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In this Week's Pellet Wire:
From the Director's Desk:
Our Season Starts Now
August is a pivotal month for wood pellet producers and for many in the sectors serves as the unofficial starting line for the upcoming season. In that spirit, welcome to the 2021—22 heating season.
August finds producers shipping more product than they make and the inventory drawdown for the heating season begins. Last August was a whopper, with over 224,000 tons shipped, good enough for the third-highest month in the year, and just missing a silver medal (had to slip in an Olympics reference there) by a couple of hundred tons.
This August will find producers with more inventory on the ground and available for retailers since probably 2018, and what impact that will have on overall sales for the month is anyone’s guess. While we’re several months from knowing the exact figure, I suspect we’ve got close to 300,000 tons of inventory on the ground, and our retail partners look at the same reports I do. What can’t be known is how many pellets the average pellet-burning consumer exited with at the end of last year’s heating season. If the answer is “not many” and those consumers are actively making their first pellet purchases of the heating season, then I would expect strong August sales figures again. Retailers respond to consumer demand and are continually comparing product sales trends (including pellets) against prior year sales.
All of the available data tells me the industry is prepared for a deep and prolonged winter that only a heating fuel producer could love. At our annual conference retailers were reporting that the impact of the tax credit for qualifying wood and pellet appliances was already being felt via increased sales.
The table is set for a banner year and I hope mother nature does her part with the kind of winter that will give new pellet appliance owners a thorough appreciation for the difference in comfort that only wood heat can deliver.
—Tim Portz
Executive Director
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