Sweden consumes more than 20% of the world's wood pellets
The biggest expansion in the use of forest-based biomass has occurred in Europe, mainly as a result of the decision by EU to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and use a minimum of 20% renewable energy by 2020. Sweden is currently the biggest consumer of wood pellets in the world, consuming over 20% of the world's production of wood pellets. In order to meet the demand from a fast growing market, the country produced almost 1.6 million tons in 2008 and imported another 300,000 tons mainly from other countries in Europe but also from Canada. There are no signs of any slowdown in demand for wood pellets, and the annual growth is expected to be between 8% and 10% in the coming years. There are currently over 450 pellet-producing plants in Europe with many new projects planned over the next few years. The United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Germany are some of the countries that are expected to have the fastest growth in forest biomass consumption (both pellets and wood chips) over the next ten years. Pellet prices have trended upward the past seven years, as reported in the Wood Resource Quarterly. Prices in Sweden have generally been higher than in Central Europe, but in 2009, the price fell the most in Sweden, resulting in a convergence with prices in Germany and Austria. Wood fibre costs are expected to increase later this year, which would result in higher production costs for many pellet manufacturers. As a consequence, it is probable that wood pellet prices will start moving upward again this coming winter after a few months in retreat. Source: Wood Resources International LLC, www.woodprices.com | ||
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