Ash Market Update - Why is Ash Getting More Expensive in Price?
Posted by Oliver Edis on
Ash is currently in high demand, as is common for this time of year, due to it being the most popular wood to be used as firewood. Even though other types of wood, such as Birch, are just as good for our fires and stoves, Ash has become the wood of choice.
Not just in the UK, but across Europe we have been burning more Ash than any other wood and the availability as we know it is coming to an end.
High demand coupled with the spread of Ash dieback or Hymenoscyphus Fraxineus has impacted on the amount of Ash available here in the UK. The shortage at home is now also leading to a shortage of imported Ash too.
This shortage of Ash along with the estimated 30% increases in price that all other timbers have experience in the last 12 months, according to a report in Confor Magazine*, has lead to a shortage driven increase in the price of Ash.
This shortage of Ash is a reminder to us all that we need to reduce our reliance of Ash and start burning other hardwoods such as Birch and Oak.
* Confor - Promoting forestry and wood
Forestry & Timber News October 2018, Issue 89. Page 6