German pellet imports rise and exports fall

January 6, 2014, Hanover, Germany —
German pellet exports continue to fall, while imports are rising because of
growing domestic demand, data from federal statistics office Destatis shows.

German wood pellet exports fell by 66pc
on the month to just over 25,000t in October. Exports were 20pc lower than the
month's imports. Exports were lower by a third on the year, and imports were
5pc higher over the same period.

Germany has exported less since the
start of 2013, as domestic demand has risen steadily after a longer than
average winter and a rise in installed wood pellet stoves in households. German
pellet prices in 2013 did not fall in the summer, as they had done in previous
years, because low availability of sawmill waste meant that there was limited
supply of the pellets' raw material, pellet association DEPV said.

The trend towards lower pellet exports
is complemented by higher imports because of increasing supply from the US and
eastern Europe, where new pellet plants have come on line. The US, which until
July 2013 exported hardly any pellets to Germany, was the country's main
supplier in October with 6,000t, compared with around 2t a year earlier. The
second and third-biggest suppliers were Austria and Belgium, at 5,700t and
4,700t, respectively.

Total imports from Ukraine, Russia and
Belarus were over twice as high — at 5,800t — compared with a year earlier. The
rise was particularly pronounced in supplies from Russia, which has raised its
exports to Germany steadily over the past year, breaching 2,000t in October.

Supplies from other regions have
fallen. Norway stopped exporting pellets to Germany after November, after
supplying over 3,000t in October 2012. Sweden also no longer exports pellets to
Germany.

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