MATERIAL PRICES
Wood Price Today: Price, Trends and Forecast 2026 | Tacto
09.11.2026
Current wood price based on the HPE index for solid wood for wooden packaging (October value 107.71 points, published on 21 October; the November value is due around 19 November). Trend analysis of the stagnating index, further easing roundwood prices, sawmills taking in less wood due to weak construction, the lower gas price and the EUDR from 30 December. Scenarios and procurement recommendations for European industrial buyers.
METHODOLOGY
The HPE solid wood index for wood packaging tracks the purchase prices of softwood sortiments used by the wood packaging, pallet and export packaging industry across DACH. The index is published monthly by HPE in cooperation with the University of Bonn. It includes domestic and imported wood. Real procurement costs additionally include grading, construction, drying energy, ISPM 15 treatment and logistics, none of which are inside the index itself.
AT A GLANCE
- The HPE index for solid wood for wooden packaging remains at 107.71 points (October, HPE, 21 October); the November value is due around 19 November. Since June the index has moved by less than one point.
- Roundwood prices keep easing: on 4 November WBV Fürstenfeldbruck quoted 112 to 115 EUR/m³ net for fresh spruce BC 2b+ until the end of December, after 115 to 123 EUR/m³ at other Bavarian WBV in October. Sawmills are taking in less wood due to weak construction.
- Energy is providing relief again: TTF fell from 103.94 to 85.59 EUR/MWh between 30 October and 6 November. A surcharge citing drying costs therefore loses its basis.
- On the Rhine the Kaub gauge stood at 5 to 11 cm on the morning of 8 November (WSV). For wood and wood-based panels shipped by inland waterway, freight surcharges remain justified.
Contents
What is driving the price right now?
The roundwood base keeps easing, and sawmills are holding back. On 4 November WBV Fürstenfeldbruck quoted 112 to 115 EUR/m³ net for fresh spruce BC 2b+ until the end of December and expects prices to ease slightly further in the fourth quarter. Weak construction is dampening sawmill sentiment; they are taking in less wood so as not to fill their sawn-timber stocks further. Beetle wood volumes are around last year's level (WBV Fürstenfeldbruck, 4 November). In October WBV Mitterfels had quoted 123 EUR/m³, Landshut 120 EUR/m³ and Weilheim 115 EUR/m³ for the fourth quarter.
The index does not show this yet. The HPE index for solid wood for wooden packaging stood at 107.71 points in October, up 0.1 percent on the month; since June it has moved within a range of less than one point (HPE, 21 October). Solid wood for pallets stands at 110.15 points, OSB for packaging fell to 104.55 points, plywood rose slightly to 109.61 points. Because roundwood prices reach sawn timber with a delay, the November index around 19 November is the next checkpoint.
Supply outside Germany is also restrained. Finland expects sawn softwood output to be around 3 percent lower in 2026 at 11.1 million m³ (EUWID, 6 November). Larger import volumes from Northern Europe that could put pressure on the Central European market are therefore not to be expected.
On costs the picture has turned. TTF fell from 103.94 to 85.59 EUR/MWh between 30 October and 6 November after Iran signalled readiness for peace talks. Drying and heat treatment under ISPM 15 are becoming cheaper again, but remain well above the previous year. On the Rhine the Kaub gauge had daily means between 15 and 22 cm from 2 to 7 November and stood at 5 to 11 cm on the morning of 8 November (WSV). From 30 December 2026 the EUDR applies to large and medium-sized companies, from 30 June 2027 to small and micro enterprises.
What we are watching: the HPE index for November, roundwood prices for the first quarter of 2027, the gas price and how suppliers pass on the costs of EUDR due diligence.
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What does this mean for procurement in Europe?
Reject surcharges justified by the wood base. The HPE index has moved less than one point since June, and fourth-quarter roundwood prices are below the summer. A supplier asking for more in the first quarter of 2027 must show which cost block has risen. Ask at least for stable prices and a review once the index reflects the lower roundwood base.
Separate wood, energy and logistics. Wood is flat, and energy has also fallen again with the gas price in early November. Have surcharges shown separately: wood base per HPE index, drying and heat treatment per an energy index, logistics with evidence. That way you pay energy and freight costs only where they arise and benefit from the decline in gas.
Negotiate by material. OSB is falling in the index, plywood is only rising slightly, solid wood is flat. A price cut is justified for OSB volumes, a price freeze at the current level for plywood. The generic term wood does not help in negotiations.
Prepare for the EUDR now. From 30 December the due diligence obligations apply to large and medium-sized companies. Check with suppliers of wood, pallets and wood-based panels which due diligence statements and geolocation data they will deliver and by when, and agree who bears the effort. An EUDR surcharge should appear as a separate line with a traceable calculation, not hidden in the wood price.
Link framework contracts for packaging and pallets to the index. A price adjustment clause based on the HPE index for the relevant material, with quarterly adjustment and symmetrical effect, ensures you benefit from the lower roundwood base once it shows up in the index. Without a clause, prices tend to stay at the old level for longer.
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Wood Price Forecast: Our Procurement Intelligence Team's Assessment
Base Scenario
Within this range over the next four to six weeks. (1) The index has moved between 107.08 and 107.71 points since June, (2) fourth-quarter roundwood prices of 112 to 123 EUR/m³ are below summer and still easing slightly, (3) sawmills are taking in less wood due to weak construction, which caps the upside, (4) energy costs for drying and heat treatment have fallen with the gas price but remain well above the previous year.
Risk Scenario
Within this range if several triggers coincide over the next three months. (1) The gas price rises above 100 EUR/MWh again after a failure of the Gulf talks and feeds into drying and heat treatment, (2) the EUDR transition on 30 December briefly tightens volumes with complete documentation, (3) Rhine logistics stay restricted with gauge levels around 10 cm. The lower roundwood prices would then not offset these effects. Probability around 20 percent over the next three months.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Because the HPE measures the purchase prices of the wood packaging, pallet and export packaging industry across Central Europe and therefore sits much closer to industrial procurement reality than general construction lumber or consumer price logics. For a European wood price page it is the clearly more usable anchor; US benchmarks such as framing lumber composites are reported only as comparative context, if at all.
When the supplier bases it on the wood group actually relevant to your parts and discloses how material, grading, construction, drying energy and logistics combine. With roundwood contracts firm and gas-driven drying costs rising, a credible surcharge separates the wood share from the energy share. Less plausible are blanket wood surcharges across all packaging or wood products.
In the HPE picture for October, plywood for packaging remains the grade with the strongest rise: 109.61 points, up 3.4 percent over three months, but only up 0.4 percent in October after 2.9 and 2.8 percent in July and August. Solid wood for wooden packaging is almost flat at 107.71 points, and OSB is falling for the third month in a row, down 0.9 percent to 104.55 points in October, with the annual rate down to 5.2 percent (HPE, 21 October). This differentiation should feed into your negotiation: a price cut is justified for OSB, a price freeze for plywood, and there is no reason to hurry for any material.
Because the relevant wood materials do not move in the same way. In October 2026 the HPE index stands at 107.71 points for solid wood for wooden packaging, up 0.1 percent on the month and 10.6 percent on the year. Plywood for packaging stands at 109.61 points and is still rising slightly, while OSB falls to 104.55 points (HPE, 21 October). Upstream spruce roundwood is easing: for the fourth quarter WBV Mitterfels quotes 123 EUR/m³, WBV Landshut 120 EUR/m³, WBV Weilheim 115 EUR/m³ and WBV Fürstenfeldbruck 112 to 115 EUR/m³ on 4 November. For your procurement the specific material therefore matters more than the generic word wood.
