📊 Data Watch | Austrian footprint in Latvia’s wood industry
Baltic Focus, Nov 2025
🇱🇻 HS Timber Group expands control in Latvia
Austria’s HS Timber Group — through its holding companies Nextwood One GmbH (Vika Wood) and Nextwood Two GmbH (newly acquired Kurekss) — now controls two of Latvia’s largest sawmills.
Both firms together generate about €150 million in annual revenue (Vika Wood ≈ €81 m, Kurekss ≈ €68 m) and employ nearly 300 people.
🪵 Market share estimate
Latvia’s total wood-processing output stands near €5 billion per year, with the sawmilling segment worth €1.8–2 billion.
Adding Kronospan Riga (Austrian-origin OSB/MDF producer, €250 m turnover), Austrian-linked companies now account for roughly
➡️ 8–10 % of Latvia’s total wood industry
➡️ Up to 20 % of the sawmilling segment
⚙️ Regulatory note
The Competition Council approved the Kurekss acquisition after a full review, finding no evidence of dominance or harm to competition in sawn-timber, pellet or log markets in Kurzeme and Zemgale.
🌍 Strategic context
HS Timber operates plants in Austria, Germany, Romania, Finland and Argentina (2 700 employees).
Kronospan Riga remains the Baltic region’s largest engineered-wood exporter.
Austrian capital now effectively anchors the western corridor of Latvia’s timber industry, while local firms concentrate in eastern regions and secondary manufacturing.
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