Low wood prices have not yet manifested in the area of timber construction

Prague - The current low prices of timber in the Czech market have so far only had a limited impact on the construction of wooden houses. Reasons include the existing amount of materials for wooden constructions obtained from imports or the low share of timber prices in the overall costs required for the construction of wooden houses. This was determined by findings from ČTK among experts on wooden structures.
    According to Jiří Pohloudek, the chairman of the Association of Suppliers of Prefabricated Houses, current timber prices have no practical effect on the demand for wooden constructions. "The first half of this year so far shows that no significant changes are occurring," he said. Similarly, Marie Brabcová from the construction company RD Audo described the situation. "One of our suppliers informed us that it's still a stroke of luck that he hasn't raised his prices," she pointed out.
    "Raw wood cannot be used for wooden constructions," said Zdeněk Kaňa from the development company HLC Hodonín, which focuses on the construction of wooden houses. According to him, this limits the impact of low wood prices in this segment of the construction industry. "Those who build wooden structures at a high level have not recorded any significant decline," he added.
    A large portion of the wooden materials intended for prefabricated house construction is imported from abroad. Prepared wooden kits, according to architect Petr Valy from Avanta Systeme, are pushing domestic production out of the market despite the low prices of timber. "If this continues, small producers will go bankrupt," the architect noted.
    The limited impact of low timber prices on construction is also caused by the fact that timber only contributes about 10 to 15 percent to the total costs for wooden constructions, according to Kaňa. "The most expensive is the material that completes the construction," he said.
    Overall, approximately 1,500 wooden constructions were built in the domestic market last year, which is about double compared to 2006. However, wood currently accounts for only about four to five percent of all family houses in the Czech Republic, which is significantly less than, for example, in some Western European countries.
    Among the advantages of wooden constructions, experts highlight mainly the speed of building a house, energy savings, and paradoxically, high fire resistance. Disadvantages can include issues such as mold proliferation if these houses are not properly maintained.
    Currently, timber prices have dropped by as much as 30 percent. According to data from Lesy ČR, there is now an estimated surplus of around one million cubic meters of timber in the Czech market. The oversupply in the timber market has been triggered by the American mortgage and construction crisis and the wind calamities Kyrill and Emma at the beginning of last year and this year.