INTRODUCTION
The Overview of Wood Pellet Market in Asia
Wood pellet is one type of biomass energy. Pellets are primarily manufactured from wood waste, including sawdust, shavings and wood chips, which are byproducts of the manufacture of lumber, furniture and other forest products. The pellet manufacturing process consists of the following steps: receipt of raw materials, screening, grinding, drying, pelletizng, cooling and packaging.
The raw materials should be dried to the desired moisture content. Once the material is dried, it is ground so that each piece has a diameter that meets proper specifications. In some cases, the raw material is then conditioned in a steam conditioner to soften the wood before it is compacted. This makes the raw material less abrasive to the equipment. The next step is the pelletizing itself. Pellet machines apply pressure to force the raw materials through holes that shape the pellets. Pressure and friction are used to increase the temperature of the wood, which in turn allows the lignum to soften and the wood fibers to be reshaped into pellets. After the pellets leave the extruder, they are air-cooled, the lignums solidify and the pellet is formed. The dimensions, density and other factors are specified by standards designed by industry groups.
After introducing wood pellet, we will introduce its Asian market as follows.
It is said that the Asian wood pellet market is expanding at a steady pace. This can be seen in the quantity of wood pellet exports from the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia to Asia, which increased 33 percent in the first half of 2010 over the same period in the previous year. The west coast is in a strong position to supply Asia with wood pellets, drawing on both timber supply and proximity to Asian markets.
And most of the wood pellets shipped to Asia are directed to two markets. The first is the industrial energy sector, where pellets are used for co-firing with coal at power plants and in large boilers. The second is the home heating market, where pellets are used in pellet boilers.
Generally, wood pellets shipped to the industrial energy markets in Asia are shipped via bulk carrier rather than by container ships. The three largest consumers of wood pellets in Asia are China, South Korea and Japan.
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