After five years of continuous growth, the German wood industry had to cope with a slight decline in sales in the first half of 2019 for the first time.
"From January to June, the sales value was around € 18 billion, down 1.5% on the previous year. Against the background of the perceptible slowdown in economic growth in Germany and the increasing deterioration in the external economic conditions, we are also assuming a negative result for the full 2019 year, "said Jan Kurth, managing director of the Federation of the German Timber Industry (HDH).