History of Pellet Mill

 

In the last few years, pellet production facilities have boomed all over the world, especially in Europe and North America. Important pellet exporters are Canada and Russia, while large pellet importers are Denmark, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The production capacity in all EU 27 states is estimated at about 9 million tonnes (2007). Globally it might be as much as 12-14 million tonnes capacity.

Leading pellet producing countries in the EU are Sweden  (1.7 million tonnes), Germany (900,000 tonnes) and Austria (800,000 tonnes). Both Sweden and Austria have been leading pellet countries since the earliest days of market development in Europe, in the 1990s. Growing production capacities can also be found, for example, in France, Spain, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Meanwhile, Russia has significantly increased its production capacities - from 50,000 tonnes in 2005 to 550,000 tonnes in 2007-nearly all of it for export. Canada's plants produced about 1.3 million tonnes in 2008.

In terms of pellet consumption, Sweden, Germany and Austria lead the way in Europe, closely followed by France, where rapid market development has taken place in recent years. Italy has become one of the most important pellet consumers due to the increasing number of installed pellet stoves (about 800,000 stoves to date). Total annual pellet consumption in Europe presently amounts to about 6 million tonnes. On the North American market, about 2.3 million tonnes of pellets were consumed in 2008, with about 2 million tonnes of this in the USA.

 

The issue of pellet raw materials and the pricing will be crucial for future market development. At present, the main raw material for pellets is sawdust. However, there is increasing competition for the current sawdust resources. One solution would be importing sawdust from China, Russia or South America. However, concerns about sustainable forestry and long transport routes might lead to a loss of consumer trust and support from public policies.

Another option is to use other raw materials. Agricultural products and residues such as straw, hay, miscanthus or other energy crops -forming so-called'agri-pellets'- have been at the centre of attention of the pellet community in past years. Unfortunately, all of these products are harder to burn cleanly than wood. Therefore, due to existing emissions legislation, significant product development is required before mass use of agri-pellets will be possible.

Another promising option is other forest residues, such as woodchips, log wood or short rotation crop (SRC) forests.

 

Raw material for wood pellets is not infinitely available, at least not at relatively low costs. Fluctuations in sawdust availability and price are caused by the construction industry