Is there a market for softwood???

[MikeM]

Correct me if i'm wrong but the RHI will only apply to gassification boilers, which retail for several £k. Can't see many householders opting for them, frankly. I don't see anything wrong with softwood, its cheaper and will burn as hot as hardwood. OK, it doesn't last as long but there is a market for it and people will buy it 'cos it's cheap. I've just sold 20m3

 

RHI will apply to pellet and chip boilers as well, but not stoves with back boilers. They are expensive both to buy and to have installed by a certified installer, which is a condition of qualifying for the grant. However under current proposals the RHI would provide a decent incentive and a reasonable payback time. This may of course all change before the domestic RHI is finalised and kicks in late next year.

 

I'm currently looking at log gassification boilers, which work well with soft wood. Soft will be attractive to people like me if it is sigificantly cheaper, which will mean more than the £10-£15 discount per cube many seem to offer at the moment.

 

I'm planning to process my own wood and sell any surplus I am able to produce. From a consumer convenience perspective hard wood remains a vastly superior product. For soft wood to be a realistic alternative it needs to be realistically priced.

[luftwaffe]

There is a market for softwood but where I am (Newtown, Mid-Wales). It retails for £40 per m3 seasoned, delivered within 10 miles. I would guess you won't get much more than that in Caerphilly. I basically won't buy it but will pick it up if it's free. Grants-wise no-one will help you out if it's for your own gain. Try woodlots for artic loads.

 

£40 per m3, thats cheap, can you make a go of it at that price? is that price inline with your competitors.

[StephF]

My Mum lives in S wales and was charged £80 m for SW, think you could up your price, that is very cheap, its £30 tonne at roadside, + £10 tonne haulage/labour/fuel costs etc, how can there be any profit in it ???

[Phil The Wood]

Yep, £40 is cheap I know, but there are lots of trees around here! I've checked on ebay and with local suppliers (the ones who deliver in bulk anyway) and i'm about right price-wise. It's not easy money but it's worth doing. tbh I would say in S. Wales the price would be lower as there are so many softwood plantations and coal is probably more prevalent.

[timberbear]

£80 is an awful lot for softwood, and £40 is what I was charging two years ago. There might be plenty of softwood around, over 10,000 acres within five miles of me but the cost is increasing and in one of our local woodland there's 4000 ton being felled for bio mass! If we can get softwood cheap we can sell it cheap and keep some people out of fuel poverty, if we got to pay through the nose for it then it will be a cold winter for those who can't afford it.

[StephF]

£80 is an awful lot for softwood, and £40 is what I was charging two years ago. There might be plenty of softwood around, over 10,000 acres within five miles of me but the cost is increasing and in one of our local woodland there's 4000 ton being felled for bio mass! If we can get softwood cheap we can sell it cheap and keep some people out of fuel poverty, if we got to pay through the nose for it then it will be a cold winter for those who can't afford it.

 

I agree, always try to keep the price of our S/W lower to provide a cheaper fuel, £50 m3 this winter, selling H/W £75m3. Sell 2/3 Softwood, and most people are buying it because it is cheaper I think, also its pretty good stuff!

[Phil The Wood]

Oh, I forgot to add £40 per m3 is un-seasoned

[firewoodman]

Yep, £40 is cheap I know, but there are lots of trees around here! I've checked on ebay and with local suppliers (the ones who deliver in bulk anyway) and i'm about right price-wise. It's not easy money but it's worth doing. tbh I would say in S. Wales the price would be lower as there are so many softwood plantations and coal is probably more prevalent.

not really true, why would the cost be any cheaper just because its wales???

 

I agree, always try to keep the price of our S/W lower to provide a cheaper fuel, £50 m3 this winter, selling H/W £75m3. Sell 2/3 Softwood, and most people are buying it because it is cheaper I think, also its pretty good stuff!

are those the going rates rates for your area, or you undercutting everyone???

 

£80 is an awful lot for softwood, and £40 is what I was charging two years ago. There might be plenty of softwood around, over 10,000 acres within five miles of me but the cost is increasing and in one of our local woodland there's 4000 ton being felled for bio mass! If we can get softwood cheap we can sell it cheap and keep some people out of fuel poverty, if we got to pay through the nose for it then it will be a cold winter for those who can't afford it.

 

it all depends on the area, and city prices compared to rural prices and the overheads, not forgetting haulage. Five miles to you will be cheaper than 50 miles to me. So if you cant get it cheap, you cant sell it cheap!!

Edited January 3, 2012 by firewoodman

[timberbear]

not really true, why would the cost be any cheaper just because its wales???

 

 

are those the going rates rates for your are, or you undercutting everyone???

 

 

 

it all depends on the area, and city prices compared to rural prices and the overheads, not forgetting haulage. Five miles to you will be cheaper than 50 miles to me. So if you cant get it cheap, you cant sell it cheap!!

 

I take your views on board, I'm only hauling about three miles to the yard so my costs are low but Market forces keep my prices down in my area with firewood merchants charging between £45 and £55 a cube for softwood, hardwood on the other hand, well people faint when you tell them the price. I think the era for cheap softwood will be over soon with the amount of new producers wanting to buy the raw material.

[firewoodman]

I take your views on board, I'm only hauling about three miles to the yard so my costs are low but Market forces keep my prices down in my area with firewood merchants charging between £45 and £55 a cube for softwood, hardwood on the other hand, well people faint when you tell them the price. I think the era for cheap softwood will be over soon with the amount of new producers wanting to buy the raw material.

 

Well when the beer money boys decide demand has forced them to buy in the wood, and realise its not as easy as they once thought, you'll see an increase in their price.

Quality!!! Buy cheap, buy twice!!!!

 

I put a lot of work and effort into creating a good product for the customer, so I'm not prepared to give it away!!!