From the Director’s Desk: May EIA Data Shows Bullish East Region, Mark Your Calendars – PFI Fall Fly-In - Tuesday, October 17 – Wednesday October 18, Conference Presentations Available on PFI Website
May EIA Data Shows Bullish East Region
Earlier this week, the Energy Information Administration updated its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report with data from May, revealing that through five months, 2023 finds producers making and selling more wood pellets than last year. Sales through May are up 20%. U.S. sales through May are 606,890 tons (504,667 in 2022). Producers are no doubt cheering a stronger start to the year, but 2023 continues to lag the 2018 - 2020 runs where January – May sales averaged nearly 740,000 tons. Those years each boasted strong January sales, with each year eclipsing the 200,000 tons in the first month of the year. In 2023, producers sold a paltry 138,610 tons. Still, the 150,098 number is a record for May and an indicator of better product velocity in the late spring.
This improvement in sales velocity has motivated increased production in each region when compared to last year, with the exception of the West that finished May in a virtual dead heat when compared to last year (168,632 tons in 2023 vs. 168,636 last year). The increase is most notable in the East as producers have pushed out 478,720 tons, a healthy bounce from last year’s 432,218 tons in the same period. The region has now posted three consecutive all-time highs for monthly production. Despite this strong production, sales in the region in May outstripped production and inventory in the region slid to 131,098 tons. In 2022, May closed with 155,441 tons. Inventory topped out at 160,650 tons in July last year and in coming months the report will continue to show strong production through summer as producers look to build inventory back toward that level.
In the West, inventory is down over 50% when compared to last year. At 31,648 tons, producers there will have to apply some more throttle at their locations to come close to laying in the 90,000 + tons that were in inventory at the end of July last year. The question that remains is how much throttle the region is capable of. The West hasn’t registered a 40,000-ton production month since July of 2021, and to return inventory levels to the average July high water mark of 84,342 tons, the region is going to have to find another production gear.
Mark Your Calendars! PFI Fall Fly-In - Tuesday, October 17 - Wednesday, October 18
This week, the Legislative Affairs and Policy Committee met to finalize a block agenda for our fall fly-in, select a venue and begin our planning process. The next step in our planning process involves YOU. Is this the year you engage in some in-person federal advocacy and tell your story on Capitol Hill?
We would very much like to have our fly-in roster known with firm commitments by August 15. To maximize our potential to land meetings with high-ranking staff or a member of Congress or the Senate themselves, a clear understanding of who will be on the fly-in is key.
The schedule has been built to accommodate folks that can only be away one evening. Our fly-in activities will begin at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, October 17 and conclude around 3:30 PM or 4:00 PM on Wednesday, October 18, providing people with an opportunity to book an evening flight out of DC on Wednesday night.
Watch for an official invitation to register for the fly-in and reserve a hotel room in the coming weeks.
Conference Presentations Available on PFI Website
We’ve added three PowerPoint presentations that were presented at this year’s annual conference to the PFI website. These data-rich presentations will be stored in the Industry Data section of the website and are available here.
—Tim Portz
Executive Director
Save the Date 2024
