Forestry cooperatives have bought all of the wood offered by their members, regardless of the market saturation. The price of inferior quality wood is too low to cover expenses to clear it from the forests. Now there is a fear that half of the fallen trees will be left to rot.

Forest owners have expected the state to intervene by purchasing some of the wood through state companies, thus preventing a fall in prices of wood. However, that did not happen.

Franc Černe the head of the agricultural cooperative in Litija says that the bulk of the wood has been bought by private investors and agricultural cooperatives, which have played a very important role in saving the day.

Due to the flooding of the market with wood, the prices have dropped sharply, with most of the better wood taken to Italy, Germany and Austria. Now the warehouses across the Slovenian border are full and buying has almost stopped. If the wood isn’t cleared away from forests by the coming winter, it will be lost.