Russia, China agree on terms for pellet supplies to Chinese market, first batch planned for November - economic development minister

ST. PETERSBURG. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Trial supplies of fuel pellets from Russia to the Chinese market are planned for November 2026, and the export opportunity resulted from negotiations with China on lifting restrictions on pellet imports, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov told journalists.

"We are starting trial pellet supplies to China in November - what we agreed on last year to remove barriers there," Reshetnikov said following the 31st regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China in St. Petersburg.

"What was the problem there? They perceive pellets as garbage, while we see them as fuel. We reconciled this, negotiated. And now they also have many of their own requirements and so on; they changed them gradually. Now the first delivery should take place," he said.

The opening of the Chinese market is a sensitive issue for Russian timber industry companies, Reshetnikov said.

The issue of reorienting exports of fuel pellets toward Asia became particularly acute after the introduction of sanctions by European countries, which until 2022 were the main export market for this product. President Vladimir Putin issued instructions in March last year to work on lifting restrictions on pellet supplies to the Chinese market.

Market participants said in 2026 that they had begun making small one-off pellet supplies by agreement with individual Chinese provinces, but pointed to the need to ensure conditions for mass supplies in order to avoid the accumulation at production sites of sawdust, which is formed as a by-product of wood processing and from which the pellets are made.

Pellet production in Russia grew 16.6% in 2025 to 1.309 million tonnes. Fuel pellet output declined 0.1% to 792,000 tonnes in January-August 2026, although in August the decline was 32.6% year-on-year, to 84,000 tonnes.