Wood processing at 13 locations: sawn timber, formwork, glulam, CLT, pellets and bioelectricity from spruce and pine.
Pfeifer Holding GmbH
Imst (AT) · Kundl (AT) · Unterbernbach (DE) · Uelzen (DE) · Lauterbach (DE) · Schlitz (DE) · Trhanov (CZ) · Chanovice (CZ) · Kuusamo (FI) · Kajaani (FI) · Taivalkoski (FI) · Kitka (FI) · Oulu (FI)New on Amplifa
Wood processing since 1948
Pfeifer Holding GmbH was founded in 1948 in Imst/Tyrol as a small contract-sawing sawmill and is today a family-run company in its third generation with around 2,600 employees at 13 locations in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland. The company processes softwood (spruce and pine) along the entire value chain: from log sawing to planed timber, glulam (BSH), cross-laminated timber (CLT), solid wood panels, formwork panels and formwork beams through to pallet blocks, pellets, briquettes and bioelectricity from biomass combined heat and power plants. Log sawing amounts to 5.0 million m³ per year; by-products include 2.4 million m³ of sawn timber, 8 million m² of formwork panels, 200,000 m³ of glulam and 50,000 m³ of CLT. Exports go to over 90 countries, with a focus on Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and Spain. The headquarters are located in Imst (A-6460), Fabrikstraße 54.
- Site
- Imst
- Processes
- Sawmill / log sawing, Planed timber / planing mill, Sawn timber / rough fence boards / batten production, Glulam (BSH) gluing, Cross-laminated timber (CLT) production, Solid wood panels / natural wood panels (single- & three-layer), 3-layer concrete formwork panel / formwork panel production, Formwork beam production
- Materials
- Spruce (softwood), Pine (softwood), Spruce, Pine, Press shavings (residual wood), Reclaimed wood, Wood biomass/bark
- Founded
- 1948
- Employees
- 2600
- Industries
- Construction/Timber Construction, Concrete Industry (Formwork), Pallet and Packaging Industry, Energy/Biofuels, Furniture Industry
- 01
Log purchasing and log sorting
- 02
Log sawing (sawmill)
- 03
Wood drying and dry sorting
- 04
Planing mill / further processing
- 05
Gluing (glulam, CLT, solid wood panels) or pressing processes (formwork panels,
- 06
Pressure impregnation
- 07
By-product utilization (pellets, briquettes, animal bedding, bioelectricity)
- 08
Logistics and export
Materials & Processes
Spruce
Main material at the Central European locations for sawn timber, glulam, CLT and solid wood panels.
Pine
Focus at the Finnish location Kajaani (approx. 70% of sawing); northern Finnish pine has physical properties comparable to Central European spruce.
Press shavings (residual wood)
Material for pallet blocks and 3-layer formwork panels made from sawmill by-products.
Reclaimed wood
Raw material for reclaimed wood recycling at the Uelzen location for material recovery.
Wood biomass/bark
Fuel for biomass combined heat and power plants for green electricity and heat generation.
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sawmill / log sawingMachining | – | – | – | – | Spruce, Pine |
| Planed timber / planing millMachining | – | – | – | – | Spruce, Pine |
| Sawn timber / rough fence boards / batten productionMachining | – | – | – | – | Spruce, Pine |
| Glulam (BSH) gluingJoining | – | – | – | – | Spruce, Pine |
| Cross-laminated timber (CLT) productionJoining | – | – | – | – | Spruce |
| Solid wood panels / natural wood panels (single- & three-layer)Joining | – | – | – | – | Spruce |
| 3-layer concrete formwork panel / formwork panel productionPlastics | – | – | – | – | Wood (residual wood/press shavings) |
| Formwork beam productionJoining | – | – | – | – | Wood |
| Wood pellet productionPlastics | – | – | – | – | Wood residues/sawmill by-products |
| Wood briquette productionPlastics | – | – | – | – | Wood residues |
| Press-shaving pallet block productionPlastics | – | – | – | – | Press shavings (residual wood) |
| Pressure impregnation (pressure-impregnated wood)Surface | – | – | – | – | Sawn timber |
| Wood drying (drying / dry sorting)Heat Treatment | – | – | – | – | Sawn timber |
| Log sortingTesting | – | – | – | – | Spruce, Pine |
| Reclaimed wood recyclingEngineering | – | – | – | – | Reclaimed wood |
| Green electricity / bioelectricity generation (biomass combined heat and power plant)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Wood biomass/bark |
| Animal bedding productionPlastics | – | – | – | – | Wood shavings |
7 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saw line | – | – | – | 2025 | Kajaani, Finland |
| Pellet presses | – | 8 | – | – | Unterbernbach, Germany |
| Biomass combined heat and power plant | – | – | 17 MW (new heat plant Kajaani) | – | Kundl, Unterbernbach, Uelzen, Lauterbach, Chanovice, Kajaani |
| Quality scanner | – | – | millimeter-precise board inspection | – | – |
| Robot arm (stacking automation for sawn timber) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Three-layer panel plant (formwork panels) | – | – | – | – | Imst, Trhanov, Chanovice |
| Cross-laminated timber plant (CLT) | – | – | – | 2019 | Schlitz, Germany |
Additional services
Company History
- 1948
Founded by Barbara Pfeifer in Imst (leased contract-sawing sawmill); built up with sons Oskar, Fritz and Bernhard.
- Mitte 1950er
Start of marketing sawn timber in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
- 1971
Commissioning of a 3-layer formwork panel plant in Imst – step towards industrial wood processing.
- 1974
Takeover of the Kundl location (Tyrol).
- Die 1980er
Production of 3-layer concrete formwork panels.
- 1996
Start of pellet production in Kundl – one of the first pellet plants in Austria.
- 1997
Market entry in Germany.
- 2005
Takeover of the Heggenstaller Group in Germany.
- 2009
Major investment in Lauterbach – one of the most modern production sites in Europe.
- 2012
Uniform appearance of all locations (corporate design).
- 2016
Takeover of Holzindustrie Chanovice (Czech Republic); revenue 628 million €.
- 2018
Revenue 720 million €.
- 2019
Start of CLT (cross-laminated timber) production in Schlitz.
- 2022
Revenue 1.2 billion €.
- 2023
Takeover of the Finnish wood processor Pölkky Oy.
- 2025
Commissioning of the modernized Kajaani sawmill; capacity more than doubled to approx. 450,000 m³/year; consolidation of the Finnish locations under Pfeifer Nordics Oy.