BUYERS OF FIREWOOD

Harry Watt

North Carolina State University

and

US Forest Service’s Wood Education and Resource Center

www.cnr.ncsu.edu/woodworkshops

Thursday, July 27th, 2012

North Carolina State University

Wood Products Extension

Since 1950 has supported the wood products industry in North

Carolina in the areas of wood education, training, troubleshooting

problems, research and overall assistance in making a large variety of

wood products.

It is the policy of the State of North Carolina to provide equality of

opportunity in education and employment for all students and

employees. Educational and employment decisions should be based

on factors that are germane to academic abilities or job

performance. Accordingly, the North Carolina State University (“NC

State”) does not practice or condone unlawful discrimination in any

form, as defined by this policy.

NCSU/WPE Website = www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wood

Wood Education and Resource Center

• Is the focus of the US Forest Service effort of support of the

hardwood forest industry in the states east of the Great Plains

• Located in Princeton, West Virginia, www.fs.fed.us/werc

• Our WERC projects websites = www.cnr.ncsu.edu/woodworkshops

and www.cnr.ncsu.edu/usalocalwood

The work upon which this workshop is based was funded in whole or in part

through a grant awarded by the Wood Education and Resource Center,

Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service.

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this

institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA

Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-

5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

How to Find Prospects and Customers-

Households and Small Volume Buyers

• Community billboards

• Signs along highways

• Signs on vehicles

• Postcard mailings

• Local businesses

• Local public events

A local firewood producer

sponsoring a parade float-

the goal is to become

visible in the community

Easier to Produce Firewood Than to Sell

• Lots of competition, easy to get into the business

• Have to determined to sell and to devote time to selling

• Good marketing will make a firewood business profitable

How to Find Prospects and Customers-

Selling to Businesses

• Must get organized-set up a contacts system

• Business databases-seek out the categories of

businesses that buy firewood-online and print versions

• Yellow pages, trade associations, chamber of commerce

• Internet searches

• Cooperate with other members of the firewood industry to

grow the industry-growing firewood uses lifts everyone

up!

• Networking!

Firewood Market is Fragmented

• Lots of buyers

• Lots of firewood products

• Lots of ways to buy firewood

• Lots of places to buy firewood

• Future will add lots of new buyers, products, new niches

Few Good Statistics on Buyers and

Volume of Firewood Made and Sold

• US Census lumps firewood into Miscellaneous Products

• No industry reporting services on prices like lumber

• Very dispersed groups of producers and buyers

Firewood Home Heating Graph

from www.forgreenheat.org

shows high swings of firewood use-may depend on price of fossil fuels

Lots of Categories of Firewood Products

Green Seasoned Kiln Dried Salvaged Kiln Dried

(waste)

Split wood Split wood Split wood Kindling

Round wood Round wood Round wood Blocks

Blocks Blocks Wood chips

Cooking chips Wood Chips Sawdust

Pellets Pellets

Briquettes Briquettes

Product-Green Split Firewood

• Initial product of a wood processor

• Can sell to customers who will season (air dry)

• Can sell to campgrounds

• Homeowner and business markets

Green/Seasoned Split Firewood-Buyers

• Local wood stove users-limited delivery area

• Campgrounds and other outdoor open fire pits users

• Restaurants-pizza and bbq are good targets

• Resorts, cabins and lodges are good targets

Product-Green Round Wood

• Smaller diameter limb wood

• Salvage forest product or urban wood product

• Suitable for deep box stoves

• May be important in future if develop downdraft stoves-

not much volume today

roundwood is small

diameter stems or limbs

Product-Seasoned Firewood

• Very important high volume firewood product

• Buyer or seller will air dry for many months-will burn well

if well seasoned

• Split and round wood

• Blocks are pieces of wood as large as a fist or slightly

larger-future block stoves will drive up block demand

• Cooking chips favor outdoor grills and cookers, may kiln

dry slightly but would not overdry

Kiln Dried Split Wood

• Important large volume firewood product

• Important to conform to quarantines

• Stores without getting moldy or decay

• Can sell in bulk, on pallets, in bundles

• Brokers and chain store buyers important for high volume

Other Kiln Dried Firewood Products

• Pellets-a new and growing fuel that offers automated feeding the

highest prices per ton

• Briquettes-sawdust extruded firewood that can be fed automatically

and into existing parlor type stoves

• Wood chips-may be the firewood of the future because of the ability

to be mechanically handled and easy to produce and dry

• Sawdust-waste from processing plants

Secret = Folks Burning Wood Drive the

Sales of Firewood!

• Key is to get more users!

• Have to make burning wood more affordable

• Have to make operating a wood stove easier

o Less work to handle the wood

o Less time to operate the stove

• Have to eliminate the emissions and smoking problems

• Need to sign up schools and local government

Folks Want Alternatives to High Cost

Fossil Fuels

Want to hit the hot buttons of prospects to dump depletion

resource fossil fuels for renewable resource firewood

• Wood is the cheapest fuel

• Wood is “Green” and renewable

• Wood is USA and local

• Burning wood gets us back to nature

Summary

• Lots more opportunity to grow firewood production/sales

• Lots of firewood products can be sold

• Need stoves that offer affordability and low emissions

• Firewood industry participants need to network

• Upside potential is many times the current industry size

• Foresters report plenty of firewood out in the forest