A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network provides an update of wood pellet production in Russia, predicting continued growth in the country’s pellet industry. The report states that while Russia’s wood pellet production industry is relatively young, the country currently accounts for approximately 6 percent of world wood pellet exports and currently ranks eighth in the world for total wood pellet production, with 3 percent of total world wood pellet production. Russia produced approximately 1.75 million metric tons of wood pellets last year, up 32 percent when compared to 2016 production. The increase is attributed to continued strong demand from the European Union and new markets in Asia, including Japan and China. The country exported approximately 1.44 million metric tons of wood pellets in 2017, up 34 percent when compared to 2016. This year, wood pellet exports are expected to reach 1.5 million metric tons. L