Last year, Austrian pellet production grew by 6.9%, from 1.441 million tons in 2019 to 1.54 million tons in 2020. Pellet consumption also saw a marked increase. Despite a slump in sales in the tourism industry, consumption rose by 9.1% to 1.015 million tons. The increased use of pellets in 2020 was mainly due to the cold weather and growing sales of pellet boilers and stoves.
“When you look at the past 15 years, domestic pellet production has nearly tripled. With around 1.5 million tons of pellets, Austria currently produces 50% more than what is needed on the domestic market,” explains Christian Rakos, CEO of proPellets Austria.
The EU and the Austrian government are finally taking serious steps to fight climate change, which brings opportunities for growth and creates numerous new jobs for domestic producers of pellet boilers. “Austrian pellet boiler producers are currently experiencing a boom. Numerous companies are doubling their production capacities. Demand – on domestic as well as foreign markets – is stronger than ever. On the one hand, considerable subsidies are a driver of this development. On the other hand, there is growing awareness among customers that it is high time to switch to renewable energies,” says Rakos.
As always, you can find details on the developments in pellet production and consumption in our Datacube in the section Time lines.
