Wood prices are soaring, in addition to a growing shortage.
Firewood suppliers are unanimous: there won't be enough logs for everyone this winter.
In all, "
between 7.5 and 8 million French homes are equipped with wood-energy heating (logs and pellets combined)
", according to a 2019 report by the National Committee for the Development of Wood.
On its website, the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) specifies that the government's ambition is to increase the number of homes heated with wood to 9.5 million by 2023, to reach 11.3 million in 2028.
“
In recent weeks, Ademe has widely promoted pellet heating, which has been installed by many professionals.
But this has led to a sharp increase in the price of wood
”, regrets Gérard Fellous, manager of Quality-bûches.
Not only "
the price of pellets has tripled in the last six months, also driving that of logs and our loads
", completes the retailer.
Since June, the price of raw wood pallets has increased by 20%, forcing Gérard Fellous to apply this increase to his customers: "
I have recorded three increases since the beginning of the summer, which are only repercussions of my supplier's prices
".
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According to him, "
demand has increased tenfold since July
" when it generally only begins in the fall.
“
Without advertising, I receive around a hundred calls a day, which I forward directly to voicemail.
It never existed, it's unprecedented
, ”says Gérard Fellous astonished.
Same observation for Julian, a supplier of firewood who has “
never seen that in [his] life
”.
He receives about forty calls a day, against only five in normal times.
“
I hope the winter won't be harsh, otherwise it's going to be very complicated
,” he worries.
"New entrants who have smelled the goose that lays the golden egg"
Julian thus limits the number of cubic meters per person, up to five for a single delivery.
These bundles of one cubic meter of wood are starting to run out at resellers, and “
no one will have enough stocks
”, warns Gérard Fellous.
A similar situation for Patrick Heib, reseller in Moselle: “
There is no more stock anywhere, I keep my steres for my loyal customers, hoping to last until the end of winter.
“Normally sold between 55 and 57 euros per unit, the cubic meter of wood is today between 60 and 65 euros at this merchant.
In 2020-2021, French demand for wood amounted to 1.8 million tonnes, rising to 2 million tonnes in 2021-2022.
A figure that explodes for the winter of 2022-2023 to 2.4 million tonnes of wood, according to estimates by the French Federation of Fuels.
A craze that has not gone unnoticed by suppliers.
“
My producer informed me of the arrival of many new entrants, who smelled the golden goose.
At timber auctions, they always buy at the highest price and distort the market.
The elders are also starting to withdraw
, ”observes Gérard Fellous, who launched his activity in 2003.
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Added to this is the modification of the regulations on September 1st which obliges resellers to provide their customers with several information on their wood: species, length, quantity and humidity level.
From September 2023, logs under two meters - and therefore cubic meters - must be dry wood only.
The quantity of logs will thus decrease, knowing that it takes on average 18 to 24 months to dry the wood.