US manufacturers produced around 950,000 tonnes of densified biomass fuel in June, while sales reached 960,000 tonnes, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Densified Biomass Fuels Report, Biomass Magazine reported.
The EIA collected data from 74 operating manufacturers for the monthly report. The survey does not cover facilities with annual production capacity below 10,000 tonnes, as these units report their data annually.
The 74 manufacturers covered by the June survey had a combined annual production capacity of 13.2 million tonnes and employed the equivalent of 2,529 full-time workers.
During the month, the manufacturers purchased 990,000 tonnes of raw biomass feedstock and produced 950,000 tonnes of densified biomass fuel. Of the total production, 141,990 tonnes were heating pellets and 809,041 tonnes were utility pellets.
Domestic sales stood at 154,118 tonnes in June, with an average selling price of $261.19 per tonne. Exports were significantly higher at 807,986 tonnes, with an average price of $209.46 per tonne.
Utility pellet inventories rose to 503,736 tonnes in June from 455,318 tonnes in May. In contrast, inventories of premium and standard wood pellets declined to 241,018 tonnes from 254,987 tonnes during the same period.
EIA data showed that total US densified biomass fuel capacity stood at 13.1 million tonnes in June. The capacity was classified as either operating or temporarily out of operation.
The South accounted for the largest share of capacity at 10.64 million tonnes, followed by the East with 1.82 million tonnes and the West with 642,700 tonnes.
