Demand for Heating Fuel in Northern Europe to Enhance Peat Market Growth

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According to market research conducted by IndexBox, from 2007 to 2015, the global peat market fluctuated mildly, finally dropping from 31,082 thousand tonnes to 28,399 thousand tonnes, which was equal to 9% decline. However, the market bounced back by 3% over the last year. In value terms, it stood at 794 million USD in 2015. In the medium term, a modest rate of growth of +1.0% is forecast in terms of peat consumption, leading the market to 31.4 million tonnes in 2025. This growth will essentially be fueled by demand from Northern Europe, where peat is traditionally used as a fuel for heating.

The country with the highest consumption was Finland (7,478 thousand tonnes), accounting for 26% of total consumption in 2015. It was followed by Sweden (12%), Ireland (11%), Germany (7%), Belarus (5%), the Netherlands (5%) and Russia (4%), together comprising almost 50% of global consumption.

Amongst the leading consuming countries, high levels of per capita consumption were recorded in Finland (1,359 kg/year in 2015), which was significantly higher than the world average of 4 kg/year. The annual growth of per capita consumption from 2007 to 2015 was the most notable in Germany, with a +2.7% growth.

Peat is a widely traded commodity, with the share of exports in total global output reaching approx. 33% in 2015. Moreover, since 2007, this share increased by +6 percentage points. Peat will continue to be highly traded, fueled by increasing consumption, and intense global and regional integration.

In 2015, the volume of total peat exports amounted to 9.3 million tonnes. Overall, there was an annual increase of +1.2% for the period from 2007 to 2015. At the same time, the total value of peat exports stood at 1.2 billion USD in 2015, growing with a CAGR of +1.9% from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, Germany (2.1 million tonnes), Latvia (1.3 million tonnes), and Canada (1.2 million tonnes) were the main exporters of peat in the world, together comprising 49% of global exports.

In 2015, the volume of total peat imports stood at 9.4 million tonnes. Overall, there was an annual increase of +1.4% for the period from 2007 to 2015. The total value of peat imports reached 1.2 billion USD in 2015, increasing with a CAGR of +1.1% from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, the main importers of peat were the Netherlands (2.2 million tonnes), the U.S. (1.2 million tonnes), and Germany (1.1 million tonnes), together making up 47% of total imports.

Do you want to know more about the global peat market? Get the latest trends and insight from our report. It includes a wide range of statistics on

• peat market share
• peat prices
• peat industry
• peat sales
• peat market forecast
• peat price forecast
• key peat producers

Source: World: Peat - Market Report. Analysis and Forecast to 2025