China is ready to import wood pellets from Russia on condition that supplies of Russian roundwood resume

Russian authorities continue their attempts to reach an agreement with China over removing the barriers to wood pellet export from Russia, but the leadership of the PRC is making a condition for such supplies that the timber export must resume, as explained to Interfax by Alexey Chekunov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East.

“The issue of removing the barriers to wood pellet export to China is being considered regularly, but Chinese customers currently agree to purchase wood pellets as a “package deal” with renewed roundwood export,” Mr. Chekunov commented the situation with solving the problem of wood pellet supplies to the PRC.

After the European market became unavailable, South Korea remained almost the only export destination for wood pellets. Russian timber enterprises have declared multiple times that the problem of wood pellet sales could be solved by opening the Chinese market where wood pellets are currently classified as waste and therefore not imported.