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World Sustainable Energy Days was held in Wels, Austria, in early April. The three-day event hosted multiple conferences and workshops, including the European Pellet Conference. PHOTO: OÖ ENERGIESPARVERBAND
The recent European Pellet Conference in Wels, Austria, included international pellet market updates. BY KATIE SCHROEDER
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he landscape of the wood pellet industry has been impacted greatly by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In early April at the European Pellet Conference, representatives of countries across the globe discussed the current state of their pellet markets, including Japan, Brazil, Austria, Germain and Spain. The session was moderated by Gordon Murray, executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. Market Growth in Japan Ken’ichiro Kojima of the Japanese Pellet
16 PELLET MILL MAGAZINE | ISSUE 2 2022
Club and CEO of Lab Forest Inc. reported on Japan’s wood pellet market, which is largely driven by the country’s feed-in tariff. Production is growing a small amount each year, he said, with a total of about 137 factories that collectively produce about 150,000 tons annually. “So, each mill produces a very small amount of fuel,” he said, adding that about half of production is made from sawdust. Most of the pellets consumed in Japan are used for power generation, which is “increasing rapidly,” from 3.5 gigawatts in 2019 to an estimated 4.1 gigawatts in 2025, he said. The
