IEA BIOENERGY TASK 40 GLOBAL WOOD PELLETS AND WOODCHIPS MARKET AND TRADE STUDY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

摘要

This paper presents the first preliminary results of a study conducted by IEA Bioenergy Task 40“Sustainable Bioenergy Trade” and still ongoing about the trends in the global wood pellet market as well as thestatus and prospects for woodchip trade for energy purposes. The wood pellet market has experienced a large growthin the last five years. in 2009 the estimated consumption was above 12 million tons. The European Union is still themain market for pellet consumption (10.4 million tons in 2009) and will remain such for the next several years.Sawdust is still the main raw material for the production of wood pellets, however the interest of producers in thesupply of alternative feedstock such as round-wood and forest residues is growing. The rapid growth of the market isdriven by different factors related to the different market segments, however they are still quite dependent on theavailability of direct or indirect support measures. the rise of the demand in EU is stimulating large investments innew pellet plants and a rapidly increasing production capacity in countries such as Canada, U.S. and the RussianFederation. Although wood chips are traditionally traded locally on small distances, international trade flows are alsobecoming significant. i.e. in the Baltic sea area and in Southern Europe, but little is known on trade routes, prices andmarket drivers. In 2009, the wood chips and particles world production was evaluated at about 216 million m3(Faostat). America is by far the greatest producer (46% of the world production), followed by Europe (27%), Asia(12%), Oceania (9%) and Africa (6%).