Corbat Group

What Corbat Group does

Groupe Corbat is a Swiss family-owned wood-processing group headquartered in Vendlincourt (Jura canton), currently in its centenary year (founded 1930, 100 years celebrated in 2025). Across four generations of family ownership — represented on the Geschäftsleitung by Benjamin and Gauthier Corbat alongside Patrick and Jean-Paul Corbat — the company operates a vertically integrated value chain from sustainably sourced Swiss Jura roundwood through sawing, drying, thermal and pressure-impregnation treatment, CNC machining, and finished-product assembly. Core activities span sawn timber (oak, beech, spruce, fir, larch), glued laminated timber (Stabschichtholz/Brettschichtholz) up to GL48h, ECOGRIS® natural pre-greyed and ECONOIR® carbonised facade cladding, solid parquet (Swisslam®), outdoor amenities, urban furniture and the patented Pic-Bois wayfinding signage, plus ENplus A1 wood pellets via the Pellets du Jura subsidiary.

Groupe Corbat holds the structurally significant position of being the sole remaining Swiss manufacturer of wooden railway sleepers — producing track, switch, bridge, and rack-railway sleepers (~200,000 units/year) for SBB, private railways, and switch OEMs under UIC standards, drawing on the autoclave pressure-impregnation (Rüping process) capabilities at the Glovelier site. Other regulated-process capabilities include thermal treatment (THERMO/VAPO) and impregnation with Tanasote® S40, Kreosot (WEI Type C, reduced PAH), and KS2 salts. Through the Fagus Suisse SA leadership takeover in May 2025, the company extended into hardwood and softwood engineered wood for multi-story construction.

The business model is B2B-direct sales via five regional technical sales representatives covering all major Swiss regions (DE, TI, NE/FR/VS, VD/GE, JU/BE), supplemented by direct pickup, bulk tanker pellet delivery, the Pelbox 24/7 self-service vending machine in Glovelier, and a French subsidiary (Groupe Corbat Badevel Sàrl) for forestry and EU distribution. Pricing is unit- and volume-tiered (e.g., pellets at CHF 509–569/t by zone and quantity; 650 kg Big-Bag at CHF 315; 15 kg canister at CHF 9) with public price lists valid from 01/10/2025. Revenue diversification spans sawn timber, glulam engineered wood, facade cladding, parquet, outdoor amenities, railway infrastructure, and — through H2 Bois — green hydrogen derived from sawmill residues not suitable for pelletizing.

Name

Corbat Group

Legal name

Groupe Corbat Vendlincourt SA

Website

https://groupe-corbat.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1930

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Groupe Corbat is a 100-year-old, family-owned Swiss wood-processing group (Vendlincourt, Jura) operating the full value chain from regional roundwood to sawn timber, hardwood glulam, ECOGRIS®/ECONOIR® facade cladding, parquet, outdoor furniture, and the only domestically manufactured wooden railway sleepers for SBB and Swiss railways.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wood Products Manufacturing

NAICS

Sawmills and Wood Preservation (3211), Engineered Wood Member Manufacturing (321215), Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing (3212)

SIC

Lumber & Wood Products (No Furniture) (2400), Millwood, Veneer, Plywood, & Structural Wood Members (2430), Prefabricated Wood Bldgs & Components (2452)

akta.pro primary industry

Wood Remanufacturing (Mouldings, Millwork Blanks, Cut Stock) (IMAMABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Glulam (Glued Laminated Timber) Manufacturing (IMAMACAE), Biomass Pellets, Briquettes & Solid Bioenergy Products (industrial/residential) (IMAMALAJ)

Keywords

• Sawmill products
• Wood processing
• Railway sleepers
• Glulam manufacturing
• Wood pellets

Headquarters

HQ city

Vendlincourt

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Sawn Timber & Lumber Products: Core business revenue from sawing and processing roundwood into lumber, construction timber, logs, packaging timber, and related sawn products from hardwood (oak, beech) and softwood (spruce, fir, larch) species sourced from Swiss Jura forests.
2. Glulam & Engineered Wood Products: Production and sale of glued laminated timber (Stabschichtholz, Brettschichtholz), including beams, columns, panels, live-edge slabs, and engineered hardwood products for structural construction. Revenue generated from Laubholz-glulam beams for multi-story buildings, ceilings, and bridges.
3. Railway Sleepers (New & Used): The only Swiss manufacturer of wooden railway sleepers. Produces track sleepers (beech/oak), switch sleepers, bridge sleepers, and rack-railway sleepers. Also recovers and resells used sleepers in a circular economy model.
4. Wood Pellets (Pellets du Jura): Production and sale of ENplus® A1 certified wood pellets made from 2/3 hardwood and 1/3 softwood sawmill by-products. Distributed via bulk delivery, Big-Bag (650 kg), and 15 kg deposit canisters, as well as the 24/7 Pelbox self-service dispenser.
5. Outdoor Wood & Landscape Products: Terrace decking, garden sleepers, fence posts, stakes, lumber, noise barriers, safety barriers, anti-slip road coverings, and Vert2Sun vertical solar fencing systems combining Swiss timber with photovoltaic panels.
6. Urban Furniture & Signage: Custom and standard-range outdoor furniture, information signage, interpretive panels, playground equipment, and trail marking systems for municipalities, golf courses, nature reserves, and public spaces.
7. Facade Cladding & Interior Panelling: Sale of ECOGRIS® pre-greyed cladding, ECONOIR® carbonised cladding, larch/massive wood siding, and interior panelling. Includes invisible clip fixation systems.
8. Green Hydrogen (H2 Bois): Production of green hydrogen from sawmill by-products unsuitable for pellets, targeting decarbonisation of mobility and industry including the watchmaking sector. 100% natural process with negative CO2 balance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Groupe Corbat is a Swiss family-owned wood processing group that produces sawn timber, glued laminated timber (glulam), facade cladding, parquet flooring, railway sleepers, wood pellets, and outdoor furniture from sustainably sourced Swiss Jura forests. The company operates across the full value chain from roundwood to finished products, including proprietary surface treatments (ECOGRIS®, ECONOIR®) and specialized preservation processes (thermal treatment, autoclave pressure impregnation).

Product overview

Groupe Corbat is a Swiss family-owned wood industry group celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, specializing in the optimal and sustainable valorization of wood from regional forests. The company operates five businesses: Groupe Corbat Vendlincourt SA (lumber and parquet), Groupe Corbat Glovelier SA (railway sleepers and wood treatment), Pellets du Jura SA (wood pellets for heating), Fagus Suisse SA (glued laminated timber), and Groupe Corbat Badevel Sàrl (France operations). The product portfolio centers on five core divisions: (1) Bois d'œuvre for sawn wood products, (2) Bois collé for laminated timber including Stabschichtholz (SSH) and Brettschichtholz (BSH), (3) Bardages including branded ECOGRIS® and ECONOIR® facade claddings, (4) Parquets and flooring with Swisslam® line, and (5) Outdoor amenities including terrace decking, furniture, and signage. Specialized offerings include railway sleepers (Switzerland's only manufacturer), pellets, green hydrogen (H2 Bois), and Vert2Sun vertical solar fencing. Manufacturing processes include thermal treatment, pressure impregnation, and CNC precision machining.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pellets du Jura: Wood pellet brand producing heating pellets from regional forest wood by-products, ENplus A1 certified
• Fagus Suisse
• ECOGRIS®
• ECONOIR®
• Swisslam®
• H2bois
• Ets Röthlisberger

Quantifiable outcome

• Stores approximately 1.3 tonnes of CO2 per cubic metre of hardwood (30% more than softwood)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fagus Suisse SAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Groupe Corbat assumed management leadership of Fagus Suisse SA in May 2025. Fagus Suisse produces engineered wood products from hardwood and softwood. The acquisition extended Groupe Corbat's glulam product portfolio with new capabilities in structural timber construction.
• Fagus Jura SAminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Joint venture launched in 2014 with forestry partners to develop beech as a credible construction material and create optimal solutions for using hardwood from regional forests. Led by the fourth generation of the Corbat family.
• Ets Röthlisberger SAcoreOthersAcquired by Groupe Corbat in 1977, formerly producing railway sleepers since 1905. Now integrated as Groupe Corbat Glovelier SA — the sole Swiss manufacturer of wooden railway sleepers. Continues to operate from the same Glovelier facility.
• Lignum Holzwirtschaft Schweiz / Lignum JuraminorOthersCorporate member of Switzerland's principal timber industry and wood promotion association, which also issues the Swiss Origin Wood certification label that Corbat products carry.
• HIS/IBS (Holzindustrie Bois)minorOthersSwiss timber industry association of which Groupe Corbat is a member, promoting Swiss wood products domestically and internationally.
• VSHI (Schweizerischer Verband der Imprägnierwerke)minorOthersSwiss association of wood impregnation works. Membership validates Corbat's expertise in industrial wood preservation using autoclave pressure impregnation techniques.
• WEI-IEO (Europäisches Institut für Holzschutz)minorOthersEuropean Institute for Wood Protection. Membership supports Corbat's wood preservation practices and ensures compliance with European wood protection standards.
• ISP (Interessengemeinschaft der Schweizer Parkettindustrie)minorOthersSwiss parquet industry association. Supports Corbat's parquet production activities and market positioning within Switzerland.
• ProQuercusminorOthersAssociation for the preservation and promotion of oak. Corbat's significant use of oak in railway sleepers, glulam, and parquet makes this membership strategically relevant.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Renggli AG: Swiss timber construction specialist using glulam and modular wood systems for residential and commercial projects. A direct domestic customer/competitor for Corbat's glulam and engineered wood offering in the Swiss market.
• Timbatec Holzbauingenieure: Swiss timber engineering consultancy and component supplier specialising in multi-storey timber buildings using domestic glulam. Comparable customer/competitor overlap with Corbat's hardwood glulam business in Switzerland.
• Blumer Lehmann: Swiss timber engineering and construction company producing free-form glulam structures and modular timber buildings. Comparable in Swiss architectural-timber positioning and use of FSC/PEFC-certified domestic timber.
• Strüby Konzept AG: Swiss timber construction and prefabrication company operating sawmills and producing glulam and prefabricated wood components. Direct overlap with Corbat's Swiss sawmill + glulam + prefabricated components footprint.

Direct peers

• Mayr-Melnhof Holz: Austrian sawmill group focused on sustainable softwood and hardwood processing, glulam, and engineered wood products. Highly comparable vertically integrated profile and European hardwood/softwood mix.
• Binderholz: Austrian family-owned sawmill and engineered wood producer operating across sawn timber, glulam, CLT, and pellets with multiple European sites. Comparable to Corbat across its full sawmill-to-engineered-wood value chain, though at materially larger scale.
• Weitzer Parkett: Austrian manufacturer of solid and engineered wood parquet flooring with multi-layer and patterned parquet offerings. Directly comparable to Corbat's parquet division and Swisslam® product line in terms of product mix and European craft positioning.
• Hasslacher Norica Timber: Austrian group producing sawn timber, glulam, cross-laminated timber, and wood-based biomass energy. Closely mirrors Corbat's combined sawmill + glulam + pellet business model and certifications profile.
• Pfeifer Holz: Family-owned Austrian/German timber group operating sawmills, glulam production, and wood-based packaging. Overlaps with Corbat on sawn timber, glulam, and treatment services for construction and packaging customers.

Broad incumbents

• Stora Enso: Nordic-listed forest products major producing sawn timber, CLT, glulam, pellets, and biomaterials across Europe. Overlaps with Corbat at the category level (especially pellets, CLT/glulam, and wood-based construction products), but at vastly larger scale and as a broad incumbent rather than a niche specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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• Pinterestpinterest.ch/GroupeCorbat

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Corbat Group