PELLET
POSITIVE SIGNALS FOR CONSUMERS AND SUPPLY CHAIN
At Progetto Fuoco the future of heating
Federico Bricolo, president of Veronafiere: «Progetto Fuoco intercepts the great trust of a supply chain that sees many companies at work every day that symbolize the excellence of Made in Italy, united by the commitment to offer consumers quality products».
After a year of turbulence, positive signs are returning on the consumer price front for pellets: the April 2023 surveys conducted by AIEL – the Italian Agroforestry Energy Association – show that the price of pellets has returned to levels similar to spring 2022, settling at 6.19 euros per bag. The summer flare-up that had triggered the price race, with prices reaching 10.5 euro in September 2022 and 9.2 in January 2023, thus seems to have passed. A situation that is normalizing, therefore, with benefits for the entire biomass heating chain in view of the opening of the new heating season.
A sector that looks to the future with confidence, in the midst of the drive towards technological innovation and energy efficiency, and that will meet at Progetto Fuoco, the world’s most important trade-show dedicated to biomass heating, scheduled at Veronafiere from 28 February to 2 March 2024.
«Energy from wood and biomass is today a sector that in Italy is worth 4 billion euros and involves 14 thousand companies in a chain that goes “from the forest to the chimney” – declares Federico Bricolo, president of Veronafiere –. Progetto Fuoco intercepts the great trust of a supply chain that sees many companies at work every day that symbolize the excellence of Made in Italy, united by the commitment to offer consumers quality products».
«Thanks to a rich program of conferences and workshops, Progetto Fuoco will be an opportunity for meeting and discussion between operators in the supply chain, decision-makers and category associations – comments Maurizio Danese, CEO of Veronafiere –. The numbers of the last edition, with 800 exhibitor brands and 60 thousand professional visitors, give us great enthusiasm with a view to making an event that is already the world benchmark for the sector grow even more in 2024».
«Technological turnover is fundamental for contributing to energy efficiency and the ecological transition of the entire biomass heating sector – says Raul Barbieri, Veronafiere commercial director –. That is why the focus of Progetto Fuoco will be precisely on the latest generation technologies and, thanks also to the Innovation Village, the most innovative solutions that go in this direction».
«Given the drop in pellet prices recorded in April 2023, the advice we can give consumers is to buy biofuel in the summer period, the most competitive one, to avoid the physiological increases expected at the start of the heating season, – explains Annalisa Paniz, general director of AIEL –. Increases that in any case will not record trends similar to last year’s, unless there is a new energy shock».
