EIA Publishes September Pellet Data, Heck of a Cold Snap, Save the Date – PFI Annual Conference Scheduled for June 15-17
EIA Publishes September Pellet Data
September 2025 (5-year average) in tons
East
Sales – 138,396 (122,456)
Production – 93,371(102,336)
Inventory – 106,530 (126,218)
West
Sales – 40,334 (43,238)
Production – 24,928 (36,876)
Inventory – 111,265 (77,066)
South
Sales – 26,113 (26,333)
Production – 22,644 (17,047)
Inventory – 17,599 (40,092)
All U.S.
Sales – 204,843 (193,318)
Production – 140,943 (156,219)
Inventory – 235,394 (243,377)
At long last, the Energy Information Administration published the September data for its Monthly Densified Biomass Report and my hope is that this latest release is followed by October data and that the report is on the path to returning to its normal publication pattern.
Most notable are the sales figures. For the first time since February of 2025, sales figures exceeded the 5-year average in the East, which pushed the U.S. total number over the average despite sales in the South and West falling short. At 138,396 tons, the East achieved sales volume it hasn’t experienced since October of 2022.
Production numbers continue to lag 5-year averages in both the East and the West as producers work to right-size inventories in a stretch of below-average sales that reaches back to the end of the 2024-25 heating season. Interestingly, the strong sales figures in the East brought the region back into alignment with its 5-year average. Through September, sales in the East total 734,056 tons against the 5-year average for the same time period of 736,715 tons. With Heating Degree Days (HDDs) trending well ahead of last year throughout the fall and early winter of 2025, I fully expect the East region data to finish ahead of the 5-year average (253,404 tons) for the final quarter once that data is published.
Inventories in the West continue to trend well above the expected average. In the early spring of 2024, inventories in the region surged ahead of the normal pattern and have largely stayed above 100,000 tons since. The PFI Heating Degree Day index offers no reprieve for the region, with western locales being the only places in the country lagging last year’s accumulated HDDs. Product is still moving, of course, but to take a bite out of the inventory on the ground, temperatures are going to have to fall.
Heck of a Cold Snap
Last week, Winter Storm Fern plunged almost two-thirds of the country into a deep freeze and ice event that knocked out power, left people without heat, sent natural gas prices soaring, and brought into sharp focus the fragility of the national electric grid. My brother-in-law and his family were without power in Nashville for 203 hours. I’d be surprised if that is some kind of record in our modern era. The immediate impact for wood pellet producers and wood pellet sales can be guessed at, but a full understanding will require an analysis of point-of-purchase data, production, and sales data that we aren’t likely to see until summer.
The bigger picture involves grid stability, energy reliability, and the importance of energy choice for consumers. In most parts of my brother-in-law’s home, the temperature was below 50 degrees. His only source of heat for over a week was a wood fireplace. Winter Storm Fern was the kind of grid disruption that proponents of energy choice legislation point to when making their case, and last week it certainly wasn’t hyperbole.
Save the Date – PFI Annual Conference Scheduled for June 15-17
After what feels like a monthin an icebox, the warmth of summer seems impossibly distant, but concern aboutthe heat during the PFI Annual Golf Tournament (co-located with our annualconference) is just four and half months away. This summer we will gather atthe Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama (just outside of Mobile).
PLEASE NOTE: The 2026 PFI Annual Conference will follow a Monday-Wednesday pattern instead of the Tuesday-Thursday pattern the conference followed last year.
The conference schedule is as follows:
Monday, June 15th – PFI Board Meeting
Tuesday, June 16th – PFI Golf Tournament/Opening Reception
Wednesday, June 17th – PFI Annual Conference/PanelDiscussions
Please mark these dates in your calendar and watch the Pellet Wire for further announcements about the conference, including speakers, sponsorship opportunities, golf sign-ups, and travel recommendations. We look forward to seeing you there.
