On 13 September 2022, Franz Fayot, economy minister, and Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation, presented the e-Holzhaff platform that aims to optimise the value chain of the wood sector.
Available in German and French, the tool supports actors in the timber sector of the Greater Region. On the e-Holzhaff website, users can consult and publish ads or request various wood types as well as services such as transportation, sawing, drying and others.
Launched by the Luxembourg Wood Cluster of Luxinnovation and the Ministry of the Economy, the tool was designed in close collaboration with and at the request of public and private players in the field.
“We relied on a group of experts within the Cluster Advisory Group, made up of
representatives of key companies in the sector, public research and ministries,” explains Sasha Baillie. “There are no other comparable digital marketplaces in the Greater Region that target both suppliers and consumers of wood,” she adds.
The focus is on the first processing stage, i.e. the supply of round wood to the wood processing industry, which then uses it for building timber. The digital platform is targeted at companies, associations and private individuals. In the long term, the aim is to supplement the platform with other functionalities.
An Important But Fragmented Sector
In Luxembourg, the forest area covers more than one-third of the territory. The national wood sector represents 1,285 companies employing around 19,000 people. The country has more than 14,000 private owners of forest areas and more than half of the forests belong to the private sector. The wood supply is therefore very fragmented, with small volumes that are difficult to sell on the traditional market.
“The creation of this digital marketplace e-Holzhaff aims to help valorise the wood available in the country while supporting wood processors in their desire to use regional materials,” said Franz Fayot.
The platform is also good news for small owners with smaller volumes of wood supply because as put it Winfried Von Loë of the Lëtzebuerger Privatbësch Association, it will allow “a real expansion of supply and demand.”
After an initial pilot phase, an evaluation of the site is planned to determine whether other functionalities should be added, such as the possibility of direct financial transactions via the platform.
