German Machinery Builder Slashes 129 Jobs as Wood Industry Faces Triple Squeeze

The Holzmaschinenbauer Siempelkamp is eliminating nearly half the workforce at its Zweibrücken site. Of the 282 jobs there, 129 will disappear — the company plans to halt all in-house manufacturing at the Bubenhausen plant and focus solely on spare parts. Months of short-time work preceded the decision, which the firm blames on a prolonged global market slump and intensifying competition from China.

The cuts, announced on 3 June 2026, coincide with a crisis meeting convened on the same day by the German Wood and Forest Council (DHWR) in Düsseldorf. Delegates met with Mona Neubaur, North Rhine-Westphalia’s economy minister, and Ina Scharrenbach, the state’s construction minister. Industry leaders demanded competitive energy prices and fair trading conditions in the online furniture market. They also pushed for better regulations in timber construction and sustainable raw-material use. Both ministers acknowledged wood’s strategic role in climate protection and housing, but stressed that domestic producers need workable economic conditions first.

Why the urgency? Raw-material prices are tumbling. In May 2025, spruce and pine log prices fell unexpectedly by seven to ten euros per cubic metre. Spruce timber of strength class 2a BC recently traded at 123 to 125 euros per cubic metre — down from a record high above 130 euros in March 2025. Analysts attribute the slide to well-stocked sawmills and weaker demand. Geopolitical tensions, notably the conflict with Iran, have also disrupted some wood exports.

Longer-term data from Lower Saxony, released on 4 June 2026, paints a mixed picture. The 2025 harvest reached 3.6 million cubic metres, a 9.2 percent increase over the previous year. Coniferous wood accounted for 73.3 percent of that volume. Yet the figure remains 25.2 percent below the average for the 2019–2024 period. On the positive side, the share of damaged wood fell sharply to just 15 percent — roughly 546,400 cubic metres.

The wood industry’s troubles are not isolated. During the first week of June 2026, labour disputes flared across several key sectors. The ver.di union called nationwide strikes in retail, wholesale, and foreign trade for 4 and 5 June, demanding a seven percent wage increase — at least 225 euros extra per month. In the chemical industry, the seventh round of negotiations on 2 June collapsed after 14 hours, prompting unions to warn of walkouts involving 50,000 employees. At the Mahle auto-parts plant in Neustadt an der Donau, IG Metall members approved a social tariff agreement that sets closure for the first quarter of 2027, with severance payments of up to 250,000 euros and a transfer company.

For the wood sector, the question now is whether political promises of relief will translate into action — before more jobs follow Siempelkamp’s lead.

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