The price of firewood - Pellet- is rising. Last summer, the average price of a stere of wood was 84 euros. This year, it is up to 140 euros (+70%). The price of pellets has risen by 120%, from 4.20 euros per 15 kilo bag to an average of 10 euros.
For this winter it will be cheaper to heat with wood.
Following the increase in energy prices - electricity and gas - people are flocking to Pellet, its price has increased by 120% compared to 2021. Despite this increase, pellet remains competitive with gas.
It all started last year with Covid. As people became more and more confined to their homes and teleworking, they wanted to improve their comfort. But what caused a rush to buy wood and pellet stoves was the sharp rise in the price of gas and oil. With more wood-burning stoves on the market, the demand for pellets exploded, but the supply did not follow. As a result, prices have risen.
Increase in the price of wood.
To understand this increase in the price of wood, we have to go back to last year, when the weather was very, very wet. The forests were not really accessible and the covid caused a lack of labour. So activity in the forestry operations was reduced. In addition, the price of standing trees has increased, but that's not all. There is also an increase in transport costs, which is reflected in the final selling price, combined with a decrease in imports, particularly from Eastern European countries. And all this is combined with increased competition from the wood and paper panel industry, which sources the same type of raw material. This increases the demand for these co-products and inevitably pushes up prices.
Pellets: fewer orders in sawmills.
But what about pellet? Pellet comes from sawmills. In the sawmills, there were fewer orders, but the demand remained high. The international pellet market is saturated by demand and handicapped by its limited supply.
Shortage
There is no real shortage of firewood. However, the situation is different for pellets. All production units in Europe are running at full capacity and unfortunately this is still not enough to meet the current demand for pellets and this demand is only growing.
Our opinion
Winter is going to be expensive in Europe, the price of pellets will at least remain high throughout the winter, it would not be surprising if it were to rise again.