Forestry and wood processing
Forests cover roughly 40% of Republika Srpska. Beech, oak, fir and spruce supplied 2.6 million m³ of timber in 2024, and sawmills, joinery, furniture and paper makers sold wood-based products worth close to one billion KM.
The sector in figures
- Gross timber felled, 2024 (93% from state forests)
- 2.57 m m³
- Broadleaves and conifers, 2024: an even split
- 50 / 50
- Logs for sawing produced in state forests, 2024
- 905,485 m³
- Average price of state forest assortments, 2024, excl. VAT (2017: 83.45)
- 121 KM/m³
- Sales of wood products, furniture and paper, 2024
- 966 m KM
- Forestry gross value added, 2024 (1.3% of GDP)
- 225.6 m KM
Source: Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics, This is Republika Srpska 2025, tables 17.3 and 24.1–24.4. Wood-based sales are the sum of wood products (530 m KM), furniture (251 m KM) and paper (185 m KM). Forest cover from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Republika Srpska.
Who manages the forest
Most commercial timber comes from state forests managed by the public enterprise Šume Republike Srpske a.d., headquartered in Sokolac. It runs 27 forest management units across the region. It sells logs and other assortments to sawmills and processors under annual production plans and publishes its plans and execution reports. Private forests supplied about 190,000 m³ in 2024.
Timber supply is getting tighter
The volume felled has fallen in most years since 2017, from 3.26 million m³ in 2017 to 2.57 million m³ in 2024, while prices have risen. Conifer assortments averaged 137.69 KM/m³ in 2024 and broadleaves 105 KM/m³. For processors this means steady demand for higher-value products: more drying, finishing and furniture, and less sale of rough sawn timber.
From sawmill to furniture
The industry spans sawmilling, dried and edged timber, glued panels and furniture elements, solid-wood furniture, doors and windows, pallets and packaging, briquettes and pellets, and paper and board. Wood products peaked at 675 million KM of sales in 2022 and fell to 530 million KM in 2024 as European demand weakened. A 2015 review by the Ministry of Industry put export coverage of imports for furniture at about 538%: most of the output is sold abroad.
Sourcing wood products
Legality and certification
For EU buyers, the EU Deforestation Regulation requires geolocation and due-diligence data for wood products. Ask suppliers for FSC Chain of Custody or PEFC certificates and the origin of the logs.
Specification
Agree species, grade, moisture content after kiln drying, dimensions and tolerances, and surface finish. Ask for a pre-shipment sample for furniture components.
Capacity and lead time
Processors range from small family sawmills to large industrial plants. Confirm monthly capacity, raw material stocks and the share already committed to existing customers.
