20 years ago, Nelly Gorczyca and her husband, settled in Collonges-lès-Premières, south-east of Dijon, decide to invest in a pellet stove for heating. An economical solution, wood costing less than fuel oil or electricity, and above all ecological. They would never have thought for a second that in September 2022, a few weeks before winter, they would find themselves without pellets.
“It’s hard to believe, but we have enough to warm up for a day and a half” confides the sixty-year-old, glancing at her pellet stove, which was turned off this afternoon. Honestly, we fell from above.” Why have we come to such a situation?
This summer we were told that despite the stocks, there were no pellets available for sale
Like every year, the Gorczyca couple and around twenty neighbours, who also heat themselves with pellets, went to get their pellets for the winter in July: “We need, with 24 people, about 27 tons of pellets. We buy in bulk, so it is less expensive for us. But this summer we were told that despite the stocks, there were no pellets available on sale”.
– Antoine Comte
Reason given: the pellets were already reserved. But a few weeks ago, Nelly Gorczyca received a new call: granules are available again. “I asked at what price, I was told 9 euros 45 per bag, against 4 euros last year”. A price that has more than doubled, far too expensive for these individuals. “We’re going to put on jumpers and blankets. We’re going to bring out my grandmother’s oil stove and wood stove. We’ve been ecological for 20 years but now, what do you want, we’re being forced to no longer be” sighs the sixty-something.
Soaring demand for pellets
The Gorczyca are not the only ones in this case. In France, it was very difficult to get wood pellets this summer, while more and more French people are turning to pellet heating. Results, pellet sellers have spent the last tense months. Emmanuel Ampaud, co-manager of Piretti Energies, a petroleum and wood product distribution company in Varois-et-Chaignot, north of Dijon: “We had up to 200 calls a day from people wanting pellets. But there were no more available because what was in stock had been sold out in May-June, and new stock arrives in September-October. We had nothing to give them.”
Why such an increase in demand? “We really had a panic effect on consumers, who are worried about the increase in fuel oil or electricity. In addition, the State has been pushing for a few years to install pellet stoves. With this double effect, it there were no more stocks anywhere and the delivery times were spread out” continues Emmanuel Ampaud.
The price of sawdust has been multiplied by 10
But all this does not explain the sharp rise in prices. Faced with the dissatisfaction of individuals, some accusing the pellet sector of wanting to make a profit by taking advantage of the explosion in demand, we invoke the energy crisis on the producer side.
This is the case of Sylvain Gully, managing director of JRS Fiber Brenil, a pellet producer in Côte-d’Or: “Energy inflation also affects us. We have had a reduction in the activity of sawyers. So a scarcity of the raw material for pellets, sawdust. Its price has been multiplied by 10. And then the production of pellets is very energy-intensive, also in full inflation. Not to mention that with a demand that has doubled, we can no longer keep up”.
Prices still high in the coming months
Will the situation change soon? “This year, there will be a shortage of 1 million tonnes of pellets in Franceexplains Emmanuel Ampaud, of Piretti Energies. We will have a new arrival in the coming weeks, but the prices will always be the same, namely 950 euros per ton, against 350 last winter.
A fall in prices is therefore not on the cards. For this, the players in the sector refer to next winter. In the meantime, the State would consider financial aid for consumers of wood pellets.