It's now a daily headline that the UK economy is experiencing multiple challenges that are causing an adverse effect on the nations supply chains. From supermarket shelves that will be empty, and uncertainty of petrol stations supplies! Meanwhile, the haulage industry is still suffering from a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers.
On top of the challenges already faced, news that inflation is about to climb and that everything will be double the price by next year!
Whilst we are sure of some exaggeration in the news, we can tell you that in terms of the firewood and coal supply sold by Log-Delivery, there are a few issues we can verify:
There has been a general shortage of firewood, which has seen an increase of over 20% in raw material costs. Mainly due to the surge in demand for building and construction materials, which has meant that foresters and kiln operators have turned their focus to construction timbers. We have been experiencing monthly increases for the past seven months, and this trend shows no signs of slowing.
At this point, we do not know how long the prices will continue to rise.
If the trend continues, we could see a 10-20% increase in January and February 2022, with a general stabilisation of prices from March 2022 onwards when the demand eases.
Shipping and haulage prices increase with delivery delays of over 30 days due to demand created during COVID lockdowns and the lack of European drivers working in the UK.
It has been increasingly difficult to import wood from our suppliers and send national deliveries to our customers on the national pallet network. We have been experiencing delays of up to 7 days for some areas, where it used to be a 48-hour service.
Deliveries within London and Surrey made on our fleet have yet to be affected, and we currently have the resources to make most deliveries on time. However, due to ongoing protests and road closures, it is becoming more challenging to achieve the 3-hour timeslots. We will soon need to move to an AM/PM delivery service to ensure we can deliver as many orders as possible in the run-up to Christmas. Remember, we can deliver without you needing to be home if you leave instructions for the driver when placing the order online.
With cold weather due and the increase in demand for the run-up to Christmas, it's best not to wait until the last minute to order logs.
There are only 6 Weekends before Christmas and our weekend slots fill up fast. We are often fully booked for up to 2 weeks in advance, so we urge all customers to order as soon as they can, wherever possible.