Supply of Irish roundwood expected to increase 68% by 2035 – new COFORD study
- Published on: 16 March 2023
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
The annual supply of Irish roundwood is predicted to increase 68% by 2035 according to a new report by the COFORD Council. Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett, today announced the publication of the ‘Wood Supply and Demand on the Island of Ireland to 2030’ study.
Launching the report, Minister Hackett said:
“I’m delighted to see a predicted two-thirds increase in our wood supply by 2035. These trees to be harvested by 2035 have been planted under successive state-funded forestry programmes. I have announced the introduction of the biggest and best-funded programme yet. The new €1.3 billion forestry programme increases annual payments up to 66% and extends them to 20 years for farmers. This is a great opportunity for farmers to supplement their farming enterprise by planting trees while mitigating climate change.”
This report has been compiled by the Wood Mobilisation and Forecasting Group under the direction of the COFORD Council to provide the supply and demand for wood fibre on the island of Ireland over the medium term to 2030.
The Minister said:
“This comprehensive report brings together the best available information from the 2021 All Ireland Roundwood Production Forecast, and demand assumptions based on inputs from the wood processing sector.”
In relation to the findings themselves, the Minister said:
“In 2021, COFORD published the report ‘The All Ireland Roundwood Production Forecast (2021-2040)’ which projects that the annual potential roundwood supply will increase from 4.7 million cubic metres in 2021 to 7.9 million cubic metres by 2035. This report builds on those findings projecting that supply is steadily increasing and the supply-demand position shows a continued shortfall in the supply of roundwood to the sawmilling sector, reaching 0.5 million m3 per annum by 2025.”
Commenting on the use of timber:
“The strong demand for our home grown timber resource offers encouragement to forest owners around the country who will be bringing sawlog to market over the coming decade. An added benefit of this timber production is that when sawlog is converted to boards for structural timber or other wood-based materials, these can store carbon and displace extractive, carbon-intensive materials, thereby helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
In mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, the use of renewable wood for energy has a significant role to play over the coming decades, through displacement of fossil fuels, primarily in the heating sector. It also plays an important role in the vitality of the forest sector through providing a market for first thinnings of forests and final felling residues, with added benefits for forest management and regeneration.
Notes
This report is an updated version of the publication COFORD Supply and Demand on the Island of Ireland to 2025 which was published in 2018.
The Report is available on the COFORD website.