Pellet shortage? Price increases? Oct 2020

[Thumbster]

Sign on the door said pellet shortage and prices would go up when inventory was depleted.
This was in eastern indiana at a local Do it Best hardware store. Bought a couple bags of somersets for $5.50 while I was in there.
Just wondering since I haven’t seen anything mentioned about it on here.

 

[Mt Bob]

Do It Best stores are franchises.Sounds like someone forgot to put their order in.Find another seller.

 

[hockeypuck]

With dino fuels at the current price levels.. no...find another outlet. Go to your local big box store and see what prices they have.

 

[peakbagger]

I am not pellet burner but the local Tractor Supply in northern NH has more pallets of pellets than I have seen for long time especially this time of year.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

Here in CT , plenty of pellets to go around ....3 Home Depot’s within 15 miles all have 80+ tons in stock each . even the local pellet dealer has a lot in stock

 

[ABMax24]

I find it hard to believe there would be a shortage this year. Lumber prices are through the roof and mills are racing to keep up. As such they have a lot more wood scraps available to make pellets with.

 

[bogieb]

Local TSC has plenty of pellets although this year, instead of all MWP's, they now also have Nature's own (the MWPs could be left over from last year but I didnt' ask). The local Aubuchon's just got a bunch of Green Supremes and Okenagan Plats - the brands they normally sell (for way too much per bag), Agway seems to have plenty of NEWPs. My area doesn't get any of the "super premium" pellets like Somersets, DF's, Cubex etc.

 

[tlc1976]

I was concerned earlier this year but ended up being no shortage when I got mine. One store totally jacked the prices but the farm and home had them about the same as normal price before. Just no crazy sales like they used to have.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I was concerned earlier this year but ended up being no shortage when I got mine. One store totally jacked the prices but the farm and home had them about the same as normal price before. Just no crazy sales like they used to have.

I usually buy from a local dealer here vs big box store... I was surprised pellets we’re slightly higher than last season. I saw Home Depot had the 6 tons for 219 each.. found out I’d be getting stove chow.. I was all over it lol.

 

[tlc1976]

I bought from a local masonry shop last year and paid a little more at 272.50/ton. They were nice folks and offered delivery for a fee, which I utilized. But this year they raised it to 330 a ton. Almost 100 more a ton than the Farm and Home in town, where I paid 235 a ton. To me that’s just too much more for the same brand of pellets. So I picked up my 4 ton, 1 ton at a time.

 

[Peterfield]

Nope. No shortage thus far. In my travels in the Northeast, I see piles of pellets everywhere.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Plenty here and pricing is the same as last year, $212.00 a ton picked up. MHP. Good stuff.

 

[Jack Morrissey]

Sign on the door said pellet shortage and prices would go up when inventory was depleted.
This was in eastern indiana at a local Do it Best hardware store. Bought a couple bags of somersets for $5.50 while I was in there.
Just wondering since I haven’t seen anything mentioned about it on here.

I call BS !

 

[hockeypuck]

Oil is just too cheap. If it spikes for some reason, it might drive prices, or the weather channel starts sensationalizing a "polar express" for the ages... do not see it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Propane is cheaper yet. Gas here ( gasoline) is $1.89 a gallon

 

[ABMax24]

Propane is cheaper yet. Gas here ( gasoline) is $1.89 a gallon

Man that's frustrating, we're paying $0.979/liter for gasoline right now and its literally produced from under my feet, and diesels even bad at $0.879/liter.

But I guess wood pellets are no better, Spruce Pointe Softwood pellets are made at the Vanderwell sawmill in Slave Lake (3.5hrs east of me) and the price in the local Rona is $319/ton, guys in Maine are paying less after having them shipped halfway across the continent. Maybe that's another reason why almost no one here burns pellets?

 

[SidecarFlip]

How many liters in a gallon? I don't do metric stuff. Bad enough I have to have metric tools to work on my cars....lol I think you are getting screwed, metrically.....

Look at it this way on pellets, demand drops, pellet mills and retailers have to lower prices or the mills go out of business. Supply and demand.

 

[ABMax24]

How many liters in a gallon? I don't do metric stuff. Bad enough I have to have metric tools to work on my cars....lol I think you are getting screwed, metrically.....

Look at it this way on pellets, demand drops, pellet mills and retailers have to lower prices or the mills go out of business. Supply and demand.

3.79 Liter to a gallon, even with the CAD to USD exchange rate we are paying $2.82 USD/gallon. But yes, metrically we are getting the shaft, which is much worse when measured in meters and not feet.

Most of our pellets get shipped out, very little gets burnt here. All our biomass power plants just burn chips, bark or sawdust. The pellets are too valuable to burn here for fuel. There's been a lot of investment lately in new pellet plants to supply Europe's biomass plants. But I'm not sure how long that will last, looks like biomass subsidies are starting to end in Europe. On the upside pellet prices might hold steady or even drop.

Dutch government to phase out subsidies for biomass-fuelled power stations - Canadian Biomass Magazine

The Dutch government agreed on Friday, Oct. 16, to phase out the use of subsidies for power stations fuels by biomass.

www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca

 

[SidecarFlip]

I remember reading a while back about shiploads of bulk pellets going to Europe. So if the gummit subsidies end and pellet export tanks, your pellet prices will also tank. They have to stay in business otrgo tits up. Sounds liker a good deal for the consumer.

I take it you have crap gas up there too? I take the ethanol out of the gas I use in my small engines. Pretty easy to to. Mix e-gas with water, shake well, let sit overnight and drain off the gasoline and toss the remainder on the burn pile. Alcohol and water mix well so it separates from the gasoline.

 

[ABMax24]

In reality very few of us burn pellets, it's just too expensive, we are allowed to harvest firewood on any vacant crown land with just a $5 permit, so most that do burn cut their own wood. But natural gas is so cheap almost everyone just uses that for heat, I live in a newer subdivision of just over 200 homes, I'm the only one with a wood stove, it's more of a novelty. The areas with houses built in the 70's and 80's have a much higher proportion of wood stoves however used for supplemental heat.

What has happened though is the supply of waste wood for our biomass to electricity plants has become more scarce, they now have to compete with the pellet plants for fuel. It really makes no sense, why ship the biomass in the form of pellets half way around the globe when we can burn it here in raw form and generate electricity for ourselves?

No our gas is pretty good, I've never had a single issue from poor fuel, and know very few people that have. If there is an issue it's usually from a fuel station causing water contamination. I live 4.5 hours away from Edmonton which has 4 separate refineries that produce the lions share of the gasoline for Western Canada, much of which is cracked from the heavy oil from the oil sands. In essence we get to burn semi-synthetic gasoline and diesel in our vehicles. We do have ethanol in our gas, 5% average is mandated by the government, but many stations offer ethanol free premium. In some ways the ethanol is nice, it acts as a gas-line antifreeze in the winter, it really doesn't take much moisture at all in -40 to plug a fuel line.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Easy to remove as well (ethanol). Far as biomass pellets for fuel, you all need to have a serious talk with your Premier about that. IO'm sure the Canadian Government is making a killing on excise tax on shipments of pellets to Europe. All about taxes and feeding the ever increasing hunger of central government. Kind of like here where the government is the nations largest employer, has the largest budget and makes no tangible product. A private entity would go bust in a month operating under those guidelines but you as well as us, allow that to perpetuate.

Viscous circle and we are the providers of the funding with no choice on our part.

 

[ABMax24]

It's industry based in our case, the pellets are simply worth more compared to raw fuel for biomass plants, our low electricity prices can't sustain high cost fuels.

I'd love to have a chat with our Prime Minister, but as evidenced by his numerous ethics violations he has no interest in what the public thinks.

But anyway this is way off topic.

 

[Highbeam]

3.79 Liter to a gallon, even with the CAD to USD exchange rate we are paying $2.82 USD/gallon. But yes, metrically we are getting the shaft, which is much worse when measured in meters and not feet.

Most of our pellets get shipped out, very little gets burnt here. All our biomass power plants just burn chips, bark or sawdust. The pellets are too valuable to burn here for fuel. There's been a lot of investment lately in new pellet plants to supply Europe's biomass plants. But I'm not sure how long that will last, looks like biomass subsidies are starting to end in Europe. On the upside pellet prices might hold steady or even drop.

Dutch government to phase out subsidies for biomass-fuelled power stations - Canadian Biomass Magazine

The Dutch government agreed on Friday, Oct. 16, to phase out the use of subsidies for power stations fuels by biomass.

www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca

Your gas prices are not bad. We’re at 2.54 US dollars per US gallon right now. Gas 87 or diesel. It varies a lot across the US mostly due to various levels of taxation.

I’ve also never had a problem with ethanol in the gas.

I was afraid lumber prices were high due to lack of mill activity which meant lack of residue for pellet manufacture which means low supply and high prices for pellets.

Sheets of OSB are pushing 25$ here.

 

[ABMax24]

I was afraid lumber prices were high due to lack of mill activity which meant lack of residue for pellet manufacture which means low supply and high prices for pellets.

Sheets of OSB are pushing 25$ here.

I think that's part of it, a lot of mills here in the west were closed in 2019 due to perpetually low prices and increasing stumpage rates/royalties. But since the huge spike in demand with Covid a lot of mills are working overtime now to reap the benefits of high prices while they last. The loggers I talk to say they've never seen it so good, fuel prices are low and many mills have bumped up rates in an effort to get more timber to the mills, for once they are doing better than just scraping by. Another factor is low pulp prices, there less incentive to turn every chip of scrap wood into pulp because the profit isn't there, leaving more behind for pellets.

Our lumber prices are all over the map and change daily and vary a lot store to store. One place might be selling 3/4" spruce plywood for $56, another will be $96. I was hoping to finish my basement this winter, but last I checked an 8' 2x4 was about $7.50, this time last year they were just over $3, so not sure if that project will get started this year. Our prices make no sense now, 3/8" plywood is selling for $28, while 3/8" osb is $31.

 

[Highbeam]

I think that's part of it, a lot of mills here in the west were closed in 2019 due to perpetually low prices and increasing stumpage rates/royalties. But since the huge spike in demand with Covid a lot of mills are working overtime now to reap the benefits of high prices while they last. The loggers I talk to say they've never seen it so good, fuel prices are low and many mills have bumped up rates in an effort to get more timber to the mills, for once they are doing better than just scraping by. Another factor is low pulp prices, there less incentive to turn every chip of scrap wood into pulp because the profit isn't there, leaving more behind for pellets.

Our lumber prices are all over the map and change daily and vary a lot store to store. One place might be selling 3/4" spruce plywood for $56, another will be $96. I was hoping to finish my basement this winter, but last I checked an 8' 2x4 was about $7.50, this time last year they were just over $3, so not sure if that project will get started this year. Our prices make no sense now, 3/8" plywood is selling for $28, while 3/8" osb is $31.

I too noticed the plywood price stayed the same while OSB jumped 2-3x.