prices in Aberdeenshire

[Highland Forestry]

An average price about here is £160 for a 2.5 m3 load of hardwood.... softwood is about £100 to £120, however you will always get clowns about that will undercut everyone and sell for cheap but they'll be wishing they didnt one day.

[Wee Jim]

£160 for hardwood?? Its £130 round here.

[firewood]

An average price about here is £160 for a 2.5 m3 load of hardwood.... softwood is about £100 to £120, however you will always get clowns about that will undercut everyone and sell for cheap but they'll be wishing they didnt one day.

 

£160 for hardwood?? Its £130 round here.

 

 

no wonder I cant sell hardwood round ballater:lol:

 

softwood is plentiful and nice and easy to process so £90 to £120 for 2.5m is ok depending on distance. However, hardwood seems to be in short supply, is expensive to buy in and I would not sell it for less than £180 for 2.5m3. what has not sold so far will go quickly in the week before xmas and the following weeks as people come to the end of the first loads they bought in October

 

IMO if you are selling at £130 for a load of hardwood there is more profit in selling softwood at £90 a load so why bother?

 

I appreciate that the economics may be different if you are getting your wood for "free" as a tree surgeon or contractor.

[Wee Jim]

In lot of instances i am getting paid to take the hardwood down or getting it off my friend the tree surgeon so the economics are alot different. I dont know why its so bad to buy in hardwood but even birch which seems to grow like a weed it hard to get your hands on!!

[Doug Blease]

Everybodies economics are different. But why sell good stuff cheap?

When it costs £1500 a year to heat a house on oil (aberdeenshire in particular) why are you selling any wood at sometimes less than £50 per/m3. You can double that and customers are still gonna buy.

 

But it MUST be top grade stuff. I am talking, sustainably sourced, responsibly stored, professionally split (i.e. safely) and shed stored. This way you are supplying a high quality, consistent product.

 

Firewood shouldnt be pocket money. Should be bi-product, manufactured profit.

[firewood]

Doug

 

what you say is true. however, we are in a free market for firewood with lots of substitute products i.e oil, coal, gas, electricity, wood pellets and briquettes. If you want to sell into the market you do so at a price that competition from other log suppliers and substitute products sets. i.e. we are all price takers not price makers.

 

some of these products are easy to use( i.e. flick a switch or turn a thermostat ) but expensive. some are cheaper but require effort on the part of the customer( i.e handling and stacking logs).

 

Unlike many of my competitors, I'm trying to build myself a fulltime year round business. to do this i need a high volume of sales. this comes partly from a quality product but it mostly comes from competitive pricing. This is because only about 20% of my customers burn wood as a lifestyle choice (they like a wood fire, its the green thing to do etc). These customers would probably tolerate paying £100 a cube for their wood. The other 80% of my custom is from people for whom wood burning is an economic choice as they perceive it as better value than the alternatives. They are very price sensitive and owe me no loyalty in the first instance (once i've supplied them for a while i hope they view me as indispensable!)

 

I could set my price at £50 / m3 minimum for say softwood but in the current market i would only sell about 10% of what I am currently turning over. to me that means no viable business! So i price accordingly to beat who i can on price and look to volume to deliver my profit. I know it's not the only strategy but it is working for me.

[Doug Blease]

Dont get me wrong. If you are making a profit and a living from those prices then fair play to you. No one can argue with that.

 

If your not, and it just keeps things ticking over then I cant see the logic.

 

Surely delivery prices must be huge in our area. You could easily burn up £15-£20 of diesel just delivering 2.5m3 in aberdeenshire. Plus the fuel for sourcing, felling and processing? Add on the time, cost of trailer/truck/combo and I honestly cannot see the profit.

 

But you have hit the nail on the head for all arboriculture and forestry related industries when you say:

 

"we are all price takers not price makers."

 

There in lies the lack of marketing, regulation, and sense of self worth which this industry desperatley needs.

 

Great debate.

[firewood]

But you have hit the nail on the head for all arboriculture and forestry related industries when you say:

 

"we are all price takers not price makers."

 

There in lies the lack of marketing, regulation, and sense of self worth which this industry desperatley needs.

 

Great debate.

 

 

For the likes of contractors, fallers and firewoodmen the problem stems from the fact that too much market power is concentrated at the top and bottom ends of the market. The supply side is dominated by the FC and the landed estates. The demand side is dominated by too few large customers (sawmills). The meat in this sandwich is us. you end up being squeezed from both ends.

[Highland Forestry]

In lot of instances i am getting paid to take the hardwood down or getting it off my friend the tree surgeon so the economics are alot different. I dont know why its so bad to buy in hardwood but even birch which seems to grow like a weed it hard to get your hands on!!

 

How much do you need to get your hands on??

I've sold somewhere in the region of 1400 ton this year already, 3m lengths, roadside supply all to firewood merchants and large scale buyers..

 

And a good proportion of that went in to Aberdeenshire!!!!!!

 

drop me an e-mail if you are needing a supply - [email protected]