Carrefour International du Bois · 2028

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key takeaways

• The Carrefour International du Bois is the business trade show for the forest and timber industry, held every two years in Nantes: sawn timber, panels, flooring, specialist trade and timber construction solutions gathered in one place for three days.
• Next edition: Tuesday 30 May to Thursday 1 June 2028, at the Parc des Expositions de Nantes. Stand sales will open in June 2027.
• Organiser: Fibois Pays de la Loire, the regional forest and timber industry association. Géraldine Cesbron is the show's general commissioner and Jean Piveteau its chairman.
• Biennial, in even-numbered years. The trade show has existed since 1992; the 2026 edition was the 18th.
• Results of the latest edition, 2 to 4 June 2026: 650 exhibitors from 40 countries, 13,390 visitors of whom 41.5% were from abroad, five exhibition halls.
• Access is restricted to trade professionals, with a free badge on registration.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The trade show covers the whole material chain, from forest to finished product. The official website targets sawmills and manufacturers of panels, flooring, cladding, mouldings, beading, panelling, timber joinery, technical construction products, carpentry and packaging, as well as merchants and importers.

Since 2024, the offer has been organised by sector in each hall. In 2026, Hall 1 grouped fit-out and flooring, Hall 2 fit-out and panels, the Grand Palais and its mezzanine construction and services, and Hall XXL sawmilling, forestry and the timber trade. Each exhibitor's sector is assigned according to the main activity declared in the show's classification.

The trade show limits stand size to 54 m² per company, a ceiling raised in 2024 from the 36 m² it had historically been set at.

Notable exhibitors

The 2026 exhibitor list, organised by hall with stand numbers, is still online. It includes Egger Panneaux & Décors, Kronospan, Unilin Panels and Sonae Arauco in Hall 2; Binderholz, Kebony, Piveteau Bois, Siero Lam and Thebault Groupe in the Grand Palais; and Stora Enso Bois in Hall XXL. The 2028 exhibitor list has not yet been published.

Visitor quality

Entry is restricted to trade professionals: the 2026 results report lists merchants, importers, buyers and specifiers among the visitors who came to secure their supplies. Students and trainers must contact the organiser before registering.

The international dimension is the trade show's hallmark. In 2026, foreign visitors accounted for 41.5% of the total, and the top fifteen visitor countries were Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Morocco, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Poland and the United States. On the exhibitor side, 42% were international.

No OJS certification is published: the figures are those from the organiser's own reports.

Activities & community

Conference programme

Conferences are free and open to all. The 2028 programme has not been published; the 2026 one gives a sense of the format: 14 conferences with 47 speakers in the Grand Palais area, 16 TV sets in Hall XXL, 40 innovation pitches in the Hall 1 area, 37 pitches and demonstrations in the bio-based materials area on the mezzanine, and 27 meetings and general assemblies held by exhibitors and partners in the venue's meeting rooms.

The 2026 themes covered markets, climate and low carbon, the use of secondary species, off-site construction in French timber, major timber projects, the global and French resource, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and forest health. Speakers included the FAO, the Office national des forêts, FCBA, ADEME, the Fédération Nationale du Bois and France Bois Forêt.

The IFOP Barometer

The 2026 edition opened, on 2 June, with the presentation of the first IFOP / Carrefour International du Bois Barometer, based on a survey of 100 timber professionals: economic conditions, activity, concerns and market outlook. The trade show thus intends to establish itself as an industry barometer, an ambition the general commissioner had set for 2026.

What's new in 2026

Four new features marked 2026: an area dedicated to bio-based materials (straw, hemp, timber), an "Employer Brand" area on recruitment, an Innovation Area with mixed reality and exhibitor pitches, and the "Plantons pour l'avenir" (Planting for the future) initiative, through which visitors helped fund the replanting of a plot in Pays de la Loire.

Community & networks

The trade show lists a broad network of partners: the Pays de la Loire Region, France Bois Forêt, CODIFAB, Fibois France, the Fédération Nationale du Bois, FCBA, French Timber, Bois de France, La WoodTech, as well as foreign federations, notably Belgian, Spanish and German.

The trade press follows the event, among the media partners listed: Wood Surfer, Le Moniteur, Batiactu, Boismag and, on the German side, Holz-Zentralblatt.

Between editions, the organiser keeps the conversation going with a podcast, "Les Voix du Bois by CIB": seven episodes announced, the first of which, on the IFOP Barometer, is online.

On site: what to know

The 2028 edition will be held at the Parc des Expositions de Nantes, at La Beaujoire, route de Saint-Joseph de Porterie. The 2024 and 2026 editions were already held there; in 2026, the exhibition occupied Halls 1 and 2, the Grand Palais, its mezzanine and Hall XXL.

The practical information published dates from 2026. From Nantes station, tram line 1 towards Beaujoire serves the exhibition centre directly; from the city centre, take the Chronobus C6. Paris is about two hours away by TGV, and Nantes airport about thirty minutes away. A taxi rank faces the exhibition centre, and the organiser has set up a partnership with Nantes taxis.

In 2026, the trade show was open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Thursday. The 2028 opening hours have not yet been published. Entry is free with a badge or invitation; without either, it cost €50 in 2026. For accommodation, the trade show relies on Le Voyage à Nantes and, in 2026, on a hotel booking centre.

How much does it cost to exhibit

Planning your visit

For exhibitors

• Get ready for the opening of stand sales, announced for June 2027: the hall is assigned according to the main activity declared in the show's classification.
• Choose the package with care: pre-equipped stand of 9 to 54 m², stand pack or stand pack+ with storage room and furniture, or bare space from 18 m², for which a dimensioned plan must be submitted to the organiser.
• Plan for handling: the organiser does not receive goods, and slinging is prohibited.
• Look into the short formats of the programme: in 2026, pitches lasted 5 to 10 minutes (Hall 1 and Mezzanine) and TV sets 30 to 45 minutes (Hall XXL).

For decision-maker visitors

• Request your badge online when registration opens, as entry without a badge is paid.
• Plan the visit hall by hall: in 2026, the sector layout grouped panel manufacturers in Hall 2 and sawmills in Hall XXL.
• Attend the conferences on the resource and regulation, where administrations and federations speak directly.
• Book accommodation early, through Le Voyage à Nantes or the booking centre offered by the organiser.

CSR policy & initiatives

The show's content is oriented towards the transition: bio-based materials, low-carbon construction, reuse, and management of the forest resource in the face of climate change. In 2026, the "Plantons pour l'avenir" initiative helped support the replanting of a plot in Pays de la Loire.

These themes need to be distinguished from an organisational commitment. The trade show's website publishes no formal CSR policy, no carbon footprint assessment and no ISO 20121 certification specific to the event. The 2026 exhibitor guide provides for sorting of waste during set-up, dismantling and throughout the show, recommends workshop-prefabricated elements and limiting cutting on site, and makes power tools with integrated dust extraction mandatory in the halls.

The venue provides a documented framework: the Parc des Expositions de Nantes has had a CSR approach since 2008, based on a responsible management system structured around the ISO 20121 standard, with targets for controlling energy and water consumption and reducing carbon impact and waste.

How the show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The number of exhibitors has grown at every edition, from 563 in 2018 to 650 in 2026, while attendance has levelled off around 13,500 visitors after the 2022 peak. The 2022 edition, the first after four years' absence, benefited from a timber market that the chairman of Fibois Pays de la Loire then described as euphoric. The 2026 results report presents the slight dip to 13,390 visitors as stability in a tense economic and geopolitical context.

The clearest change is structural. In 2024, the trade show moved its opening days from Wednesday-Friday to Tuesday-Thursday, organised the offer by sector in each hall, brought in Hall XXL and raised the stand ceiling to 54 m². The 2026 edition kept these choices and added content: the IFOP barometer, a bio-based materials area and a recruitment area. The trade show is seeking to become a place for reading the market as much as a trading venue.

The share of foreign visitors, up from 39% in 2024 to 41.5% in 2026, confirms the international marketplace vocation for timber that the organiser promotes. For a sawmill or panel manufacturer with an export focus, Belgium, Spain and Morocco are among the best-represented visitor countries in 2026.

All data that does not mention its source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (timbershow.com).