Asian Industrial Biomass: RECs weigh on demand

摘要

Prices for industrial wood pellets loading from Vietnam in the next 90 days fell by a further 88￠/t over the week to $102.95/t fob Vietnam on Wednesday,on the back of weaker South Korean co-firing demand and high wood pellet stocks in Vietnam and Malaysia.Lower renewable energy credit (REC) spot prices in South Korea have discouraged independent power producers (IPPs) from co-firing wood pellets with coal to earn RECs that they can sell.South Korea's REC spot price closed at W70,500/REC ($60.41/REC) on 25 April,according to Korea Power Exchange data-significantly lower than the average REC spot price of W97,689/REC ($84.89/REC) in 2018.At least one IPP is considering a halt to co-firing because weaker REC spot prices have made it uneconomical to co-fire at the current wood pellet price range.And the country’s two other IPPs are co-firing less wood pellets compared to last year.