The Agriculture Ministry said the record-high figure was a result of a high demand on the market for raw wood. But it was still below the overall annual increase in the amount of wood whose reserves in Czech forests grow steadily.
Wood output at state-run company Lesy Ceske republiky, which manages roughly 50 percent of forests in the country, reached some 9.7 million cubic metres last year, compared with the common number of 7.5-8.0 million cubic metres.
It was caused by the fact that the firm produced at the end of 2006 part of the volume planned for this year because of problems with tenders and contracts for logger work for this year. Another factor was the heavy snowfalls at the beginning of 2006 as a result of which a large volume of fallen trees had to be processed mainly in southern Bohemia, the company said.
The amount of wood in Czech forests rose by 20.6 million cubic metres last year, with the annual increase growing since 1990 when it reached some 17 million cubic metres.
The overall wood reserves in the Czech Republic equalled 668 million cubic metres last year, more than double the 1930 figure, the ministry said.
Some experts say hunger for wood has come and demand is growing. Czech per capita wood reserves are among the largest in Europe, but experts say that it is desirable to keep the biggest amount of wood possible for processing on the domestic market and export products with value added.
In 2006, the Czech Republic exported roughly 3.8 million cubic metres of raw wood worth Kc5.92bn, while imports amounted to 1.37 million cubic metres worth Kc1.76bn. The country's surplus in foreign trade in wood rose by 80 percent on the year to Kc4.17bn.