Why are shavings so expensive???????

Can someone explain the full process of making wood chips from felled trees to the bagged chips?

What are the best trees?

What machinery is required to turn the trees in to wood chips?

What machinery is used to dust extract them and is this done at the same time as the wood is turned in to chips?

What machinery is required to bag them up?
 
Yes, they are a by-product of the building industry, but I'd like to know why they are so expensive in the first place. In past years, I've gone to local saw mills who switch off their machines at lunchtime and allow anyone to fill as many bags as they can in an hour for free. I have no doubt that shavings "makers" do something like and they are just a waste product so probably cost next to nothing. A puff of wind to extract the dust, and a polythene wrapper can't cost that much! These days I use hemp which has shot up in price in the last 3 weeks, and I suspect we are being ripped off royaly, but I only use half a bale a week and it is so work-saving , that I'm happy to keep using it, whatever the cost.
 
The thing is, the shavings are now converted into a pellet form and used as fuel - the government is buying it all from the saw mills and paying more for it, so if you want it for horses you have to pay the same. And then they have to go through the hassle of extracting the dust, bagging it up etc etc.

I expect the price will have doubled next year, and we will be paying more than £10 a bale (which were around £5-£6 last year).
 
We are a retailer for shavings. We have them delivered by the artic load from Holland - usually over 1000 bales at a time.
We have been told the credit crunch is hitting over there too.
Normally factory shuts down for xmas about 22nd/23rd - this year shutting on 10th Dec to early Jan.
Also price of euro is making a big difference to the price.
We have had to limit our customers to 10 a time.
 
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