Impact of COVID-19 on wood-based products industry: An exploratory study in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and BiH

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the forest-products industry locally and globally, including the availability of raw materials, supply chain, production, and product sales. Therefore, it was essential to study the effect of COVID-19 in Central and Southeast European countries, including Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the forest-products industry plays a vital global role. An international group of wood scientists developed and implemented the web-based questionnaire that consisted of four parts: demographic questions, production changes, COVID data gathering, governmental response to COVID-19, and lessons learned. Participants were mainly from furniture production, joinery, and wood processing. Results indicate that more than 80% of respondents reported negative changes. The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the supply chain, and the most significant changes were in the availability of solid wood (23%) and engineered wood products (21%). Among the most critical issues were increased prices of all materials, increased transportation costs, extended delivery times, limited quantities for all materials, and total disruption of supply chains.