spring pellet pricing opinions

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mysticlaker

New Member
Dec 23, 2008
26
Medford, MA
I am thinking about doing the 3 ton delivery of granules from pellet sales with their spring time pricing ($259 delivered)...

I don't want to get screwed like last year.

Anyone have insight into pellet pricing, and what the expected cost per ton will be this spring/summer? 259 sounds reasonable, but like everyone else, am trying to make the best decision possible during these troubling economic times.
 
I've been quoted $210 per ton in April at stove shop close to me. The pellets are Hamer's, Energex or O'Malley's and the price does not include the delivery. We'll probably rent a Uhaul and get them ourselves. My dealer is tentatively saying $239 per ton for Lignetics but they want a deliver fee of $45 for the first ton and $35 for each additional ton. I'm not willing to pay that delivery fee since we're looking at getting 6 tons.
 
Mystic Laker said:
I am thinking about doing the 3 ton delivery of granules from pellet sales with their spring time pricing ($259 delivered)...

I don't want to get screwed like last year.

Anyone have insight into pellet pricing, and what the expected cost per ton will be this spring/summer? 259 sounds reasonable, but like everyone else, am trying to make the best decision possible during these troubling economic times.

IMO If at all possible, see if you can find that brand locally and pick up a
couple of bags to try out first. Always best to try out a few bags of a brand
before committing to tons of them and end up hating them.
 
$259 certainly doesn't sound very reasonable for spring pricing to me!

I wouldn't pay over $225 for pellets, especially at today's fuel prices. In fact, I don't think I'll be buying pellets again until I see them around $200 a ton... I flat out refuse to support today's crazy $250+ prices. If people don't buy them, prices will be forced to come down. And if prices don't come down, I'll use something else.
 
It's not looking good for low pellet prices. Mills are shutting down and going bankrupt at a faster pace now than just 3-4 months ago. I spoke with one of the mills I contract haul for this morning and he said they are only going to run 1-2 days a week until their lumber buyers totally shut them off ( he knows it's coming). Sawdust supplies will be close to non existent for the next 4-6 months if not longer. It's not looking good for the forest products or pellet industry.
 
sooooo --- the option is buy now or wait till fall???
 
I agree with wet1.

Any more than $225 its a hold for me! I will find something else to keep warm.

I need 5-6 ton's and A friend is good for at least 4, We going to use that to maybe get a better price!

Jay
 
$225 sounds good to me ........
 
Wet1 said:
$259 certainly doesn't sound very reasonable for spring pricing to me!

I wouldn't pay over $225 for pellets, especially at today's fuel prices. In fact, I don't think I'll be buying pellets again until I see them around $200 a ton... I flat out refuse to support today's crazy $250+ prices. If people don't buy them, prices will be forced to come down. And if prices don't come down, I'll use something else.

100% agree with you. To run my furnace on propane a day is like 5 gallons of propane, That's $8.75 a day. I bought a pellet stove to save some cash not spend more of it. I just had delivered 120 cu/yds of large rounds of white oak and it cost me $150.00. One of towns is doing a major tree cutting project and I am paying the truck driver $50 a load to bring his loads of 40 yd roll off containers out to me. Corn is cheap right now also in my area.
 
rgros said:
I've been quoted $210 per ton in April at stove shop close to me. The pellets are Hamer's, Energex or O'Malley's and the price does not include the delivery. We'll probably rent a Uhaul and get them ourselves. My dealer is tentatively saying $239 per ton for Lignetics but they want a deliver fee of $45 for the first ton and $35 for each additional ton. I'm not willing to pay that delivery fee since we're looking at getting 6 tons.

I just paid 338 a tn for hammers her in NJ. I just bought 5 tons of Patterson pellets from a trucker here in NJ for 225 a ton.They burn super hot 8600 BTUs. This was just a one time deal.
 
Mystic Laker said:
I am thinking about doing the 3 ton delivery of granules from pellet sales with their spring time pricing ($259 delivered)...

I don't want to get screwed like last year.

Anyone have insight into pellet pricing, and what the expected cost per ton will be this spring/summer? 259 sounds reasonable, but like everyone else, am trying to make the best decision possible during these troubling economic times.

Check out the pricing log on this site - Pellets direct has just reduced their pricing to $199 cash and carry. I think downward pricing pressure will contiune as long as Home heating oil is ~$2bucks/gal.
 
Proceed with caution
Those $199 pellets are standard grade not premium.
 
I would lock in for $225 if I was you. Get it in writting.

Eric
 
davemhughes said:
Wet1 said:
$259 certainly doesn't sound very reasonable for spring pricing to me!

I wouldn't pay over $225 for pellets, especially at today's fuel prices. In fact, I don't think I'll be buying pellets again until I see them around $200 a ton... I flat out refuse to support today's crazy $250+ prices. If people don't buy them, prices will be forced to come down. And if prices don't come down, I'll use something else.

100% agree with you. To run my furnace on propane a day is like 5 gallons of propane, That's $8.75 a day. I bought a pellet stove to save some cash not spend more of it. I just had delivered 120 cu/yds of large rounds of white oak and it cost me $150.00. One of towns is doing a major tree cutting project and I am paying the truck driver $50 a load to bring his loads of 40 yd roll off containers out to me. Corn is cheap right now also in my area.

Us "Northeaster's" don't have the luxury of such inexpensive fuels. We have much lower outdoor temps, and heat for a longer period of time. Heck if I could get propane for $1.75/gal, I would never have put a pellet stove in.

I'd jump on $225/ton. That's only $26/ton more than I paid this year on an early bird special.
 
Exactly and painfully correct, TboneMan. My central heat is propane. It is insanely expensive on a BTU basis. $225 / ton is VERY favorable to current LP costs. Reduced carbon impact and warmer zone heating are nice fringe benefits, but I have plenty of incentive to burn pellets with simple economics. Price equivalency to $2 oil is around $1.32/gallon of propane. It's not going to happen.
 
But you guys do have other options, such as coal and cord wood. Both of these are cheaper than pellets (especially now). In fact, you can buy a coal stove that looks and works exactly like a pellet stove (plus it's capable of producing more heat) if you're really hooked on the pellet stove idea. Cord wood is obviously readily plentiful in these areas and the stoves are generally cheaper, plus their no dependency on electricity (same can generally be said about coal stoves). A little more work, but a lot cheaper, if not almost free if you're willing to harvest the wood yourself. Solar is another option.

There are some pros and cons with alternatives, but the point is there are alternatives to outrageously priced propane and pellets.
 
Of course there are options, I'm simply saying that pellets are not a disaster from an economic perspective, at least for me. Each choice has advantages and disadvantages. Cordwood: I would have to purchase it, I don't own a wood lot. Don't let the NH address fool you, wood is very expensive where I am. Like $250+ / cord. It is less expensive than pellets overall, but not that much less expensive to be worth the hassle I've decided. Coal I can't really speak about because I did not want to consider it.
 
Last winter for the 5 months I use the most oil Nov - March I paid $4,200 for oil. I figure even at 300 a ton for that same time frame at $1500 I am way ahead of the game with pellets ! I own 17 acres of hardwoods and my wife couldnt understand why I was so dead against a woodstove vs a Pellet. I am 46 years old pretty good shape.I can easily cut split stack wood for a few more years . My thinking I pull my back out have a freak accident with the chainsaw I will be dependent on someone else supplying my wood and around here it goes for 200-250 a cord. My brother has burned wood for years and he is married to the chores of cutting splkitting and stacking .I would much rather open a bag evey 8 hrs and enjoy my time off .
 
I don't have any insight on future pricing, but I will say that
in these current times in Massachusetts, $259 a ton delivered
is not outrageous. Yeah there may be other options, but
most of us already weighed those options before we bought our stoves.
May not be the right choice for everyone, but for some of us the pellet stove
was the right fit.
 
Propane is nearly $4 a gallon here, a cord of seasoned wood hovers around the $250 mark delivered, less if you're buying green or log-length (but then it's not a direct comparison to a ready-to-burn bag o' pellets). Pellets at $225-250 delivered sounds just dandy to me. Hell, I'll pay a premium because it's a helluva lot less work than wood and less harmful than fossil fools.
 
This year it's anyones guess how it will go.....
old thread with predictions.... https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/19914/
The economy as we all know is far worse.........
but the pricing should still be set in or around April like always.......
will they be higher or lower? it has been a gamble the last several years, but typical that they increase a bit in April for the fall/winter season.....
But after this past years cluster f%#$ You may not see the dealers cutting the inventory in the spring, and simply hold onto it till the price gets driven up again....
Again no one really knows.... But there is still not enough raw materials for the pellet manufacturers......
 
I just checked HD where I live and they are selling prest-o-logs at $299 per ton. Not gonna buy them at that price.
 
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