Firewood is scarce and expensive. Specialist dealers usually charge slightly lower prices than those charged for small quantities on the Internet or in hardware stores - although many can only sell fresh wood, which is cheaper than pre-dried firewood anyway. . Wood experts report that the price of beech firewood is currently higher than that of industrial beech wood.

If you want to buy firewood, you have a problem: the market is empty and the prices are very high. Customers therefore often buy fresh goods – which actually have to dry for another two years. And it probably won't get any better. Because the number of wood stove and fireplace owners has increased significantly during the energy crisis.

--- Price Index for firewood - hardwood
Currently, the prices for dry beech wood in the wood trade are between 150 and 180 euros per bulk cubic meter (wood experts say that is around 0.42 solid cubic meters) with billet lengths between 20 and 40 cm - if you can get some.

The demand is huge and the prices for firewood are still very high. Many wood dealers are still sold out and therefore often only sell "fresh wood straight from the machine". This means that you can often only buy firewood that has not yet been dried, which cannot be used immediately.

"Due to the high demand, we ask for your understanding that we cannot accept any new customers at the moment", one can read on numerous websites of timber dealers. And the note: "We are sold out for the current season." At the same time, the demand for firewood continues to increase due to rising energy prices and the growing number of wood-burning stoves.

"The prices for firewood have shot through the roof," says the managing director of the Hessian Forest Owners' Association, Christian Raupach, the Frankfurter Neue Presse. The price for beech firewood, for example, is currently higher than that for beech industrial wood. “Industrial beech wood, which normally goes to the pulp industry, actually no longer exists. That only works in the firewood market,” says the expert.

Often only fresh wood is available - and unit confusion

--- Price Index for beech log
 For dried coniferous wood (spruce, larch, Douglas fir) wood buyers have to shell out between 90 and 100 euros per SRM and fresh goods that have yet to be dried cost between 75 and 85 euros per SRM.

Specialist dealers usually charge slightly lower prices than those charged for small quantities on the Internet or in hardware stores - although many can only sell fresh wood, which is cheaper than pre-dried firewood anyway.

At the same time, buyers must also pay attention to whether the goods are offered in cubic meters or cubic meters and whether it is hardwood or softwood. For example, one loose cubic meter corresponds to one cubic meter of loosely packed wood, which of course then has many air-filled spaces. A layer cubic meter in which the logs are already carefully stacked holds significantly more firewood - namely about 1.5 times a loose cubic metre, say the wood experts.

The price of hardwood is also significantly higher than that of softwood. Typical hardwoods include beech, oak and birch. Softwoods such as larch, pine and spruce are softwoods. If you buy fresh wood, which usually has to be stored for two years before it can be burned, the prices are correspondingly lower than for already dried "ready-to-heat" firewood.

But that also means: When buying fresh wood, you actually need storage and drying options and time.

Beech wood costs 150 to 180 euros per SRM - spruce 90 to 100 euros
Currently, the prices for dry beech wood in the wood trade are between 150 and 180 euros per bulk cubic meter (wood experts say that is around 0.42 solid cubic meters) with billet lengths between 20 and 40 cm - if you can get some. The prices for fresh beech wood usually range between 115 and 120 euros per SRM.

Dried hardwood mixes - with beech and other hardwoods like birch and oak - tend to be a little cheaper, typically costing between $130 and $150 per SRM. "Forest fresh" the prices for these mixtures are between 90 and 120 euros.

For dried coniferous wood (spruce, larch, Douglas fir) wood buyers have to shell out between 90 and 100 euros per SRM and fresh goods that have yet to be dried cost between 75 and 85 euros per SRM. However, the prices mentioned are only a guide and regional wood prices can vary greatly.

Many municipalities and forestry offices also held wood auctions this year - often with a great response - where local residents could buy wood - which usually still had to be processed, transported away and dried. There, too, demand was extremely high and very often could not be met, regional media reports.

The wood offered in these auctions is also called pile wood and here too the prices have risen sharply, but are often well below the "market prices". The prices for firewood made from deciduous and softwood have risen between 70 and 100 percent here, too, confirms Michelle Sundermann, the press spokeswoman for the state authority of Hesse Forest.

Source: agrarheute.com