In Q1, 859,000 tons of pellets were produced in Germany - more than ever before in the first three months of a year © DEPV
In the first quarter of 2023, German pellet production totaled 859,000 tons and thus increased by 4.2% compared to last year (Q1 2022: 824,000 t) and by 16% compared to 2020 when 742,000 tons had been produced in the first quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 (866,000 t), production output decreased by 0.8%, falling just below the level recorded in the third quarter of 2021 (861,000 t).
At 19.4%, the export share is rather high according to the German Wood Fuel and Pellets Association (DEPV). In the first quarter of 2022, only 11.9% of German pellets were exported. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the export share was higher at 20.6%.
According to the DEPV, weaker demand for wood pellets was the result of increased storing activity during the past summer. Bagged pellets had a share of 19.7%, which is well below the level recorded in the first quarter of 2022 (24.4%). In the full year 2022, bagged pellets had an average share of 26.8%. 90.5% of pellets were produced from wood waste. That is much more than the average of last year (86.8%). Log wood accounted for 9.5% of the raw materials used to produce pellets.
