Released on: June 5, 2008, 11:38 pm

Press Release Author: Hakan Ekstrom

Industry: Industrial

Press Release Summary: With the increasing demand for woody biomass, global trade of
particularly wood pellets has gone up substantially the past few years as reported
in the latest issue of the Wood Resource Quarterly.


Press Release Body:

Seattle, USA, June 06, 2008 -- With the increasing demand for woody biomass, global
trade of particularly wood pellets has gone up substantially the past few years as
reported in the latest issue of the Wood Resource Quarterly. Global trade of wood
pellets reached over three million tons in 2007.

One of the most interesting developments in global commerce of wood raw-material in
recent years has been the substantial increase in the trade of wood for energy
generation. Much of the increase in shipments is the result of policies implemented
by European governments to generate more green energy based on renewable resources
as a substitute for fossil fuels. Bi-products from sawmills have historically been
the most commonly used wood fiber source for energy generation but because of higher
demand for renewable energy and increasing costs for fossil fuels, it has
increasingly become possible for power plants to also utilize higher-cost forest
waste such as tree tops, branches and smaller trees.

Global trade of woody biomass was just over 11 million tons in 2007, up from 5.6
million tons in 2003 (included in this category is wood for energy and a smaller
share of sawmill bi-products used for the manufacturing of wood panels). The major
trade flows have been within the European continent and between Canada and Western
European countries. Trade of wood pellets, which account for a large share of
biomass trade, reached a record of over three million tons in 2007.

The largest exporter of biomass in 2007 was Germany, which exported 1.4 million tons
to neighboring Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Canada exported 1.3
million tons of which an estimated 600,000 tons were wood pellets for the European
market. Most of the overseas volume was shipped from British Columbia to Belgium,
the Netherlands and Sweden, this despite the seemingly prohibitively costly
15,000-kilometer journey from the Interior of British Columbia to the European
market. This situation can be explained by the currently low costs for raw-material
(shavings and sawdust) in Canada and the high prices for wood pellets in Europe.

The rapid expansion in global trade of biomass is likely to continue over the next
3-5 years as more countries are favoring renewable energy and local,
relatively-inexpensive supplies of biomass are reaching their limits. The question
is: how long will the expansion of the overseas water-born transportation continue
to grow, considering the high costs of oil and the paradox of consuming large
quantities of low-refined heavy fuel oils for the shipments of green energy to
European customers.

Global pulpwood and sawlog market updates are included in the 50-page publication
Wood Resource Quarterly. The report, established in 1988 and with readers in over 20
countries, tracks wood prices in most regions around the world and also includes
regular updates of international pulp, lumber and biomass markets.
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Contact Information:
Hakan Ekstrom
Wood Resources International
Seattle, USA
+44 222 656
info@wri-ltd.com
http://www.woodprices.com

Web Site: http://www.woodprices.com

Contact Details: Contact Information:
Hakan Ekstrom
Wood Resources International
Seattle, USA
+44 222 656
info@wri-ltd.com
http://www.woodprices.com