GLOBAL TIMBER AND WOOD PRODUCTS NEWS   A news brief from Wood Resources International LLCWood pellet exports from North America to Europe have doubled intwo years to reach 4.7 million tons in 2013 with the US South accountingfor 63% of the volume, according to the North American Wood Fiber Review. North America exported wood pellets valued at over 650 million dollars in 2013, adramatic increase of more than 250 percent in just two years, according to data compiledby the North American Wood Fiber Review. The US South shipped almost three milliontons last year, which was almost two-thirds of total export volume from North America,Seattle, USA. With no slowdown in sight, North American wood pellet exportingcompanies keep building new facilities to manufacture pellets for the European market.Export volumes hit a new record high in the 4Q/13 and the total shipments for 2013 wereup almost 50% from the previous year and more than double that in 2011. The total valueof wood pellet exports reached over 650 million dollars last year. A rapid expansion of pellet production capacity in the US South during 2012 and 2013has resulted in a tripling of pellet production in the region in just two years. Theexpansion, which is entirely driven by demand for biomass in Europe, has increasedpellet exports from 800,000 tons in 2011 to 2.9 million tons in 2013 according to datacompiled by WRI and reported in the North American Wood Fiber Review (Note. WRIdata is partly based on an industry survey since customs data on both sides of theAtlantic are not always reliable). Many of the recent investments in pellet capacity in the US South have occurred alongthe Atlantic coast, with Enviva and Fram Renewables expanding production in the statesof Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. The expansion in Canadian pellet export has been less dramatic than that of the US, but2013 volumes were still over 50% higher than in 2011, with British Columbia shipping amajority of the volume. In Canada, there have been two recent developments of interest,1) the first regular shipments of pellets to South Korea started in the second half of 2013and, 2) exports from Eastern Canada from Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswickincreased during this same time period. Eastern Canada will see additional pellet export volumes later in 2014 when Rentech beginsoperation at its two pellet facilities now underway in Ontario. As reported in the NAWFR(www.woodprices.com), a Quebec pellet export facility under construction at the Port ofQuebec is the first dedicated infrastructure for pellet exports along the St. Lawrence Seaway.Its presence, when completed, reduces the heretofore, substantial entry barrier for a numberof smaller pellet companies which are interested in the international market.In the 4Q/13, export volumes from the Eastern provinces accounted for 25 percent ofCanada’s total pellet exports, a share that is likely to increase in 2014 and 2015.