SEOUL: South Korea imported 126,012 mt of wood pellets in July, down 22% on the year but increasing 10% over June, according to customs data Thursday.
Total Korean imports for the first seven months of 2015 stand at 730,364 mt, a 12% decrease from the year-earlier period. Vietnam remains the largest shipper of pellets to South Korea, sending 97,714 mt in July, up 52% on the year and 2% higher than the previous month.
However shipments from Canada — the second largest exporter of wood pellets to South Korea in 2014 — continue to stall. It delivered a more than two-year low of 1,771 mt in July, down 94% on the year and off 53% from June.
Total Canadian shipments in the first seven months were 56,394 mt, down from 197,211 mt in the corresponding 2014 period. South Korea took receipt of 11,958 mt of Malaysian pellets in July, down 31% on the year but up 29% on the month.
Total Malaysian shipments to South Korea in the January-July period were 78,782 mt, down from 92,445 mt a year earlier.
