Wood pellet market in Eastern Europe develops actively

Source:
propellets.at/Fordaq
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The wood pellet economy worldwide is steady and ready to double its percentage rate. During 2015, almost 30 million tonnes of pellets were produced worldwide.

However, depending on the region, the growth is often very different. This became clear in the market reports on the pellet day of the European Biomass Conference in Graz. While growth in Central Europe has slowed, production in Eastern Europe is growing dynamically. Pellet production is particularly booming in the Balkans and the Baltic States, propellets.at informs. 

Russia

In 2015, Russia became the largest pellet producer in Europe, with 2.1 million tonnes. An important political impetus in Russia was the ban on the landfilling of sawdust. Now sawmill operators are obliged to process this valuable raw material.

Baltic States

The most important European production region is now the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which produce over 3 million tonnes of pellets.

Like the Russian pellets, the Baltic Sea pellets are mainly exported by sea, to Denmark, Great Britain, Belgium or Sweden, where they are fired in combined heat and power stations.

Balkans

In the Balkans, hardwood is mainly used for pellet production. Even if it is produced for the Italian market, local consumption is  growing rapidly. The pellet production is rather small. At 54 locations, pellets are produced in Serbia alone, but only five of them have an annual output of 30,000 tonnes or more.

According to propellets.at, notable is the increasing quality orientation of the pellet manufacturers in the Balkans: a rapidly growing number of producers already have an ENplus certification. By the end of 2015, more than 400,000 pellets from this region will be ENplus certified.

Also noteworthy is the rapid growth of pellet use among their southern neighbors. The comfortable and cost-effective heating system is becoming increasingly popular in the region. In Italy, more than 2 million households are already heating with pellet stoves, propellets.at says.

Adopting double-digit growth rates in Austria, these jumps are now making countries in the European peripheral. In total, the global growth of the pellet industry remains above 10%.

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