This
year 'could' be another challenging year.
We purchase our products from four different distributors.
While none are predicting "certain" doom and gloom,
they also aren't saying this year will be a piece of cake,
either..
The operative word seems to be "caution".
They are telling us to buy... NOW... all we can...
They are not trying to scare us, or sell us more product.
And we aren't trying to scare you! Just passing along, what we
hear.
They know we buy from them anyway, they don't have to pressure
us.
We are getting 2 to 3 truckloads a week... every week..
Today, there is a large foreign demand for pellets.
Many of the Northern pellet mills are now exporting much of their
production.
The problem is, some of these places are not producing more than
they used to,
they are operating at full capacity now..
We have heard that LG, one of our top brands,
between domestic and exported sales is now oversold for the year.
What that means, is that all of the product they expect to make,
is claimed.
So if the winter is like last year, or heaven forbid, worse,
there could be problems.
We have a good relationship with them, and we should be fine.
Also heard rumors, a few of the other popular pellets in the
Northeast have similar situations.
Now in fairness, we do not deal with those brands, but we have
heard this..
Product will still be available from many dealers but their
supplies are not infinite,
which means they are only going to get a certain number of loads,
and that's it.
Another concern lately, has been transportation.
Independent truckers are swamped right now, and rates are
climbing.
Some dealers that have waited too long to order, are finding lead
times up to 6 weeks!
That doesn't lend itself to a lot of confidence, in our opinion..
The only way to get product delivered in times like this, is to pay
more !
We were the only dealer in our area that sold pellets during the
big shortage last season.
We NEVER
ran out!
But we also paid a premium to get them, and limited sales to make
sure everyone had heat.
Let's hope that doesn't happen this year. But we are doing
everything we can
right now, to insure that "if" there is a problem at
some point in the season,
we are doing all we can to have pellets for our customers!