Pellet Profile Maritime makers Checking in on New Brunswick’s pellet producers By Maria Church all may be the most beautiful time to visit northern New Brunswick, as the Acadian forest’s unique blend of softwood and hardwood trees burst into spectacular shades of red, orange, and yellow. For those in the business of trees, it’s perhaps the best time to appreciate the impressive diversity of New Brunswick’s forests, which cover more than 80 per cent of the province’s land mass. The timing couldn’t have been better for the Wood Pellet Asso-ciation of Canada’s 2019 post-conference tour to explore New Brunswick’s pellet and sawmill operations. Representing Canadian Biomass , I joined a group of just over 20 wood pellet stakeholders from North America and Europe on a bus tour of the province’s northern wood operations over two days last September. The tour brought us to the various operations of four compa-nies in the New Brunswick pellet world – H.J. Crabbe & Sons, Groupe Savoie, Shaw Resources, and pellet newcomer Grand Riv-er Pellets – as well as a quick stop at the Port of Belledune where Eastern Canada’s pellet plants ship to international markets. F H.J. CRABBE & SONS Our first stop of the trip was in the small town of Florencev-ille-Bristol, N.B. – home to H.J. Crabbe & Sons’ random dimen-sion sawmill and two-year-old pellet plant. The third-generation family-run company was established in 1946. Today, the company owns 16,000 hectares of freehold for-est land and has a woodlands division looking after planning, harvesting and silviculture of its SFI-and PEFC-certified sus-tainable forests. Residuals from the adjacent 30 mmbf sawmill directly feed the pellet plant, which is currently producing 16,000 tonnes of premium grade softwood pellets for the heating market. About 90 per cent of the pellets are sold bagged in one-tonne bags, with the remaining 10 per cent sold in bulk. A Player Design burner fuelled by bark provides heat for the plant’s drum dryer. A newly-installed Kahl 10-tonne pellet mill – the largest Khal manufactures – is producing about eight tonnes of pellets an hour. The line finishes with a fully-auto-More than 20 wood pellet stakeholders from North America and Europe toured New Brunswick pellet operations last fall, which included a stop at H.J. Crabbe & Sons two-year-old pellet plant in Florenceville-Bristol. 20 Canadian BIOMASS WINTER 2020
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