Demand of wood pellet in Japan is sharply increasing. Import of wood pellets is about six times higher than in 2013 and domestic production is 9% more than 2013. The reason is the large biomass power generation facilities, which use wood pellet as a fuel.
Import of wood pellet in 2017 reached 510,000 tons, 46% more than 2016 while domestic production was about 120,000 tons, 0.5% more.
In 2013, total supply of wood pellets was about 190,000 tons in which the share of imports was 43%. In 2015, the share of imports surpassed domestic supply, while in 2017 the share of imports is of 80%.