Last week, electricity prices reached Norway record high level, and heating with electricity can give high bills. If you want to burn wood, however, you may run the risk of encountering sold-out suppliers.
Erik Nilsen has been producing firewood in Jølster for 20 years, and says that he tends to be sold out around the beginning of November.
This year, however, he was sold out already in mid-August.
Nilsen says that demand in the market is still high. He still gets several calls a day, from people who want to buy firewood from him.
– The last two months I have said no to everyone. I could probably sell at least fifty percent more this year than I usually do, he says to TV 2.
The 74-year-old has sold 2,500 sacks with 40 liters of firewood.
Sold out in record time
Roy Vermundsberget runs Finnskogen Ved AS, which is Norway’s largest wood producer. Now he does not have a single log for sale.
– It has never happened before for us. We use to have wood all year round, he says.
Vermundsberget says that he has never before been sold out as early as this year. Approximately 300,000 sacks of 40 liters have been delivered to customers, from the depths of Finnskogen, close to the border with Sweden.
Many are out early
Turid Almedal produces firewood at Kollungtveit in Vest-Agder, and is also completely sold out. She started with wood production around 2003, and says that customers have never before been so early in ordering wood as this year.
– This year, people have ordered in June and July to get firewood, while they usually do not do so until this time, she says.
– What do you think is the reason for that? Have customers anticipated the high electricity prices?
– Yes, I think people have feared high electricity prices because there has been little rainfall and little water in the reservoirs.
Can wear
This year, Almedal has sold approximately 250 pallets with a thousand liters of birch and pine wood. She does not have the impression that customers have been looking to stock up on larger quantities than before, but that more than before have only been out early with the order.
Many of her colleagues are also sold out, and she thinks any latecomers may struggle to get hold of firewood.
– It is very possible that you will struggle this year. It is not good for those who are interested in burning wood to keep warm, and it is certainly not that easy for people who already have expensive electricity bills.
Still opportunities
Øyvind Stranna Larsen is responsible for Norsk Ved, a forum for wood producers. He believes we must go far back in time to find as great a demand for firewood as this year.
– It’s not normal. The demand for firewood now has been much, much greater than we have had for a long time. We will probably have to go back to 2009/2010 to see similar demand, he says to TV 2.
He therefore thinks the latecomers are starting to get busy acquiring firewood, but believes there is no reason to worry.
– There are a number of wood producers who are sold out, but it is still possible to get hold of them. Some are engaged in artificial drying of wood, and they will be available all winter, says Larsen.
He says that the most advanced machines can perform an entire drying process in just a couple of days.
Increased prices
Larsen believes that the increase in demand for firewood can be directly linked to the high electricity prices.
– It started already at the end of July, when the media wrote about low water flow in the reservoirs. Then people started looking at opportunities to reduce electricity costs, he says.
The wood producers themselves have also noticed the electricity costs, and this can make the wood more expensive.
The forum conducts an annual market survey among its members. In it, the wood producers are asked what prices they will set for this year’s wood sales.
According to Larsen, 42 percent of the participants answered that this year they would increase prices between eight and twelve percent, compared to last year.
– This is partly due to cost increases. Some of our wood producers produce firewood on electric machines, and when electricity prices increase, so do costs, says Larsen.
The remaining 58 percent answered that they would keep the price unchanged.
Sold out in July
Also at Sokna in Buskerud, it is noticeable that many are out early to order firewood. Otto Tandberg (78) has been involved in wood production for 30 years, and says that he has not always sold out the entire production.
This year, however, he was completely sold out already in July.
– I have a lot of regular customers who call in the late winter and spring to order, he says.
He thinks the reason is the high electricity prices that were predicted already this summer.
– The phone woke up properly when the message came that the electricity price would be high.
Highly demanded wood
In May, TV 2 wrote that the prices of various wood products over the past year have rose up to 70 percent. According to Larsen, high demand for wood was positive for wood producers.
– When the demand for wood products has been high, more wood is also extracted from the forests. So it has been positive for the raw wood supply, he says.
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