Eurostat counts 451,880 tonnes arriving from outside the EU in July, up from 345,074 a year earlier, with France and Italy recording the biggest increases.

The EU’s appetite for wood pellets is being fed from outside the bloc, with member states importing 451,880 tonnes from non-EU countries in July, up from 345,074 tonnes a year earlier. That is according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, whose first estimates for July were published on Tuesday 15 September and remain provisional.

France brought in 115,845 tonnes from outside the EU in July, up from 72,181 tonnes in July 2025, and Italy’s imports rose to 76,051 tonnes from 39,172. The Netherlands remained the biggest buyer at 124,591 tonnes, while Denmark’s imports fell to 31,764 tonnes from 50,889. Latvia took 31,022 tonnes, in a month for which Eurostat shows no Latvian figure a year earlier.

Imports from outside the EU reached 555,573 tonnes in June, the most in any month since January 2024, and July’s total was still higher than the 392,192 tonnes of July 2024. Before June, the busiest months in that span were December 2024 and December 2025, at 501,187 and 511,693 tonnes.

Across January to July, the EU brought in 2,890,516 tonnes of pellets from outside the bloc, up from 2,484,218 tonnes over the same months of 2025, a year in which it imported 4,447,234 tonnes in all. France was the biggest buyer over those seven months at 790,409 tonnes, while the Netherlands took 525,118 tonnes, down from 618,284. Italy’s seven-month imports rose to 427,186 tonnes from 245,921 tonnes, the biggest increase of any member state.

Belgium’s imports over the seven months rose to 206,681 tonnes from 81,672, and Poland’s July imports climbed to 43,255 tonnes from 23,583. Latvia took 81,666 tonnes over the period, with Eurostat showing a Latvian figure for only one of those months in 2025.

Denmark, the third-biggest buyer over the seven months, took 522,170 tonnes from outside the EU, down from 552,638 tonnes a year earlier. Ørsted, which owns Avedøre Power Station south of Copenhagen, lists wood pellets and straw as its main fuels after converting its two units to biomass in 2014 and 2016. The company, then known as DONG Energy, said in December 2016 that the plant could supply heat to more than 215,000 households in Greater Copenhagen.

Pellets bought from outside the EU were worth €98.8 million in July, up from 67.2 million euros a year earlier, and 645.3 million euros over January to July, up from 521.3 million euros. Eurostat counts all goods the EU bought from outside the bloc that month at 239.1 billion euros, 9.0 per cent more than in July 2025. Member states also bought more pellets from one another, with trade inside the bloc reaching 697,782 tonnes in June, up from 408,786 a year earlier.

Source:  woodcentral.com.au