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Rim LPG
BiomassIntelligence
WeeklyDaily
RimIntelligence☆RIM BIOMASS INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY★No.114 Apr 28 2022
Copyright(C) 2022 Rim Intelligence Co. All rights reserved.
--TOKYO, 10:00 JST Apr 28 2022<Assessment Closing Time>RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp◎Wood Pellets( $/mt)○FOB Southeast Asia Spot Prices for South Korea
Wood Pellets+13 158.00-162.00 +12+13 158.00-162.00 +12+13 158.00-162.00 +12Yen/mt
20,328-20,843
20,328-20,843
20,328-20,843

Wood Pellets
FOB spot prices (May)+10 160.00-170.00 +10
FOB spot prices (Jun)+10 160.00-170.00 +10
FOB spot prices (Jul)+10 160.00-170.00 +10○FOB North America(including southwest Canada) Spot Prices
Wood Pellets
FOB spot prices (May)280.00-290.00
FOB spot prices (Jun)
280.00-290.00
FOB spot prices (Jul)
280.00-290.00○CFR Japan Spot Prices
Wood Pellets
CFR Japan spot prices (May)198.00-208.00
CFR Japan spot prices (Jun)198.00-208.00
CFR Japan spot prices (Jul)
198.00-208.00○Freight rates
Southeast Asia to North Asia
53.00-58.00
North America to North Asia
70.00-80.00

Yen/mt20,586-21,872
20,586-21,872
20,586-21,872

FOB spot prices (May)FOB spot prices (Jun)
FOB spot prices (Jul)○FOB Southeast Asia Spot Prices for Japan

Yen/mt36,025-37,311
36,025-37,311
36,025-37,311
Yen/mt25,475-26,761
25,475-26,761
25,475-26,761

Exchange rate (TTS yen/$ as of Apr 27) 128.66◎PKS ($/mt)○FOB Indonesia Spot Prices
FOB spot prices (May)FOB spot prices (Jun)
FOB spot prices (Jul)○FOB Malaysia Spot Prices
FOB spot prices (May)FOB spot prices (Jun)
FOB spot prices (Jul)○CFR Japan Spot Prices
CFR Japan spot prices (May)CFR Japan spot prices (Jun)
CFR Japan spot prices (Jul)○Freight rates
Southeast Asia to North Asia

PKS
100.00-110.00 +5
100.00-110.00 +5
100.00-110.00 +5

Yen/mt12,866-14,153
12,866-14,153
12,866-14,153

PKS
95.00-100.00
95.00-100.00
95.00-100.00

Yen/mt12,223-12,866
12,223-12,866
12,223-12,866

PKS150.00-160.00
150.00-160.00
150.00-160.00

Yen/mt19,299-20,586
19,299-20,586
19,299-20,586

50.00-55.00

Exchange rate (TTS yen/$ as of Apr 27) 128.66

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RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp◎Wood Pellets○Summary
Wood pellets prices for Southeast Asia loading extended gains. Increased demand for South Korea
and thin supply from Southeast Asia pushed up the market. Additionally, wood demand as a raw
material for paper chips for China was heightening.
○FOB Southeast Asia

Prices for wood pellets for loading from May to
July in Southeast Asia for Korea moved up by$12.50/mt from a week earlier to $158.00-162.00/mt
due to tight supply/demand.

month. In March, imports from Russia were at thehighest level since December 2020. Imports fromRussia reached 27,964mt, up 95.5% from a yearearlier and up 75.4% from the previous month.

Buying interest from Korean electric powercompanies was robust. Independent electric powercompanies did not issue a buy tender and seemed
to procure cargoes from suppliers privately. In
Southeast Asia, supply was limited and sources
pointed out that buyers rushed into negotiations if
there were available cargoes and decided to buy
them even if prices were high. Discussion levels
were heard at around $160/mt and the spread
between prices for South Korea and that for Japan
shrank. Some suppliers shifted to sell to Korea sincewood pellets for Japan strictly need to obtain
third-party certification.

FOB Southeast Asia wood pellets prices forJapan rose further by $10.00/mt from the previous
week to $160.00-170.00/mt in the wake of tightsupply.

As reported earlier, Korea South-East Power Co.,
Ltd. (KOEN) closed its buy tender on Apr 21. The
company was looking for 140,000mt wood pellets intotal to be delivered from Jun 13 to Dec 31. KOEN
planned to conclude a contract on Apr 28, but theresult was unknown. Some sources perceived that
KOEN might not procure all the quantities that it
wanted to buy since wood pellets prices remained
high. KOEN was expected to issue a tender for
additional cargoes or try to buy privately.
According to Korea International TradeAssociation (KITA), imports of wood pellets bySouth Korea in March in Korea reached 349,875
metric tons (mt), up 25.2% from the corresponding
period of last year and up 25.2% from the previous

Wood demand as a raw material for paper chips
for China was rapidly increasing in Southeast Asia.
Raw material for paper chips were the same as forwood pellets for Japan and South Korea. Thus,
sources pointed out that competition for procuring
raw material among suppliers was intensifying.
Most offers for Japan were heard at $170/mt andabove and some sources said, “Prices were moving
week by week.” Further, imports of wood pellets
from Russia were virtually impossible in Japan andthis pushed up the FOB Southeast Asia market aswell.
According to sources, a 40,000mt wood pellets
for loading from Vietnam in August onwards weretraded for Europe. Some sources perceived thatprices might be at $180/mt and above on an FOB
basis, considerably higher than prices in the FOB
market for South Korea or Japan. CFR Europe
prices were heard at $300-350/mt, depending on
the quantity and delivery timing. One supplier said,“Even if freight rates from Southeast Asia to Europe
were $100/mt and above, the price was profitableenough.”

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○FOB North America
Wood pellets prices for loading from May to
July in North America were unrevised from theprevious week at $280.00-290.00/mt. Nevertheless,the market remained firm due to brisk demand
from Europe.

loading, especially from US East coast. CFR Europe
prices were said to be around $350/mt and FOB
North America prices were still seen at$280-290/mt, even after subtracting freight rates.

In Europe, wood pellets imports from Russia
stopped. Thus, most players were actively covering
shortfalls by buying cargoes from North America

Supply shortage was serious in Asia, but there
were few players moving on spot procurement for
North America loading. One trader said, “It is notprofitable at the current market level.”

Rim reports are copyrighted publications.

2

RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp○CFR JapanCFR Japan prices for wood pellet to bedelivered from May to July in Japan were at$198.00-208.00/mt, all unchanged from a week
before.

houses. However, some market sources pointed outthat supply of wood pellet in Southeast Asian, oneof the main suppliers of the fuel, was extremely
tight, and talks on parcels for Japan were sluggish.

As reported, some spot demand was expectedfrom a co-combustion thermal power plant withcoal and wood pellet which was now being
constructed in Chugoku area in Japan by a major
power company in the country. Although details
such as volumes and delivery timing were still
unknown, inquiries such as supply availability
seemed to be asked to some Japanese trading

As price hikes of coal were advancing and theprice gap between coal and wood pellet was
narrowing, one of the suppliers mentioned thatdemand of wood pellet would extend further goingforward. Some said that some power plants inJapan were forecast to enhance the co-combustion
rates of wood pellet.

○Freight rates
Freight rates between Vietnam and Japan wereat $53.00-58.00/mt, while those between North

America and Japan were at $70.00-80.00/mt, bothunchanged from the previous week.

◎PKS○Summary
PKS prices on an FOB Indonesia basis increased. Since buying interest for delivery to Europe wasstrong, sellers were raising offers. On an FOB Malaysia basis, prices were unchanged. In the CFR Japan
market, demand was seen from power generating companies that use domestic materials.
○FOB Southeast Asia
Prices for PKS loading from Indonesia fromMay to July rose $2.50/mt from the previous week
to $100.00-110.00/mt, bolstered by tightsupply/demand.
For PKS loading from Indonesia, buying interest
from Europe was increasing. Since Russia invaded
Ukraine, supply for Russian biomass fuel wasstopped and energy prices increased. As a result,players were moving actively to bring PKS fromIndonesia to Europe. Demand was increasing
especially from Germany and Poland which hadconcluded bilateral agreements with Indonesia.
According to some market sources, Indonesian
suppliers received buying inquiries for
50,000-60,000mt for delivery to Poland.

On the supply side, limited suppliers had room
to sell spot cargoes. Suppliers whose yields werehigh focused on term contracts for delivery to Japanand they were not aggressive in spot sales. Inaddition, as procurement costs of materials in theIndonesia domestic market were at high levels,
suppliers’ inventories were not increasing smoothly.
Amid tightening supply/demand, sellers werebullish and they reportedly raised offers to$110-120/mt.
For these reasons, it was difficult to findsuppliers that had sufficient inventories, it was hard
to conduct discussions for delivery to Poland, said
some sources. Several years ago, a deal was done

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3

RIM INTELLIGENCEBIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp

for PKS to be shipped from Tanjung Buton fordelivery to Poland, but delivery did not materialize.
Export of palm oil from Indonesia wasforbidden again. The Indonesian government
announced that it would forbid export of palm oiland its derivatives from Apr 28. In theannouncement by the government on Apr 22, onlyexport of palm olein that was refined, bleached anddeodorized was to be restricted. But in theannouncement on Apr 27, the subject of restriction
was expanded. Export of the whole palm oil
products including palm crude oil (CPO),
wastewater from palm oil factories and usedcooking oil would be forbidden. The prohibition ofexport was introduced to secure supply in thedomestic market as prices for cooking oil were
surging in the world along with the Russian
invasion of Ukraine.
This was the third time for the Indonesian
government to announce the prohibition of exportof palm oil this year. In late January, thegovernment required exporters to sell 20% of export
volumes to the domestic market. From Mar 10, theratio of sales to the domestic market was raised to30%. But only one week after the announcement,
the requirement of sales to the domestic market wasabolished completely. Along with the prohibition ofexport this time, the international market of palm
oil was likely to rise further but the period ofprohibition was uncertain and the situation in thefuture was unclear.
Prices for PKS loading from Malaysia from May
to July were unchanged at $95.00-100.00/mt. Since
supply/demand for PKS from Indonesia wastightening, some power generators were reportedly
considering to procure cargoes loading fromMalaysia. A power generating company had
previously prioritized procurements of Indonesiancargoes for their quality but as supply forIndonesian cargoes was tightening, it wasprocuring Malaysian cargoes more often. Under
this situation, PKS loading from Malaysia was said
to be not in surplus either.

○CFR JapanCFR Japan prices for PKS to be delivered fromMay to July were at $150.00-160.00/mt, unchanged
from a week before.
Some power companies who usually use
domestic woods as fuel were keen on purchases ofPKS. Due to tight supply/demand fundamentals ofdomestic timbers, their procurements of domestic
woods were declining, and some of them weremaking moves to buy PKS as supporting fuel in thespot market. One of them was said to have bought
10,000mt of PKS delivered in April on a spot basis,but the price was still unknown. Supply of PKS wasstill tight both from Indonesia and Malaysia, so thatoffers were still heard at around $160.00/mt. Some
Japanese trading houses seemed to be refused tostart discussions due to a sense of thin supply.

○Freight rates
Freight rates between Indonesia and Japan andbetween Malaysia and Japan were both at$50.00-55.00/mt, unchanged from a week before.
It was likely that the COVID-19 outbreak in
China seemed to be impacting on supply/demand
fundamentals of shipping schedules. On the back ofsluggish movements of cargoes to China, a sense ofloose fundamentals was emerging. Therefore, somevessel lenders or ship-owners were reportedlyinterested in spot talks with traders. Meanwhile,some market sources perceived that freight rates
between Southeast Asian and Japan stood at$50.00-55.00/mt.

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RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp◎Market News
Following news stories were originally published on Rim Asia Energy Links, the real-time news service at
https://www.rim-intelligence.co.jp/cgi-bin/e/index.cgi◯Takenaka Co to start biomass power plant construction in Ehime in May
Japan’s construction company Takenaka Corporation announced on Apr 26 that it would start theconstruction of Uchiko Ryuow biomass power plant in Ehime prefecture, West Japan in May. The plant
would be managed by the newly established company Uchiko Ryuow Biomass Energy invested by somecompanies including Takenaka, Naito Kogyo and so on. The plant would supply both electricity and heat byusing wood pellet produced from local timbers. It would generate 330kW of electricity and 500kW of heat. It
is scheduled to start operations from October this year.
◯INPEX cut deals for cooperative research on bio-methane in Indonesia
Japan’s INPEX announced on Apr 25 that it had struck contracts on cooperative research to takeadvantage of bio-methane which is produced from Palm Oil Mill Effluent or POME with Indonesia’s
state-owned Pertamina, Osaka Gas and JGC Holdings. POME is wasted liquid in the course of extractions ofpalm oil in Indonesia.
This project is aiming to realize the carbon-neutral society by curtailing the discharge of global warminggases by using bio-methane. It is speculated that bio-methane produced from POME in the island ofSumatra and of Kalimantan would be supplied to end-users in Indonesia especially in the island of Java. To
supply bio-methane, existing infrastructures such as natural gas pipelines are considered to be used. It isexpected that the amount of CO2 discharged in the air could be reduced by changing the use of fossil fuels
to bio-methane. The project would also consider that it would take advantage of the schemes such as thecarbon credits or the certifications of bio-methane. Moreover, projects to supply bio-LNG for bunker fuel orto export bio-LNG to Japan would be included.

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5

RIM INTELLIGENCEBIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp◎Statistics○Japan Wood Pellets Imports MOF Data Mar 2022
Japan Wood Pellets Imports MOF Data

Mar 2022

Mar 2022(Forex: $=Yen115.85 )Feb 2022

Mar 2021

Jan-Mar 2022

Jan-Mar 2021

Volume(mt)Unit Price(Yen/mt)

Unit Price($/mt)

Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Vietnam

232,922

20,946180.80107,348

127,506

525,149

385,639

Canada85,71825,156217.1459,57851,664

262,850

210,993US30,71634,726299.750240

30,716

26,945Indonesia

14,894

18,942163.50572

11,663

16,553

12,451

Malaysia

209

17,971

155.13

11,804970

22,39544,718

China

81

61,593531.66

75

66

206

196

Russia26

28,269244.0221,000027,8260

Taiwan000.001010

Estonia000.000023

46Australia

000.0013,950013,950

0Netherlands

000.00032032

CountryUkraine
Grand Total

000.000808

364,566

23,031

198.80214,328

192,149

899,669

681,028

Source: Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistics of Japan○Japan PKS Imports MOF Data Mar 2022
Japan PKS Imports MOF Data

Mar 2022
Mar 2022(Forex: $=Yen115.85 )Feb 2022

Mar 2021

Jan-Mar 2022

Jan-Mar 2021

Volume(mt)Unit Price(Yen/mt)

Unit Price($/mt)

Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Volume(mt)Indonesia

216,566

15,670135.26215,968

207,350549,708

490,486Malaysia

99,512

15,811

136.4838,381

25,838212,496

111,031

Grand Total

316,078

15,714135.64

254,349

233,188762,204

601,517

Country

Source: Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistics of Japan

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RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp○Changes in monthly import volume and import unit priceSource: Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistics of Japan◇Editorial and Subscription Inquiry:[Tokyo office]Tel:(81) 3-3552-2411, Fax:(81)3-3552-2415,
e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp[Singapore office]Tel:(65)-6345-9894, Fax (65)-6345-9894,
e-mail:hagimoto@rim-intelligence.co.jp[Beijing office]Tel:(86)10-6498-0455, Fax:(86)10-6428-1725,
e-mail: ma@rim-intelligence.co.jp huo@rim-intelligence.co.jp[Shanghai office] Tel:(86)-21-5111-3575,
e-mail:rim_sh@rim-intelligence.co.jp
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RIM INTELLIGENCE

BIOMASS

3F Yaesudori Hata Bldg, 1 Chome 9-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel:81-3-3552-2411 Fax:81-3-3552-2415 e-mail:info@rim-intelligence.co.jp

Rim reports are available via internet e-mail:Rim reports are copyrighted publications. No portion of the reports may be photocopied, reproduced,retransmitted, put into a computer system or otherwise redistributed not only to parties outside theorganization of the subscriber but also to other departments or branch offices within the sameorganization as the subscriber. If a breach of copyright is found, penalty may be imposed. Whileinformation in the reports is expected to be accurate, RIM bears no responsibility for any consequences
arising from the subscriber's use of such information. Further, if events beyond our control such as
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