Slow down in demand hits wood recyclers in SW England

A number of companies have cited a slow down in business from the boardmills, coupled with the usual maintenance closure periods at the mills, as a reason for raising the gate fee.

A continuing increase in operating costs is also contributing to the rise in the gate fees, not least with the high oil prices affecting transport costs for companies trucking wood to boardmills.

Gate fees for waste wood differ greatly across the country depending on local landfill costs, varying transport distances to end markets and because some areas of the UK experience a greater competition for material.

But while wood recyclers in the north of England are charging up to 8 per tonne, further south prices could be on the way up towards 30 per tonne.

Chris Jonas, general manger at Wyvern Waste, said he has increased his gate fee by about a quarter, but there has been a steady increase in gate fees because of increasing maintenance costs and quality standards for recycled wood.

He said: “We are keeping the increase steady to keep customers, but we are heading towards 30.”

Slowdown
Dorset-based composting and wood recycling firm Eco Composting has increased its fee by about a third and the company's managing director, Trelawney Dampney, said this was largely because of the difficulty in finding markets for the material at the moment.

Mr Dampney explained: “Slough Heat and Power are severely limiting the inputs of recycled wood and thereby giving wood recyclers like Eco major problems with the disposal of their end products.

“This has been coupled by a slowdown in demand from the board manufacturers, such as Norbord, because the demand from B&Q; for MDF has slowed,” he added.

Alistair Kerr, director general of the Wood Panel Industries Federation, which represents boardmills, agreed that there appeared to be a general slow-down in the market in-line with a decline in the retail sector.

“At the end of last year and earlier this year retailers and the construction industry were quite strong and were taking plenty of wood from panel board manufacturers, but since then there has been a steady slow down,” Mr Kerr said.