhibitors is to find the perfect wood for availability / price / performance more than ever, since many wood species are strongly limited for pests (Ash, Walnut, Cherry) or customs duties / CITES / Certifications (Ipe, Doussie, Okoume , Ipe and other tropical woods widely used in Europe) or lack of forest cutting due to the climate but also, and above all, due to the lack of a high-end market.
In fact, the high quality market, both sliced, sawn and semi-finished products, is paralyzed by logs that are too expensive for sawmills and veneers which do not see a market with strong purchasing power. This elite market is also threatened by petroleum-derived surrogate products such as plastic laminates, HPL, films, WPC, flexyteek & Co are much stronger in marketing, creating a false reputation of eco-friendly alternative products.
Therefore, innovative products were seen such as oak laminates for beams (Florian Legno), Padouk and chestnut laminates from Spain (Siero Lam), super-certified oak and beech panels as from Lamel Legno but also experimental wood species such as Lotofa, Red Grandis, Gmelina , Acacia but also the return of American Western Red Cedar, Bilinga, Kosipo, Beli.
We are seeing a greater focus on certifications and prices rather than quality and technical properties of wood, often venturing new lines of essences that have never been thoroughly tested such as Red Grandis for windows or other applications.
Prices are stable in Oak and Beech, also because availability is limited, decreasing in Ash, Walnut and US wood in general, which do not want to adapt to the new EUDR standards, risking elimination from European catalogues.
WOODEN CARPENTRY MARKET
The Grand Palais pavilion brought together the largest European suppliers of beams, laminates, panels and semi-finished products for wooden construction, especially "MADE IN FRANCE".
The initiative presented by BatiJournal to present a competition for start-ups, Woodtech Startup Challenge, with the aim of finding solutions for a more durable and effective industry has met with great success.
As in the rest of Europe, French carpentry companies, such as Piveteaubois, Groupe Deschaumes, FCB Charpente face the future with the "Bois de France" brands to enhance their forestry heritage of Oak, Douglas fir, Pine, Larch and Fir, the industrial upcycling and, above all, training with the Wood Trade Academy, a true European unicum.
Also always in the foreground are ecological planning, impregnated woods, fireproof solutions and multi-storey buildings with the greatest participation of architects and designers.
We remind you that the French Bouygues construction group, leader in construction with a 30% annual turnover growth, was present with a strong dedication to wood construction.
