Latvia is a tiny Northern European country located east of Denmark on the Baltic Sea. Aided by a magnifying glass, it is possible to see Latvia on a map, bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania to the south.
This diminutive country has emerged as a wood pellet powerhouse on pace to rival Canada. Consider this: Latvia currently produces 1.4 million tonnes of wood pellets annually from a forest area of just 27,000 square kilometres. Canada produces 2 million tonnes from a forest area that is 115 times greater than Latvia’s – some 1.3 million square hectares. Each year, Latvia produces 52 tonnes of wood pellets per square kilometre of forest. For Canada to match that, we would have to produce more than 160 million tonnes annually!
Over the past three years, Latvia’s pellet production has grown from a little less than 1 million tonnes to its current level of 1.4 million tonnes. There are 23 pellet plants of various sizes. The largest producer is AS Graanul Invest. Having recently acquired Latgran, Graanul’s combined annual capacity in the Baltic Region is 1.8 million tonnes meaning this one company produces nearly as much as all of Canada!
Latvia’s forests are productive with annual growth estimated at 20 million cubic metres. The annual harvest is only about 11 million cubic metres, barely more than half of the annual growth. The main commercial species are spruce, pine, and birch.
Latvia is a former Soviet Bloc country. Although the Latvians kicked the Soviets out in 1991, there are many crumbling reminders of that era–ugly apartment buildings, abandoned factories, naval bases, farm buildings and so forth. Despite these physical reminders, Latvian citizens have rid themselves of the communist legacy and embraced free enterprise. In my short visit, I found Latvians to be friendly, hard working, and entrepreneurial. Latvia’s pellet sector has much room to grow and has every intention of continuing as a global force.