South Korea's wood pellet imports rose on the year in January, supported by strong supplies from Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The country's wood pellet imports rose by 43pc from a year earlier to 381,000t in January, South Korea's customs data show.

Vietnam — South Korea's largest supplier — shipped 226,000t of wood pellets in January, up by 19pc from 190,000t a year earlier. Vietnam's supply to South Korea increased, as the suspension of Vietnamese wood pellet producer An Viet Phat (AVP) by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) meant supply which would previously have been taken up by Japan was available to South Korean buyers.

Indonesian was South Korea's second-largest supplier in January at 55,000t, up by more than double from 23,000t a year earlier. Indonesia's supply of wood pellets to South Korea has increased gradually since 2019 as the country has added more capacity.

South Korea received 40,000t of wood pellets from Russia in January, surging from 17,000t a year earlier. Russia became one of the main pellet suppliers to South Korea after the EU enforced sanctions on Russian wood products, while the FSC and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) suspended their sustainability endorsements on Russian wood products from early March 2022, following the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Sellers of Russian pellets had to seek alternative buyers, which resulted in competitively priced cargoes and increased supply of Russian pellets to South Korea.

Thailand supplied 25,000t of wood pellets to South Korea last month, up by more than three times from 8,000t a year earlier.

Malaysia supplied 20,000t of wood pellets to South Korea in January, down by 22pc on the year, as a result of heavy rain which led to tightened raw material availability.

Canadian supplies to South Korea in January were 13,000t, up from 300t in January 2022.

South Korea imported 3.92mn t of wood pellets in 2022. The country's demand for imported wood pellets is expected to be stable or slightly firmer this year, market participants said.

By Sam Hong

South Korea wood pellet imports ton