Prices going up!

[Snipe]

Hi everyone. I just came back from Lowe's here in Auburn, ME and since I bought my pellets almost two weeks ago for $236 a ton they've increased it to $270 a ton. When I purchased my pellets I had the option to hold off delivery until Sept. but I've changed that to next week because who knows what's going to happen between now and then. Also, I dropped in at the place where I bought my stove (Harman Accentra) today and his price has increased by about 10% in a week and a half. I'd say if you're going to purchase pellets or a stove you better do it soon folks.

All this bad news makes me wonder if this is still the best idea. It makes sense at the moment but what about next year. With the downturn in housing construction and the consequential drop in the sawdust quantity from mills producing lumber it kind of makes me wonder now. Prices of pellets will have to increase quite a bit to make it unreasonable to heat with them but it's the availability that has me and a lot of other people concerned right now.

That's life I guess. It's just a big gamble.

Mark

 

[ducker]

yep... just got word from a dealer that I was looking to buy a stove from. Price slid up by 170, based on the fact that all his pre-season inventory is gone, and the next set of stoves have gone up.

 

[j00fek]

no sams club in auburn

 

[sinnian]

no sams club in auburn

No, but there is a BJ's. IDK if they have pellets or not though.

 

[ducker]

I haven't seen any at BJs before - I haven't really looked. But I'd think some of those stores wont carry any pellets until October or so.

 

[webbie]

People and their $$$ are easily separated, and fear can do it faster than pleasure.

No telling about fuel prices, supply or anything else - supply and demand. Everyone is running out and buying stoves and pellets - so the prices are going up,up,up. Pellets have effectively went up from a little over $200 delivered a few months ago, to almost $300 delivered now.....in New England.....less in the midwest.

 

[stoveguy13]

Two of my stoves suppliers are going to have a 5-9% price increase by august. At this point i dont think the prices going up is going to be the biggest issue i think at the pace we are going at the supply of product and fuel will be a bigger problem.

 

[sinnian]

YES, speculation (and greed) is raising the price of pellets more then the 'lack' of sawdust or the price of diesel fuel at the moment.

 

[Tinman]

Here is the latest just posted on (broken link removed)

Subject: Please alert your customers to place their fuel orders right away.

Dear PelletSales.com Dealer Affiliate,

We wanted to write to let you know that we are experiencing an unprecedented surge in demand for our services.

In order to provide our affiliated retailers with the highest possible level of service during this period, we are restricting access to portions of our site to affiliates. Even so, we can not guarantee to meet every request for product or delivery services. Accordingly, we are encouraging our affiliates to notify their customers right away that they should log onto our site and secure their fuel needs for the upcoming season.

Because we are restricting access, your customers will need to use the affiliate code on the back of the Green Dealer Affiliate Card when visiting our site or contacting our customer service personnel. Please be sure to let them know to use that affiliate code when requesting a quote on our site. Should you need more cards please contact our office.

We look forward to continuing to serve you and your customers, and appreciate your cooperation in communicating this message to your customers.

Regards,



Darlene Mangan



PelletSales.Com

AmericanBiomass.Net

I got mine!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Two of my stoves suppliers are going to have a 5-9% price increase by august. At this point i dont think the prices going up is going to be the biggest issue i think at the pace we are going at the supply of product and fuel will be a bigger problem.

we bought up a crapload of steel early as the boss kinda saw it coming , prices may rise late in season , but i think the initial host order stoves will be fairly colse to last years in season prices. that said it will be hard to hold it down as we have to buy additional steel . i imagine most of the industry is looking at the same dilemma.

 

[mjbrown]

YEP! prices are going UP on everything. i work for a fabrication shop in newport and we just put out a bid on a huge job.24 hour from submitting the bid, the price of steel went up 3000 bucks and then the outfit who will be trucking for us called , and his price went up because of diesel prices.

the price of town water just went up in hartland , and you cant even stand the smell of it let alone drink it.

the supermarkets are going up on pricing

the dairy farmers are going up

produce farmers are going up

EVERYTHING IS GOING UP

but , even if the price of pellets went to $400 a ton,it would still be cheaper to heat my home with them than to pay the multi billion dollar profit per year oil corporations( and watching more money go to the ragheads).

the only thing i dont see going up is wages. how are the elderly or the lower income who actually go to work and try to earn an honest living , going to make it this coming winter?

 

[N/A N/A]

Fire wood is on the same track. Last year I was falling over people in line that wanted to sell me fire wood. This year I cant hardly find anyone who can bring wood much before Sept. The one saw mill that I got from the last few years has all but shut down. They told me that they didnt think they would be able to cover the orders they had on the list from last year. Its crazy times and I have a feeling we are only seeing the tip of things to come. If something does not happen with the price of oil it very well could bring this country to its knees??? Just a thought. :coolmad:

 

[lessoil]

I have read that 120 gals of oil is close to 1 ton of pellets. (Heat output)
If I did the math right, pellets would have to be $575/ton to equal $4.85/gal.
Hopefully the current relationship between oil and pellet prices will remain the same.
Right now it costs twice as much using oil vs pellets for the same heat output.
If nothing else, we will have the choice of using pellets or oil.

I do feel sorry for the people on fixed incomes. This coming winter will be terrible for them!

If we stay with oil, our annual cost would be about $2000 more.

P61A on order
5 Tons on order

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Look at how much unleaded, diesel, natural gas, and propane , and corn went up. Did you think wood pellets would be close to the same price as last year? Get ready to pay a lot more for pellets.

Standard over the road shipping has raised over $1.00 a mile since last winter don't you think that has something to do with pellet prices? Most pellet mills are done with their Summer Buy sale. If you did not get pellets by now you better have them soon.

Eric

 

[Dougsey]

Eric, Speaking of the summer buy sale, is it typical for the customer to order pellets in May but not get them until July?

 

[Willman]

Lets hope the Wall street gang doesn't try to commoditize ( might not be a word ) pellets like other commodities. All the investors would have a field day after they got tired of oil. Then what would happen with the prices ?


Will

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Sorry about the delay, the Super Computer had some issues. All is good now. It all depends on the deal you made with your pellet supplier. If you do not have room for storage or the Distributor might not be able to get them until a certain date. I have done some presales but I let the Customer know all the details. Some things are out of our control, weather or mechanical breakdowns for example.

This year is not like last year with pellet sales. At least in my view of the pellet market right now. Get them while you can and make sure you know what you are getting. When I deliver a few tons or have a customer pick them up we open a bag and look at the quality. Sometimes the bags just open by themselves, lol.

Eric 330-876-0200

 

[kilarney]

With the pellet situation the way it is, hearing about plants shipping overseas really drvies me nuts.
Take these new plants, for example:
http://tinyurl.com/47v9ej
(broken link removed to http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/transcript/article/326013)

 

[kilarney]

I really haven't seen the prices go up much at all. This is pretty impressive considering that availability is becoming a real issue.

I pre-ordered pellets in May from a local supplier. Despite ordering in May, I was far enough down the list that I would not get my pellets until September. I got a call from the supplier today. He said that he could make no guarantees now that I would get my pellets in September. He said that the mill is changing his contract. He got more in July than he expected, but less in August. He won't know what his September allocation will be until sometime in July. He started talking about making partial deliveries in order to get everyone through the winter. Instead of getting my entire winter allotment up front in September, I'd get half and then get the rest mid-winter.

By coincidence, I also called Home Depot and Lowes today. Lowes said that they had sold all of the pellets that they expect to come in for the near future, and they were not taking anymore orders. Home Depot is not taking pre-orders. When they get the pellets, it's first come, first served. They expected a shipment in late May, and they are still waiting for it.

Fortunately, I went to the local hardware store. I was able to buy four tons of softwood pellets for $259 per ton. They've always been more expensive than most local suppliers, which is why I think they haven't been hit too hard yet. I think I'll order one more ton in a few days (once I get the four tons loaded in my garage) just to make sure that I have plenty on hand.

Given all of this demand, I think the price I paid was extremely reasonable. I think the problem is that people are starting to hoard the pellets. Everyone wants an entire winter's worth in their garage ASAP. Before, a lot of people spread their purchases out over the heating season. Something tells me that availability in the later part of the winter might not be too bad - but that's just a guess.

Sure, prices have gone up. But in my case they increase wasn't bad at all, and certainly not as bad as the increase in the price of firewood. Let's not forget that there has been a significant increase in production capacity in just the last year or two - with more plants scheduled to come online.

FYI... people who order firewood right now in my area will be lucky to get any by October. So you're in trouble no matter which type of stove you buy.

 

[mikeathens]

Man, this is making me really glad I have a wood burner and 85 acres of woods...

 

[slls]

No property tax on 85 acres, there is where I live.

 

[wil lanfear]

I purchased a Harman pb 105 in March, $5147 with sales tax. I was at the dealer yesterday, $6700 plus tax. I understand the cost of steel, trucking, etc, but......... its just plain old GREED, taking advantage of the situation the way that I see it.

 

[JustWood]

I purchased a Harman pb 105 in March, $5147 with sales tax. I was at the dealer yesterday, $6700 plus tax. I understand the cost of steel, trucking, etc, but......... its just plain old GREED, taking advantage of the situation the way that I see it.

Prices have gone up substantialy on everything.

The price of truck bodies(made from 100% steel) that I use has gone up 250% since 2005. All the body manufacturers are price competetive within 3%.

 

[tinkabranc]

Everything is going up and everyone is feeling it.

Manufacturers are dealing with more than just higher costs for material,
I audit freight bills for a living and see first hand that most less than truckload
carriers are billing their shippers 40-60% fuel surcharge in addition to their "normal"
freight costs. Rail and Intermodal are even higher.

 

[kilarney]

Rail and Intermodal are even higher.

Why is rail higher if it's supposed to be more efficient than over the road trucking?