Future pellet markets WPAC Conference discusses emerging global pellet markets. he WPAC Conference and AGM in Vancouver provided an incredible amount of optimism for a Canadian pellet market looking to further establish itself as a global producer. The strongest market for Canadian pellets remains the United Kingdom. The U.K. Back Biomass Program, which was supported by both WPAC and the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA), has helped to es-tablish a strong demand for biomass power. England’s expansion plans could see its demand increase upwards of 20 million tonnes of pellets, including an expected 10 million tonne demand from Drax and Egg-borough alone, part or all of which could be provided by Canadian producers if they are able to compete with the U.S. southeast. The Netherlands and Denmark are key European markets to watch. Like the Dan-ish government, which is currently revising its energy plan, the Netherlands has worked with both WPAC and USIPA to explore adding wood pellets to its energy mix. Wood pellet demands may continue to expand in southern European countries, particularly in Italy. Canada has already seen solid exports to that country, but speakers at the WPAC Conference suggested there is an appetite for increased exports to supply the pellet market for residential heating. There remains the possibility of ex-pansion of pellet markets to countries in southeast Asia. Japan is the third-highest import market for Canadian wood pel-lets, and there have been limited exports to Korea. Although both countries look to regional producers of wood pellets be-fore importing from Canada, significant growth in demand in either market could BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 6 No. 6 Editor -Amie Silverwood (289) 221-8946 [email protected] Associate Editor -Andrew Macklin (519) 429-5181 [email protected] Contributors -Scott Thurlow, Treena Hein, Gordon Murray, Guillaume Roy Editorial Director/Group Publisher -Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Market Production Manager Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] National Sales Manager Ross Anderson Ph: (519) 429-5188 Fax: (519) 429-3094 [email protected] Quebec Sales Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] Western Sales Manager Tim Shaddick [email protected] Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Media Designer -Brooke Shaw Canadian Biomass is published six times a year: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. Printed in Canada ISSN 2290-3097 Circulation Carol Nixon e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 51058 Pincourt, QC J7V 9T3 Subscription Rates: Canada -1 Yr $49.50; 2 Yr $87.50; 3 Yr $118.50 Single Copy -$9.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) USA – 1 Yr $60 US; Foreign – 1 Yr $77 US Occasionally, Canadian Biomass magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-re-lated groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publica-tion may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2013 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca t mean a boom for Canadian producers. That would be a welcome sight as the European Union works out its sustainabil-ity criteria and Canada continues the slow expansion of the domestic market. If the EU is successful in making wood pellets a strong factor in sustainable energy initia-tives moving forward, then the demand from European countries could cause a need for exponential growth of wood pellet supply in North America. Also, it is tough to predict if the Canadian pel-let demand will continue its snail-like pace, or if demand can be pushed higher, faster. The continuing chal-lenge for pellet producers in Canada, regardless of international demand for wood pellets, is fibre. Fibre access contin-ues to be a struggle nationwide as forest residues often remain in the forest and fibre supply from sawmills isn’t enough to meet demand. In B.C. alone, it is es-timated that there could be as much as eight billion cubic metres of unutilized biomass. Capitalizing on a portion of that volume would allow for significant indus-try growth for the wood pellet industry. There is no question that a series of chal-lenges could interfere with the expansion of Canada’s wood pellet market. But now more than ever it seems there is no short supply of potential export markets for anyone that can supply wood pellets at today’s prices. That’s one good sign for the continued de-velopment of the wood pellet industry. • Andrew Macklin, associate editor [email protected] 6 Canadian BIOMASS
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