2023-11-03 13:49:00
In Hastière, the sale of firewood to cut on Thursday, November 2 was rather bad. And for good reason, the Municipality barely made €118 profit. A chasm compared to fall 2022, which saw auctions soar. In Rochefort, Clavier and in many other municipalities, the purchase price of wood had doubled compared to 2021, or almost.
Buying municipal firewood to cut, a good deal?
And in 2023? Is Hastière’s case isolated? Or can we speak of a return “to normal”? “It’s true that prices have fallen considerably,” says Bruno Nailis, economist for Filière Bois Wallonie. But this drop in prices is not surprising. It can easily be explained. “In 2022, prices have increased significantly due to the energy crisis. People looked for alternatives to gas and electricity.” In addition to being cheaper, wood was “safer”. “People knew how much they spent on heating. They were not going to receive, a few months later, a regularization which might cost them very dearly.”
And here, as energy prices have fallen, “the pressure on firewood has reduced. Prices have logically also come down. Today we are very close to 2021 prices.”
Why the price of firewood in Belgium will not return to pre-2020 prices
Merchantable timber remains very high
Although the price of firewood has fallen significantly, this is not the case for merchantable wood, particularly spruce. “Already, during the spring sale, prices were very high. “But this has been going on for a few years now. “Germany still faces major bark beetle problems. Companies therefore decide to source their supplies from neighboring countries, including Belgium.” And more demand drives up prices. “At the start of the year, we were getting between €100 and €110 per m³.”
And this fall? “At the start of the season, prices were rather low. They were running between 60 and 70 per m³.” The fault lies with a construction sector which was slowing down. “But then, as sawmills feared they would run out of raw materials, they bought more wood. Prices have risen to around €80 or €90 per m³.” And thanks to this end of the season which was rather good, “on average the prices are equivalent to those of 2022.”
Evolution of the price of spruce ©Filière Bois Wallonie
That’s for the spruce. But on the other hand, the price of Oak has fallen sharply. “A good part of the wood that we export goes to Asia, and in particular to China. As the real estate market is not doing well there, demand is decreasing.”
Evolution of the price of Oak ©Filière Bois Wallonie
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