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Recent increases in demand for pellets has supported further increase in domestic production in most EU MS. Since 2017, strong expansion was reported in Germany, France, Austria, and Poland. Germany is the third largest wood pellet producer after the United States and Canada. It has currently 50 production facilities for wood pellets with a total annual production capacity of 3.9 MMT.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2022, about 90 percent of the pellets were produced from residues of the timber industry. The remaining 10 percent consisted of non-sawable round logs. In France, there were 70 factories operational in 2021. Reportedly, three new sites will open their doors in 2023, for an additional production capacity of 270,000 MT of pellets. The French wood pellet association expects an additional 1 MMT of production capacity between 2021 and 2024 and a doubling of production by 2028. Another EU MS which reports a significant expansion of wood pellet production is Austria. Comparable with Germany and France, Austrian pellet production is mainly driven by domestic demand.<\/p>\n Wood pellet production has expanded rapidly in the Baltic Region (Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania) over the past 10 years. The Baltics are producing both for the residential and industrial markets, mainly in Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In 2021, combined Baltic exports reached a record of 4.7 MMT, but plummeted back to 3.6 MMT in 2022 as a higher share remained in the Baltics due to an increased domestic demand as a result of the ban on Russian gas. A similar trend is reported in Poland, where pellet production is rising but an increasing share is consumed domestically, currently 60 percent. Portugal and Spain are also net exporters of wood pellets. In 2022, Portuguese exports stabilized around 510,000 MT, down from the record figure of 709,000 MT achieved in 2019. The main markets are the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Spain. Post estimates Portugal\u2019s production at about 900,000 MT. Because the installed annual capacity is estimated at around 1.4 million MT of pellets, a potential exists to increase exports. While Portuguese pellet exports fell, Spanish exports almost doubled to 205,000 MT in 2022, with France and Italy and the main destinations. Spanish exports were supported by a record wood pellet production in 2022, amounting to 768,000 MT.<\/p>\n Two medium-sized producers with an expanding capacity are the Czech Republic and Croatia. In 2020, five new pellet plants were established adding 30,000 MT to the Czech Republic's total production capacity. In 2022, 538,000 MT of wood pellets were produced by the Czech pellet sector.<\/p>\n Further production growth is forecast in 2023 based on the expanding domestic market. Croatia has the potential to employ more of their biomass resources due to large forests that occupy almost half of the land area of the country. According to the Croatian biomass producer\u2019s organization (CROBIOM), wood pellet production in Croatia totals approximately 400,000 MT, from which between 80 to 90 percent is generally intended for export. The main export destinations in 2022 were Italy, Slovenia, and Serbia.<\/p>\n Based on expanding domestic and export demand, Croatian wood pellet production is forecast to increase. The local shortages of woody biomass supported the production of pellets made from other biomass sources. In the EU, secondary feedstocks, such as sawdust, wood industry residues, and shavings, comprise nearly 85 percent of the raw materials used for pellet production, according to an EPC survey in 2019. With an increasing competition for sawdust resources, a broader sustainable raw material is becoming necessary. There is increased interest in agricultural residues for pellet production, but even the volume of these additional feedstocks will not be sufficient to satisfy the full demand.<\/p>\n Overall, EU wood pellet production is not expected to be able to keep up with the increasing demand, particularly from the residential heating market.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent increases in demand for pellets has supported further increase in domestic production in most EU MS. Since 2017, strong expansion was reported in Germany, France, Austria, and Poland. Germany is the third largest wood pellet producer after the United … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timberindustrynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/pellet-54-300x128.jpg\")
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