The EIA collected data from 76 operating manufacturers of densified biomass fuel to complete the report. The report does not include data on facilities with annual production capacities of less than 10,000 tons, which report data annually rather than monthly.
The 76 manufacturers surveyed for June had a total combined production capacity of 12.6 million tons per year and collectively had the equivalent of 2,493 full-time employees.
Respondents purchased 1.02 million metric tons of raw biomass feedstock in June, produced 910,000 tons of densified biomass fuel and sold 870,000 tons of densified biomass fuel. Production included 162,464 tons of heating pellets and 756,840 tons of utility pellets.
Domestic sales of densified biomass fuel in June reached 144,841 tons at an average price of $214.89 per ton. Exports in June reached 734,233 tons at an average price of $206.50 per ton.
Inventories of premium/standard pellets reached 232,284 tons in June, up from 202,854 tons in May. Inventories of utility pellets fell to 435,970 tons in June, down from 510,004 tons in May.
Data gathered by the EIA shows that total U.S. densified biomass fuel capacity reached 12.71 million tons in June, with 12.69 million tons of that capacity listed as currently operating or temporarily not in operation. Capacity included 1.81 million tons in the East, 10.25 million tons in the South, and 632,450 tons in the West.
The EIA cautioned that some totals reported in its September densified biomass fuel report may be relatively smaller because the agency withheld some values to avoid disclosure of individual company data.
