In May, U.S. manufacturers produced around 910,000 tons of densified biomass fuels, as reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Densified Biomass Fuels Report for August. During the same period, sales of densified biomass fuel amounted to 840,000 tons.
The EIA gathered data from 77 active manufacturers of densified biomass fuel to compile the report. This report excludes data from facilities with annual production capacities below 10,000 tons, which report annually instead of monthly. The 77 manufacturers surveyed had a combined annual production capacity of 13.32 million tons and employed the equivalent of 2,429 full-time workers.
In May, respondents reported purchasing 1.67 million tons of raw biomass feedstock, producing 910,000 tons of densified biomass fuel, and selling 840,000 tons of it. The production included 116,036 tons of heating pellets and 795,121 tons of utility pellets.
Domestic sales of densified biomass fuel in May reached 95,895 tons, with an average price of $225.54 per ton. Exports during the same month amounted to 747,809 tons, averaging $187.71 per ton. Inventory levels for premium and standard pellets grew to 393,404 tons in May, up from 359,841 tons in April. Conversely, utility pellet inventories decreased to 512,502 tons in May, down from 522,635 tons in the previous month.
The EIA data also revealed that the total U.S. densified biomass fuel capacity reached 13.41 million tons in May. This capacity is either currently operating or temporarily not in operation and includes 1.97 million tons in the East, 10.65 million tons in the South, and 797,200 tons in the West.