South-west firewood suppliers say fuel and labour costs are increasing

Sean Hester, from Firewood Merchants, said suppliers were also finding it difficult to get wood from plantations in Victoria due to state government regulations.

"The biggest issue we were facing was the fuel costs going through the roof, you've got to remember the logs that we're getting now we harvested when fuel was about $2.30 per litre," he said.

"That adds to the flow on costs and labour has gone through the roof. The cost of the wood from the farmer or the plantations has gone up.

"A lot of the wood is now coming out of New South Wales because Victoria has pretty much locked everything up.

"That will put pressure on the price because it's getting freighted an extra 1000kms and it wasn't before.

"Next year I would expect people will see another price rise and probably a shortage as well.

"Everything is going to have to come from New South Wales and south-east Queensland. There is going to be some supply issues until it levels out again."

With cost of living pressures stacking up Mr Hester said people were using a mix of wood heaters and electricity to heat homes.

"What they don't realise is wood is a renewable energy," he said. "Burning properly sourced firewood is just as eco-friendly as getting your power from a wind turbine."

Mr Hester said the price of firewood had gone up about 20 per cent in the past 12 months.

"But the wood guys are probably making less than they were five years ago because the costs have gone up," he said.

"You've got insurance, fuel and wages - they have gone through the roof. We're certainly aware of the cost pressures and we do what we can for our customers.

"If customers can buy in summer you usually find most wood guys will offer a little discount.

"I'd certainly encourage people to get it in the off-season if they can. Use a mixture of electricity and your wood heater and get a happy balance between the two and you can try and keep your costs down."

McKenna Firewood's Zeb McKenna said there had been an increase in people wanting firewood and it was getting harder to source wood due to the wet conditions in the south-west.

"The ground is getting wetter and it's harder to get firewood," he said. "The ground is getting bogged, we've got to travel two-and-a-half hours to get red gum."

He said he sold red gum for $200 per metre but knew of others selling it for $260 per metre. "When I first started I was selling for about $160 so it has gone up a fair bit," he said.

"Through the summer we were cutting wood every day and trying to get a stockpile but we were selling it as quick as we could get it. "It's hard to get on the properties and you've got to pay the farmer's royalties which are going up because they know how hard it is to get. It's getting harder to get closer to home, if you want good wood you've got to travel for it."

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