North American wood pellet exports surged higher during Q3 '14

VANCOUVER (Scrap Monster): The wood pellet exports rose significantly during 3Q/14. The pellet exports to Europe were marginally higher during the quarter. The exports volumes to Asia reported big jump. The North American pellet exports had remained flat during the first half of the year.

According to the North American Wood Fiber Review (NAWFR), the pellet plants in British Columbia shipped record volumes during Q3 last year. A visible shift was seen in Canadian exports from European region to Asia.

The total exports by Canada stood marginally higher during Q3, when compared with the previous quarter. However, when compared with the record shipments of over 0.5 million tons in Q4 2013, the exports during the quarter was down by nearly 15%. The wood pellet exports from Western and Eastern Canada to Europe in Q3 ’14 touched their lowest level since 2011. On the other hand, the exports to Asia climbed higher over the previous quarter.

The B.C pellet exports are likely to remain stable during the year 2015. According to NAWFR, the commissioning of new pellet plant may result in increased export volumes. First out of the five newly announced pellet plants is expected to commence commercial production during late-2015 or early-2016. The province plans to add nearly 800,000 tons of new pellet capacity during 2015/16.

The US pellet exports jumped significantly higher to surpass 1 million tons during 3Q/14. Europe still continued to be the primary destination of US pellet exports, with bulk of the exports being carried out from US South. Minor quantities were also being exported from the US West Coast to Asia.