November 25, 2015
BY Anna Simet
My husband and I are packing up the car to travel back to North Dakota for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to quick post a heads up about an International Biomass Conference & Expo preconference seminar that we just launched.
The Global Pellet Market Outlook Summit will be held on April 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a really nice compliment to the largest annual gathering of biomass professionals in the U.S., an event that already has plenty of content dedicated to pellets and densified biomass.
Let me begin to make my case for your attendance by stating the obvious—the global pellet market has experienced quite the ride over the past decade. When we launched Pellet Mill Magazine back in 2011, the sector was really beginning to thrive. And you can see how that continued to unfold with the evolution of the title—we began with two issues per year, and increased that number each year—from two, three, four, and now six issues.
Fast forward to (almost) 2016. Now that the excitement and dust has settled a bit, the sector has a better view of what lies ahead. And by this, I mean the real challenges. I also mean growing, maturing, changing and budding markets. I mean policy and trade barriers…the list goes on.
Here’s a short list of some of the topics you can expect to be addressed at the summit:
*The Industrial Pellet Market in the United Kingdom and impact of a conservative majority in Parliament on this vital market.
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*The policy situation in the Netherlands and what it means for this promising market.
*Heating markets throughout Europe and the momentum of appliance sales throughout the region.
*The state-of-play in South Korea and what it means for North American producers.
*When other Asian markets like Japan and China might begin to emerge.
*Appliance sales and efforts to grow heating markets in North America.
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*Opportunities and challenges producers face in the retail market in the United States.
*Non-energy markets for wood pellets (absorbents, animal bedding and barbecues).
*Global pellet production trends including new players like Vietnam, Russia and eastern Europe.
I should note this isn’t the first time the IBCE has held a preconference pellet seminar. Two years ago when we were in Orlando we held one—though a little more North American-centric—and I don’t believe there was an empty chair. I co-moderated the event with my colleague Tim Portz, and we agreed it was one of the better events we had ever hosted or been to. Why? I think the main reason was the open, free discussion that occurred. It wasn’t panel after panel of the same speakers preaching to the choir, it was a true group conversation, where ideas and advice were exchanged, questions were asked, plans and strategies were shared.
So, with that, I’ll once again urge you to join us a day early at the International Biomass Conference and Expo—I’m confident you’ll be glad you did.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.