Sweden today is one of the largest consumers of wood pellets among the European Union countries. On average, the country consumes more than 1.5 million tons of wood granules per year. Most of pellets are produced within the country. The rest of granules are supplied from other European countries, mainly from Russia.
In 2013 Sweden’s wood pellet production increased by 10% or 140 thousand tons and amounted to more than 1 million 250 thousand tons compared to 2012. Pellet consumption of the country rose by 20% or 330 thousand tons and reached more than 1 million 300 thousand tons last year.
The total imports of Russian wood pellets amounted to 550 thousand tons in Sweden in 2013, while the country exported around 200 thousand tons. So, in 2013 Sweden’s net imports increased by 50 thousand tons (about 10%), while the exports declined by 17% (33 thousand tons) in comparison with 2012. The experts attribute it to the increase in domestic pellet consumption of the country, as Sweden intends to achieve 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
In particular, in Sweden over the last few years the number of pellet boilers has increased significantly, as well as the number of households, which use different types of biofuels for heating. Basically, the country purchase pellets from Russia, Latvia and Estonia. The main buyer of Swedish pellet is Denmark.
According to the database of buyers, importers of Russian wood pellets 2013-2014(4), prepared by the experts of Ukrainian Biofuel Portal pellets-wood.com, in 2013 Sweden bought around 300 thousand tons of Russian wood pellets, that was more than 50% of the total country’s import volume of granules. Overall, 7 Swedish companies operated on the Russian pellet market in 2013. For the January-April, 2014 the analysts have recorded 5 companies. AB FORTUM VARME SAMAGT MED STOCKHOLMS STAD is the largest Swedish company on the Russian pellet market. Its imports amounted to around 145 thousand tons in 2013. As of April of the current year the company has purchased 42 thousand tons.
During January-April, 2014 in Sweden the wood pellet imports from Russia have amounted more than 91 thousand tons, i.e. 32% of the last year’s volume. Among Swedish companies just one has been recorded as a new player on the market – ZALDORA TRADING LT. For the first four months of 2014 it imported only 20 tons.
It should be noted that there were registered around 65 pellet plants in Sweden in 2013. 30 of them increased wood pellet production last year, 27 plants finished the year without any changes in the production volume and only 8 plants reduced their production. The largest Swedish pellet plants are Neova Forsnäs (38 thousand tons), Neova Vaggeryd (19 thousand tons), Forssjö Pellets (27 thousand tons), Helsinge Pellets (20 thousand tons) и Falu Energi (18 thousand tons).
So, Sweden as one of the largest wood pellet consumers imported around 300 thousand tons of Russian wood pellets last year, wherein the total imports of the country amounted to 550 thousand tons. As of April, 2014 the country purchased 30% of the total last year’s volume. Meanwhile, Sweden has been increasing its wood pellet production capacity, as it intends to completely switch to biofuels by 2020. In Sweden today the share of renewable energy is already more than 50%.
Author: Ivan Prokhorov
