OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2014. RusForest to invest in a small scale pellet mill in Magistralny, Russia, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.

Demand for industrial pellets in Europe in 3Q 2014 was stable for the season. Prices in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region were 10% above 3Q 2013 levels.

Pellet demand in the EU is expected to rise from 17.5 to 20 million tonnes in 2014. The increase in demand is met by imported pellets, mainly from North America. As the EU's current production capacity is currently only 16.2 million tonnes per year, imports are set to increase further in the coming years. In 2013, 2.8 million tonnes came from the US, 1.9 million tons from Canada and 0.7 million tonnes from Russia. Pellet imports into the EU have quadrupled over five years. The largest increases in consumption are predicted for Italy, France and the UK.

RusForest is a Swedish forestry company operating in Eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. The Company controls long-term timber leases and utilizes these resources to produce a wide range of sawnwood products and wood pellets.