<article><p class="lead">Russian wood pellet shipments rose on the year as increased industrial and residential demand offset any drops in exports.</p><p>Wood pellet exports increased to 2.4mn t in 2021 from 2.3mn t a year earlier, data from Russian customs data show. </p><p>Increased shipments to Belgium and the Netherlands counterbalanced a decrease in Danish and UK exports. </p><p>Exports to Belgium rose to 371,000t in 2021 from 251,000t in 2020, despite a drop in average biomass-fired generation to 215MW from 252MW, remit data from the national grid show. And the decommissioning of French utility Engie's biomass-fired Les Awirs power plant in August 2020 reduced output futher. Engie still operates the 250MW Rodenhuize facility in Belgium, the largest dedicated pellet-fired plant in the country. Belgium is also the largest recipient of Russian premium pellets. </p><p>Shipments of Russian pellets to the Netherlands increased to 97,000t in 2021 from 77,000t a year earlier, as a result of increased biomass-generated capacity. German utility RWE doubled its co-firing allowance by 225MW at its 1.5GW Eemshaven plant in the Netherlands, which came into effect in November 2021. And pellet-fired generation also increased at RWE's other Dutch plant 630MW Amer 9 in January-September. Biomass-fired generation data for October-December is yet to be published. Further, German utility Uniper's 1.1GW Massvlakte 3 biomass co-fired plant ran at 800MW from January-September 2021, up from zero in the same period in 2020, which increased wood pellet demand. </p><p>Russian exports to Japan jumped on the year to 106,000t from 17,000t in 2020, probably as a result of Covid-19 restrictions in Vietnam, a major wood pellet-exporting nation to Japan, from mid-July to October, which restricted shipments. Increased exports to Japan offset a reduction in shipments to South Korea, which fell to 169,000t from 185,000t in 2020. </p><h2>Producer output increases </h2><p class="lead">The five largest Russian producers accounted for the majority of wood pellet exports in 2021 at 980,000t, an increase from 969,000t a year earlier. </p><p>This was despite a drop in production on the year at Segezha Group and New Forest Pro plants of 46,000t and 11,000t, respectively. This was as a result of issues relating to the transfer of ownership of newly acquired plants to Segezha Group. </p><h2>Residential rises </h2><p class="lead">Russian exports to Germany and France increased on the year, catering to a growing residential wood pellet market in both countries. </p><p>In France wood pellet-fired <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2297124">stove and boiler sales were expected to rise</a> to 200,000 and 30,000 units in 2021, up from 127,500 and 14,400 units a year earlier respectively, data from Bioenergy Europe show. And sales of boilers and stoves in Germany were also expected to increase to around 70,000-75,000 units in 2021, which is equivalent to around 350,000t of additional wood pellet demand, data from <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2282301">a study</a> from the Austrian Pellet Association show. </p><p>Additional demand was reflected in Russian wood pellet exports, which rose to 51,000t and 45,000t to France and Germany, respectively, up from from 43,000t and 39,000t a year earlier. Russian exports to Italy, the largest market for residential pellets, were broadly unchanged on the year at 133,000t. </p><p>Further, the number of EN Plus-certified Russian producers grew to 59 in 2021 from 49 a year earlier, the certification board told <i>Argus</i>. As such, Russian producers appear to be positioning themselves to take advantage of this growing market. </p><p class="bylines">By Gabriella Twining</p></article>
