Woods and forests cover more than 90,000 hectares in Luxembourg or nearly 35% of the country. Nationally we have approximately 1,500 companies whose business is directly or indirectly related to wood, employing 11,000 people, with more than half of those employees working in the construction sector.
Every year, the total forest produces some 760,000 m3 of wood, of which on average some 500,000 m3 is exploited by man. The Luxembourg forest as a whole is managed in a sustainable manner, meaning that no more wood is taken than is replaced. From an economic point of view, one can compare the harvesting of timber to the interest that is generated by capital, which in this case is represented by the forest itself. In this sustainable system, the capital stays constant and even goes up a little in value.
Once the tree is cut, the wood circulates along an entire chain of players within the wood sector. We can differentiate several industries within this sector:
- Timber harvesting
- Sawmills
- Wood panel industry
- Paper industry
- Wood energy
- Wood furniture
- Wood construction
