US pellet production declines by 1.5%

In the third quarter, the US pellet industry produced 2.365m tonnes of pellets, around 1.5% less than in the comparative quarter of the preceding year. Industrial pellet production was up by 0.7% to 1.888m t, while production of pellets for the heating market declined by 9.3% to 476,930 t. According to figures of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) at the U.S. Department of Energy 1.916m tonnes of pellets were sold on export markets during the quarter, corresponding to an increase of 13.9% vis à vis the preceding year; the notional average price amounted to US$167.11/t - just slightly higher than the preceding year’s figure. On the domestic market, pellet sales were lower at 630,356 t. The average price here was US$184.89/t, 6.2% higher than a year ago.

According to the EIA figures, total production for the first nine months amounted to 6.656m t, a decline of 2.9%. Whereas production of industrial pellets increased slightly by 1.0% to 5.426m t, production of pellets for the heating market dropped by 15.0% to 1.230m t. According to the EIA, US pellet exports totalled 5.583m t. The value thus corresponds almost exactly to the export trade statistics published by the US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS). The average price realised in exports increased by 2.7%.

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