Phillip Burns sorts through his last pile of dry firewood.

South Canterbury's firewood stocks are depleting with the supply shortage being felt the hardest among those struggling financially.

Five people have called into the Salvation Army over the past two weeks asking for firewood, Salvation Army Timaru corps officer Emma Howan said.

"We might also get requests for food from people who have bought firewood and are in the process of paying it off."

JOHN BISSET/STUFF Temuka Firewood owner Dion Anderson said there had been a logging shortage this year.

Wood merchants and Environment Canterbury (ECan) recommend buying wood months in advance but that is not even on the radar of people struggling to pay living costs, Howan said.

"It's difficult buying for next year when you've got the cost of this year," she said.

A couple of people had recently donated wood or kindling to the charity.

JOHN BISSET/STUFF Point Lumber sales representative Phillip Burns sorts through his last pile of dry firewood.

"If there are others who have wood available to donate we would really appreciate that."

Waimate Point Bush Firewood owner Lyndon Bailey is no longer selling dry wood, deciding after 15 years he wanted to "wind down".

More logs than ever being to shipped to China made his work harder, with the specifications for wood they took becoming more broad.

"I used to be able to buy wood but this time I've had to wait or take what I can get," he said.​

Point Lumber sales representative Phillip Burns agreed the number of logs getting exported had picked up.

Burns said they ran out of wood two weeks ago.

"We were still delivering at this time last year," Burns said.

"Nearly everyone's run out."

Topcut Firewood owner Don George, who is in his last year of selling firewood, expects to run out of the wood he stores in a yard by the middle of next week.

George will then begin dipping into the wood in a shed that he rents which will see prices rise by $30 per cubic metre.

"The shed doesn't pay for itself," he said.

George estimated he would run out of wood three weeks earlier than last year.

Temuka Firewood owner Dion Anderson said in four or five weeks his wood would be gone.

"There was definitely a log shortage," Anderson said.

"I don't know if they were going over the wharf or up north but they weren't coming here."

ECan Timaru operations manager Judith Earl-Goulet said she had received more than 60 enquiries this year from people looking for wood.

"Our Better Burning advisors work directly with people to give them advice for each individual situation," Earl-Goulet said.

ECan provides a list of trusted wood suppliers to help people source their wood.

"These suppliers have been reviewed and accredited by Environment Canterbury for providing dry, seasoned wood, as well as advice on wood storage and burning smoke-free," Earl-Goulet said.

People have the opportunity to get a bag of free kindling during ECan's 30-minute burning demos, which Better Burning advisors do both publicly and privately.​