Wood suppliers fighting to keep the home fires burning

A long cold winter has put the heat on firewood supplies in Auckland with sellers looking further afield to keep their customers warm.

Sellers and suppliers have told the Herald of unusually high demand for firewood this winter, putting pressure on rapidly dwindling supplies with months of cold weather left.

Last month was the coldest June since 1972, according to figures released by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

Furniss Firewood owner Dean Curlew said the cold snap had "made it tough on everybody".

"A lot of customers have burnt through their normal season's worth of wood already and they've got three or four months of winter still to go."

When the Herald called yesterday, he was in the Far North securing his supply for the rest of the winter.

However, a guaranteed supply comes with the added cost of having to transport firewood from Kerikeri to Auckland.

"We've really had to go out and source it elsewhere. Our normal suppliers have been inundated and they're out of wood."

Mr Curlew, who took over the business late last year, is not sure how much wood he has sold.

"We've been so busy we just haven't had time to do all that normal statistical gathering that we do on a monthly basis.

"It's been quite a baptism of fire."

Another Auckland seller was down to his last 200 cubic metres of wood, which he estimated would last another three weeks. An average order of two cubic metres lasts about six weeks, but regular customers have placed repeat orders about three times already, he said.

Most customers get about four cubic metres at the start of the year, but there are those who order their entire yearly supply once.

"You get the diehards who are buying during December and March."

He was unsure where he would get stock.

"Wood that's out in the rain would be easy to obtain, but that's not suitable for burning and I don't really want to do that."