From the Director's Desk: Industry Gathers in Atlanta, Below Normal Temps in Forecast, Registration Open for Pellet Fuels Annual Conference 

Industry Gathers in Atlanta

Last week the industry convened at the International Biomass Conference & Expo. Attendance from wood pellet producers (both industrial and premium heating) was strong. The Pellet Fuels Institute hosted its spring Board meeting on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. 

If attendees were judicious in the panels chose to attend, they had an opportunity to hear marketplace discussions spanning the globe and both the industrial markets. Bill Strauss, of Future Metrics, gave two presentations over the course of the conference talking first about the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act on pellet markets stateside for both industrial and premium pellet producers. During Wednesday's presentation, Strauss offered a look at pellet demand worldwide noting the rapid growth of the Japanese industrial pellet market and the emergence of Vietnam as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of wood pellets. Christian Rakos, from the World Bioenergy Association offered his perspective on the demand spike for wood pellets in Europe in the wake of sanctions that impacted Russian pellet volumes available to buyers in Europe. Rakos shared that a mild winter dampened pellet demand in Europe and the high prices that pervaded the market at the beginning of this fall have dropped just as quickly.  

Below Normal Temps in Forecast

A snapshot of the weather for the next two weeks offered by the Climate Prediction Center shows a good chance of below-normal temperatures for the next two weeks. 

This is welcome news for producers in the mid-Atlantic and East as this year’s heating season has been even milder even than last year’s disappointing winter. March sales show high variability with an average of 50,000 tons in the East region. The last two years have fallen short of an average buoyed by strong sales in 2017 (62,808 tons) and 2019 (79,384 tons). The last three years have found March sales in the East tightly clustered around 45,000 tons. A return to the 50,000-tons-plus territory would be welcome indeed as it would help to avoid last year’s dismal U.S. total of 70,535 tons. The industry’s best March for sales was 157,906 tons (U.S. total) in 2019. 

Registration Open for Pellet Fuels Annual Conference  

Attendee registrations for the 2023 Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference are now officially open. Please make plans to join the Pellet Fuels Institute membership and board of directors in Austin, Texas June 6-8. We are looking forward to hosting our members and attendees in a great city with great food and music. Please make plans to attend today. 

Register today to secure your spot at the conference.