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Vietnam has become the second largest wood pellet producer in the world, after the United States

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Background

Vietnam has become the second largest wood pellet producer in the world, after the United States. Most of Vietnamese produced wood pellets are destined for export markets: Almost all of the 3.2 million tons exported in 2020 were imported by Japan or South Korea for biomass energy production.

Global demand for wood pellets is expected to continue to dramatically increase, reaching 36 million tons in the next decade (up from 14 million tons in 2017), with demand coming primarily from Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Vietnam’s wood pellet manufacture and export industry plan to continue their growth to meet this demand.

This Brief provides some initial information on Vietnam’s production and export of wood pellets. Data on export volumes and value come from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, and then are compiled by a joint research team from Forest Trends and several Vietnamese timber associations. Data on supply and production enterprises were gathered from two surveys, one conducted by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry in 2019, and the other by the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) in March 2021.

Production and export of wood pellets in Vietnam

Between 2013 and 2020, Vietnam’s exports of wood pellets increased over 18.2 times, from 0.175 to 3.2 million tons. The value of these exports increased 15.3 times, from nearly US$23 million to US$351 million (Figure 1).

Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs, as compiled by joint research team from Vietnamese timber associations and Forest Trends