The European-Union (EU)-imposed ban on imports of woody biomass from Russia has resulted in a seven-fold spike in Turkey's exports of wood pellets to EU Member States.<\/p>\n
This has caused concern that the bulk could be recertified material from Russia, Montel reported.<\/p>\n
The embargo was imposed in April 2022 as part of the EU's fifth round of sanctions against Russia. At that time, Turkey exported an average 2,200 tonnes per month of wood pellets to EU destinations. From June, this volume jumped to 10,000 tonnes per month, and then 16,000 tonnes in September, according to figures from Eurostat.<\/p>\n
In comparison, prior to the ban, Russia exported an average of 153,000 tonnes per month to EU nations before the ban. Volumes had dropped to zero by September.<\/p>\n
Most of the exports from Turkey went to Bulgaria and Italy.<\/p>\n
A Scandinavian biomass trader told Montel \u201cTurkey has become a very large exporter of wood pellets,\u201d and added it would have been \"strange\" for the nation to be able to raise production volumes by so much so quickly.<\/p>\n
He added it was \u201cconceivable\u201d that Russian wood pellets were being reloaded at Turkish ports, recertified as Turkish origin and then shipped to \u201csome less scrupulous\u201d buyers in Europe. A Kyiv-based biomass trader \u2013 who works closely with Turkish exporters \u2013 told Montel there could be some reloadings of Russian pellets, but that this might be coupled with a likely upturn in domestic production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe skyrocketing price for biomass opens doors for very exotic options,\u201d he said, adding wood pellets from Turkey were commanding prices of EUR 270-300\/t. \u201cThere are some wood reserves in Turkey, so they might use local wood materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, no reliable production or export data was available in Turkey, according to Istanbul-based Montel-Foreks.<\/p>\n
At the same time, repackaging Russian pellets for the European market would be a costly business, the Kyiv-based trader said.<\/p>\n
He noted Italian buyers \u2013 for example \u2013 would have to pay as much as EUR 500\/t if they were purchasing reloaded Russian material, pointing to high logistics and port-handling costs. Front-month wood pellet prices were seen last at USD 380.33\/t (EUR 362\/t) on the EEX, down from October highs of nearly USD 467\/t but still 76% higher on the year.<\/p>\n
The first biomass trader said this was due largely to the drop in deliveries from Russia, which had previously met around 10-20% of Europe\u2019s supply for power generators, predominantly in Denmark, the UK and the Netherlands.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European-Union (EU)-imposed ban on imports of woody biomass from Russia has resulted in a seven-fold spike in Turkey’s exports of wood pellets to EU Member States. This has caused concern that the bulk could be recertified material from Russia, … Continue reading